I have spent a lot of time in libraries and lecture halls in Türkiye and across Europe. If you’ve ever been an international student or a researcher in a foreign land, you know the specific kind of silence that follows you home. It’s the silence of a solitary ambition.
We are taught that to succeed, we must be the fastest, the smartest, and the most independent. We are told to keep our heads down, grind in silence, and eventually, we will make it. On a personal note, I don’t think that is valid in the diaspora, and it shouldn’t be like this in Nigeria, either. But then, I am aware that Nigerians are scared of what the Turkish people call “Nazar,” which we know as “Village People” :). I can even remember not telling my close friends when I was coming to Türkiye for education back in 2021.
The Myth of the Half-Full Cup
I remember hearing someone on a podcast say that when your cup is still half-full, sharing it with others will make it finish quickly. Is that really true? Maybe for money, but certainly not for knowledge because knowledge increases by sharing.
Even when it comes to money, I believe everyone should know when, how, and what percentage they can spend without losing significantly. Someone who says, “Every drop na drop,” is simply stingy and cannot create, manage or be part of a community. That mindset is a direct road to individualism. That’s why we implore each member of ANSSA to contribute something, at the least, a message of support in our WhatsApp groups. This is so that they can contribute to the association and feel a true sense of belonging.
A hollow Victory
Over the years, I’ve watched brilliant minds from Nigeria arrive with fire in their eyes, only to be dampened by the sheer weight of carrying everything themselves. Whether it’s legal hurdles, cultural isolation, academic pressure, or the simple, human need for a familiar voice, and, we struggle under this load. In reference to this video https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kl1kwrAdV3Q&pp=iggCQAE%3D.
I realized that while we are truly winning as individuals, we are often losing as a community.
That is why we built ANSSA in the first place.
There is a trap we often fall into, which is the belief that “if I share my resources, I have less”; that “if I spend time helping another student find their footing, I am slowing down my own race”.
But look at the cultures that actually thrive in the diaspora. Especially in Türkiye—I won’t mention any specific nationalities here—but look around you. They don’t arrive as individuals; they arrive as a collective. They pool their money, share their apartments, pass down their textbooks, and guard each other’s interests. They understand a fundamental truth that we sometimes forget: a single stick is easily broken, but a bundle is unbreakable.
ANSSA exists to turn our “I” into “We.”
When you look at what we have done, from the constitutional groundwork that protects our members to the events, support, and dignity we have given Nigerians in Türkiye, it’s easy to see only the surface-level events. But look closer. We have testimonies all around on how our collective spirit has given voice to our brothers and sisters in distress and injustice.
Underneath the programs and the advocacy, what we are actually doing is weaving a safety net. We are creating a space where a graduate researcher, Erasmus aspirant, job seeker, or students doesn’t have to guess how to navigate the system because someone who walked that path last year is holding the door open. We are building a reality where success isn’t measured by how much money you send home, but by how many people you helped bring up with you.
A Destiny Shared
I’ve always believed that our daily rituals define us. Success should be a daily ritual of community.
- It’s the mentorship sessions formulated as workshops.
- It’s the collective voice that speaks up when one of us is treated unfairly.
- It’s the shared meal where we remember who we are when the world tries to make us forget.
We didn’t create ANSSA to be just another student association. We created it to be a movement of humane success. We are proving that you don’t have to be a solo survivor to be a leader.
In the end, we aren’t just students. We are a diaspora with a destiny. And we are finally realizing that the only success worth having is the one we can share.
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