London
MBA Supply Chain Management
Originally from Nigeria, MBA student and Student Ambassador Maimuna Ochemeh sees London as a home away from home. Coming from the melting pot of Lagos to the equally if not more diverse surrounds of London and UoSiL, she feels like she's not moved countries or cities, but just across town.
Published 9 December 2022
'I’m from Benue, Nigeria. I chose the university because of the modules, the mix of the modules. I wanted a business course but I also wanted supply chain management.
I chose it [UoSiL] because of the convenience of it being in the central area of London and not in some remote town, that was a good factor.
I was running my own business and working as a project manager with a construction company back in Nigeria. I used to build kitchens for a living. I did the design and I had a team that fitted them.
I like living in London – I like how at the same time it can be conservative but also bubbly. It’s all about choice. You can choose to be quiet and live a remote life, however, if you want an active life you can do that in London successfully. You can be independent and do your own thing.
London, for me, seems like home. It’s very similar to Lagos where I lived in Nigeria. It is a melting pot. We have everything you can find in the Western world back in Lagos. So, being here in London has that same feeling for me. I can meet everyone from different countries. It has this mix of different people from different countries and ethnicities, which to me is the most interesting part of being in any city.
So far, my course has been good. I came in three weeks late. My course started in January, but I joined in February. I thought I was going to be lagging behind; however, I was able to catchup – my lecturers were very helpful.
The hybrid learning system is absolutely wonderful. Sometimes I find myself not wanting to socialise and being behind a camera gives you that exclusivity. Sometimes you need to talk to people, that human interaction is necessary sometimes. Just knowing that you can come to class and have a workshop and air your views. You can tell what level of understanding you have.
My plans after graduating are to establish myself as a project manager here in London and hopefully start my own business by the end of next year. I would like to own a restaurant here in London, an African fusion restaurant. An African street food fusion restaurant. There’s so much street food we have back in Nigeria, and I don’t see it being represented fully here. Also, there’s a lot of seafood here in the UK but the way we do seafood in Nigeria is totally different.
As a Student Ambassador, I have both perspectives of being a student and being a staff member. It gives me this balance. As a student I might complain ‘oh, this is not available,’ but as staff I know why it’s not available or why there might be a delay. It’s just easier to explain to myself what’s happening with the processes."
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