Mohammed, also known as Hero Maiga, is a Ghanaian living in Italy. He appeared on SVTV Africa’s Daily Hustle Worldwide show with DJ Nyaami.
Mohammed shared that he moved to Italy in 2015, leaving from Kasoa Amanfrom in Ghana. He travelled through the Mediterranean Sea, a journey that left lasting emotional scars. According to him, many of the people he traveled with are now mentally unstable due to the intense stress and hardship they experienced. “Abrokyire (life abroad) can make you go mad,” he said, noting that several of his friends have developed mental health problems due to overthinking and difficult living conditions.
He recounted how, back in Kasoa, he was not a troublemaker, but if someone provoked him, he would defend himself strongly. While he never engaged in armed robbery, he admitted being approached by some people for such activities. At some point, he became part of a bad crowd, which his mother noticed. Concerned, she advised him to sell his motorcycle and travel to Libya instead.
Mohammed obeyed and traveled to Libya, where he faced imprisonment in Sabah. On his journey, he met other Ghanaians, and the situation was so dire that he considered suicide while at sea due to hunger, thirst, and hopelessness. Three people died on the boat. At one point, he undressed to drown himself, but a Gambian man stopped him and encouraged him to hold on. Eventually, a large rescue boat saved them.
Upon arriving in Italy, he was advised to claim he was from Mali and say his family was linked to Boko Haram to avoid deportation. He followed this advice and was granted five years of legal residency.
After settling in Italy, he worked on tomato farms, did construction in Malta, and eventually learned tiling. He started his own tiling business. A white man gave him a job after admiring his tile work. He also bought land.
Mohammed said he has returned to Ghana twice and now plans to start a business there.
“Most of my friends who stayed in Ghana have made it. They supported me with GHC 6000, and now they’ve built houses,” he said. He believes living abroad can be disappointing and harmful to health. “The weather can weaken you. Many abroad suffer from waist pains, sexual weakness, and mental breakdowns due to stress and immigration issues like not getting documents (nkrataa). Three of my friends have gone mad because of this.”
Currently, he is building stores in Ghana and plans to settle there permanently. He said if his business succeeds, he will forget about life abroad. Mohammed got married in Ghana in 2019 and has two children. Though he has the opportunity to bring his wife and children to Italy, he doesn’t plan to stay in Europe for long. “The youth in Africa are creating opportunities. The passport here doesn’t buy land or bring money in Ghana,” he emphasized.
He concluded by saying that success is not about where you are.
“If God will bless you, He will—regardless of the country. A man who helped me in Libya is now in Ghana with 60 cows, has built his mansion, has cars. He owns more than I do. If I had followed him back then, I might have owned cows by now. No one can lie to me again—I’ve seen it all.”
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