The system that won't pay in Lagos and the one that moves the goalposts in London are the same system.

Here's what this week looks like if you step back.

In Nigeria, NBET hasn't paid its bills in 13 years. No accountability. The sector kept running on goodwill and generator smoke. Until gas suppliers finally said enough.

In the UK, the rules for Nigerian migrants have shifted multiple times per year for three years. Skilled Worker requirements tightened. Care work routes closed. Graduate visas shortened. Now a visa brake with no parliamentary check. Each change small enough to absorb. The cumulative effect is that the path to settlement is twice as long as it was when many people started walking it.

Both systems take your compliance and your contribution. Both systems reserve the right to change the terms after you've built your life around them.

Your generator in Lagos and your visa in London have more in common than it looks.

The question worth asking before April: are the terms you're planning your next five years around still the terms you'll be living under in 2028?