A Nigerian man’s story of losing everything — his career, his family and his footing in two countries — has moved thousands of people online after he opened up about the devastating turn his life took following what was supposed to be a fresh start in Canada.
In a video shared on Instagram on June 16, 2026, the man described how his family had secured Canadian Permanent Residency permits, a milestone that prompted him to resign from his banking job in anticipation of a new life abroad.
Man flies to Nigeria in November 2014
Because his bank needed him to stay behind for a workplace audit, he allowed his wife to travel to Canada first with their children and all of the family’s assets. What followed changed his life entirely.
“Unfortunately, when my wife arrived there, she blocked me and did not give me the address where she was living,” he said. “Even to this day, I do not know where she lives with the children.”
When he eventually flew to Canada in November 2014, he found himself stranded at YYC Airport in Calgary, Alberta, with no way of reaching his wife and no address to go to.
Man returns to Nigeria without job
Holding a return ticket he had planned to use for tying up loose ends in Nigeria, he made the difficult decision to board a flight back home. That choice left him in an equally dire situation.
Returning to Nigeria did not bring the relief he had hoped for. Without a job, without his family and with his assets gone, he found himself stranded there too.
He said he has spent years attempting to mend the relationship.
Man trying to reach wife since 2016
“Since 2016 until today, I have been trying to reach my wife so that we can reconcile, but she is still not willing to reconcile,” he shared. “I cannot force her.”
The man described his current circumstances with quiet resignation, saying he has been living without a close partner and, in his own words, exists in a state not unlike that of a refugee.
His account, shared via the Instagram account @mnyalutv_, resonated widely, drawing attention to the vulnerability that can come with trusting a partner during major life transitions.
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