The dad-of-three has played a prominent role in Liverpool’s Nigerian community since he moved to the city more than 15 years ago
Matthew Olushoga plays a prominent role in Liverpool’s Nigerian community(Image: Liverpool Echo)
In recent decades, Liverpool has become the proud home to thousands of men, women and children who have bravely uprooted from countries across Africa to start a new life in the city. One of those to do so is Matthew Olushoga, 50, who despite growing up over 4,000 miles away in the capital city of Lagos in Nigeria, says that has never felt more at home on than he does right now, here on Merseyside.
Growing up in 1970s Lagos amid a period of huge cultural and economic change, Matthew remembers his formative years with fond memories. He told the ECHO: “Lagos was a great city, I can never forget the traffic, the market, the shouting of conductors and endless movement of people. Life was not easy but we lived full of gratitude. Joy and happiness was not derived from having much. Every child knows how to make their own toys to play with. We learnt to laugh loudly, adapt quickly and dream boldly.”
As the years passed and he turned from child to man, he met his wife, Bukky who was originally born in London before her dad’s job took him to the Nigerian capital. After he and Bukky decided to take the leap and swap one capital for another in 2001 as they set off for London, the move was not all that it had promised to be. Struggling to take to the “hustle and bustle” of the city, the couple set their sights on a move elsewhere.
He and his wife, Bukky, have raised their family on Merseyside(Image: Liverpool Echo)
With that in mind, in 2008, he and his wife set off to pastures new after she secured a role working as a housing officer for Riverside housing association in Liverpool. However, while he was thrilled to move away from the “hustle and bustle” of London, he explained that it was far from plain sailing when he made the move to Merseyside. Originally living in Stockbridge Village in Knowsley when he first moved to Merseyside, he now lives on Garrick Street. He said: “I didn’t feel at home in Liverpool straight away, it was slowly and gradually.”
But, after a few months had passed, he said that finally becoming accustomed to the scouse dialect helped him settle into his new surroundings and joked that now, he even considers his three children, Daniel, Grace and Joshua to be Scousers. He said: “Gradually I began to understand the language more, because I didn’t understand Scouse at all. Honestly, I was learning it gradually and it was only after six months that I picked it up. Now my children are Scousers.”
But he said that a combination of being an avid Liverpool FC fan and a devout Christian were two things that helped him settle in the city. As he looked back to his early days on Merseyside, he had a brief glint in his eye, as he remembered one crucial aspect that differentiated Liverpool from London. He said: “People loved to smile, it wasn’t like a forced smile like you get in London. In Liverpool, people are more familiar and more friendly.”
Matthew settled in Liverpool after first coming to the UK to live in London(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Meanwhile, a mutual understanding of each others past is something that Matthew believes has helped draw him closer to Scousers since he made the move more than a decade and a half ago. He said: “Many Liverpudlians understand struggle, economic hardship, migration because of the port, resilience. That shared understanding made it easier to be seen not as an outsider, but as a person with a story.”
He added: “Liverpool also reminded me of home in unexpected ways. Like many Nigerian cities, it is loud in places, emotional, passionate especially about football, faith, and family. There is pride here. There is history. There is pain that has shaped strength. I recognised that spirit because I had grown up with it.”
While he spends most of his day getting Scousers from “A to B” in his Uber, Matthew has followed in his dad’s footsteps working as a pastor. He has become a familiar face in Cottenham Pentecost Baptist Church in Kensington in his time working as a pastor. He said: “The vision is to bring Africans in Liverpool and combine them together and worship the way that we worship in Africa. In Africa, we are very religious, but when we come here, we tend to dilute our religion so we want to bring that prayer back.”
He added: “Not only Nigerians are in the church, we have Ethiopians, we have Ghanaians, we have people from South Africa, we have Liberians they are all there. What we see there is the same way we worship in Africa.”
In something of a full circle moment for Matthew, in recent times he has taken it upon himself to help the transition to life in Liverpool for fellow Nigerians as smooth as possible, helping new arrivals navigate their way around the city. He said: “What I do is explain to them how Liverpool works, how they can navigate transport easily, because most of them don’t understand Arriva and how to locate [where they are going]. So, I give them an app, which helps them how to plan. It helps them move [around Liverpool] more easily.”
He has also helped fellow Nigerians settle in Liverpool after they have made the move(Image: Liverpool Echo)
As well as giving fellow Nigerians a helping hand in finding their way around the city, Matthew also takes it upon himself to make sure they have the correct access to crucial schools and accommodation. He added: “Some of them struggle to find schools [for their children], so I drive them to where the school is and then sometimes some of them are looking for accommodation so I then connect them to someone else whose job it is to find them accommodation. I genuinely just want to make them feel settled.”
As he takes a fond look back over his time living in the city, Matthew shared the pride he has in not just being able to call Liverpool home, but for being able to contribute so much to the city in the 17 years that he has been here. He said: “As an immigrant, home was never just about geography. It was about dignity. About being able to contribute. About being accepted without having to erase who I am. Liverpool allowed me to remain Nigerian while becoming something more, a Nigerian-Liverpudlian, rooted in two worlds.”
He added: “Today, when I say Liverpool is my home, I don’t mean I forgot where I came from. I mean I found a place that gave me room to grow, serve, and belong. A place where my journey did not end, but truly began.”