JAPA CHRONICLES E2: I DID HARD LABOUR ON A FARM IN RUSSIA FOR 5 DAYS WITHOUT PAYMENT

“We eventually got there around 1pm the next day and it was like we were in the middle of nowhere.

They asked us to sleep in one abandoned shed— a mini camp with some bunk beds. So they would wake us up by 2 am to go to the farm…”

 

Please let’s get to know you.

I’m 23 years old and a fourth year student in Moscow studying aircraft engineering. I lived in Ajegunle in Lagos, Nigeria.

 

When did you come to Russia? Was this your first time abroad?

I came to Russia in 2019. Nah… this is actually the second country I’ve visited. I went to Cotonou in Benin Republic at some point, if that counts. 

 

Why did you decide to leave Nigeria? And why Russia?

 I left Nigeria for better opportunities. In fact, I came to Russia by chance. I knew I wanted to do engineering, but I wasn’t sure which kind so I just picked aircraft at the moment, but I actually like the course.

One of my family members, my uncle actually, connected me to our community chief who usually gives scholarships to our community members to study abroad. I sent my documents and that was how I was told I’m going to Russia soon— all paid.

My family sells oil and eggs in Wilmer market, Ajegunle so this was actually a very big opportunity. We weren’t poor, but we didn’t have too much either. I was so happy so I told everyone I knew that I’m travelling— family, friends, strangers, everyone.

 

What’s your favourite thing about Russia?

Honestly, nothing. Maybe free Wi-Fi and good amenities but if you look at it, those things are still basic. I came to Russia with very high expectations, so I was kinda disappointed.

When you leave Nigeria, a third-world developing country to Russia, a second-world country, you will only want to move to a better country, i.e developed for more opportunities.

 

What were your expectations?  Do you now regret leaving Nigeria?

I thought once I got to Russia I was going to be working, making a ton of money to buy a car and a house. Until reality hit me when I got here…

I just felt this country is not so great compared to what I wanted. For example, it is very difficult for me to get a good job here. I just want to leave quickly and switch to another country.

I don’t actually regret leaving Nigeria. I can only say I miss my family and networking associates at home.

 

What is your worst experience here?

My worst experience was when I went to work on a farm in Lipetsk. I worked for like 5 days without payment for extreme hard labor. I felt like dying.

 

Can you tell us more about this experience?

So it was early last year when my guy and I were seriously looking for a job and we got a message that there was an available job in a nearby city.

They said it was farm work and they pay like ₽2000 a day and that they’ll feed us and everything, so we met them at the bus stop and they convinced us that the work is very good and that the place is like 50km away from Moscow, that we will soon get there. We even thought it’ll be close like Tula or Tver.

We got into the bus by 10pm and my friend and I were just talking for like two hours. We just checked the time and saw that 50km had passed too and we were not there yet.

5 hours passed, and we were still not there. That was how we decided to check the bus ticket—because we were just given and we didn’t even check where we we’re going and that was when we saw Lipetsk. We eventually got there around 1pm the next day and it was like we were in the middle of nowhere.

They asked us to sleep in one abandoned shed— a mini camp with some bunk beds. So they would wake us up by 2 am to go to the farm…

 

Omo!

Yes oo, these people don’t even care o. At 2am, the farm bus will take all of us to the farm. We were to pick fruits and they just kept saying “Давай давай давай!”. I was just bending down to pick the whole day. We worked till like 10am and they even made us exchange sections. My back was just paining me— I almost fainted that day.

 

Did they give you guys food?

It’s all this water-water food, like all these Nigerian boarding school food, and this one is even worse with plenty of water… so after lunch, we started working again till like 1pm. It was like slavery honestly. And we were plenty— and like 12 black people. I don’t even know where plenty of those Asian guys came from too. 

They took us back to the hostel around 1pm and we were now asking for the pay. That was how they started saying, they’ve changed the contract and they were telling a lot of stories, that we should keep working and that they will pay everything together the next day.

The next day’s work was even worse in a deeper part of the farm, but we did it and after everything, they were still giving excuses. The person in charge was also saying that the company in Petersburg has some issues and so on.

The next day, some people just left, like 6 of the black people there, without collecting a dime. They even had to borrow money to go back to their city. Me and my guy were still hopeful that we will collect all the money at the end. We continued till like the 5th day until we heard those people who brought the job were planning to call the police and immigration to arrest some workers who didn’t have complete documents. After we’ve worked— that’s how the place scattered.

Me and my guy had to leave immediately because most of those workers didn’t have their documents. And that’s how we didn’t get any money o.

 

Wow, that’s serious. So you’ve also never had an actual job here?

No actually. Apart from the fact that my scholarship covers my whole tuition, my stipend is also about 500$ per month so the money is quite enough. I just wanted to make some extra cash then.

I also did another ‘loading and unloading‘ job in summer last year, but that one was much better. We got paid ₽2000 to work for 12 hours.

 

African Community here?

I’m a student so the only person I’m close with is just my classmate. I don’t really have a lot of friends. I haven’t been in a relationship before either. I didn’t do preparatory year so i don’t speak Russian at all.

My school has this international hostel with about 8000 foreign students and we all speak English. I was also indoors for about two years because of COVID too- so I used to order in, both food and all my groceries. When I go out, I just point at what I want and they show me the price. So I never really needed to learn Russian.

 

Do you plan to stay here for a long time?

I already spent 4 years here so this is probably my last year. I plan to probably go to another country after this. My goal is to get a PhD before I’m 35 years old.

 

Thank you for your time!