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  • Every week, Zikoko seeks to understand how people move the Naira in and out of their lives. Some stories will be struggle-ish, others will be bougie. All the time, it’ll be revealing.

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    Nairalife #302 bio

    When did you first realise the importance of money?

    That was in JSS 1, and I’d just moved back in with my dad. I’d previously lived with my aunt and didn’t lack anything with her. There was food at home, and she gave me ₦50 to school daily, too. 

    But we struggled to eat or do other basic things at my dad’s. The ₦50 reduced to ₦20, then the ₦20 stopped coming. It made me hyper-aware of what a lack of money could do.

    Why were you living with your aunt?

    My mum passed away when I was four, and my dad shipped me off to live with my aunt. He was a builder who had periods of plenty money and then no money at all. I think my mum was the one who managed his money when she was alive. When she passed, he started blowing money on alcohol, cigarettes and whatever else he wanted.

    My aunt often complained about my dad not sending money for my care when I lived with her. It was when I went back to live with him that I saw the extent of the situation. It’s safe to say I saw shege. I wouldn’t eat all day and developed an ulcer in less than a year. At some point, I used firewood to cook.

    I couldn’t even buy detergent to wash my school uniform, and people stared pitifully because I wore dirty clothes. I had to start boiling my uniforms in water so they’d look a bit presentable. But that made them look rough and wear out quickly. I also owed school fees a lot. It was all embarrassing. 

    I was likely traumatised too, because I went back to live with my aunt for a year and ate so much I became obese. When I returned to live with my dad again in JSS 3, I began thinking about ways to make money because the financial situation was still terrible. 

    I’m sorry you went through all that. Did you find a way to make money?

    Yeah, I started a reading club in school. My aunt introduced me to novels when I lived with her, and I had quite a number of them — mostly romance. I was also part of a VIP system at a bookstore where I got free access to even more novels.

    So, I started renting them out to schoolmates for ₦10 – ₦20 per book. I also sold sweets and made at least ₦600 weekly from both businesses. I did that until SS 1 and stopped after someone reported me to the school authorities.

    It’s giving bad belle

    Right? I didn’t do anything else for money until I finished secondary school in 2012. Then, I got a job at a school teaching the primary three and four classes. My salary was only ₦6k, but they owed the first month and delayed payment in the second month. 

    One of the school teachers hired me to coach her child for after-school lessons, but she found it difficult to pay the ₦4k/month we agreed on. After three months, I left the job and moved on to another school that paid ₦15k/month.

    The new school also owed salaries, but I stuck with them longer because I had about four students whose parents paid me ₦2k/month for extra lessons. In a good month, my total income was around ₦20k. I was balling.

    Tell me about that

    I mostly spent my money on food. Whenever my dad had money, he bought a bag of rice, garri, palm oil and dry pepper. The only way I could eat something more interesting was if I bought it myself.

    I stayed at the school for over a year and left after they owed three months’ salary at a stretch. My next job was as a sales girl for a woman who sold groceries. My salary was ₦10k, but we agreed she would hold ₦6k for me and only pay me ₦4k monthly.

    Why?

    I was about to write GCE and JAMB — WAEC banned my result for some reason — and I needed money for the forms and textbooks, as well as to process uni admission. Also, I trusted the person who introduced me to her, so I knew my money was safe. 

    I got the GCE and JAMB forms for about ₦30k. My elder sister also pitched in even though she was sponsoring herself through school. I couldn’t afford hostel accommodation when I got to uni in 2015, and I spent the first few weeks commuting from my house to school. Even that one sef, I had to beg my sister for the ₦1k daily transport fare. 

    I realised that wasn’t sustainable, so I started sleeping in class instead. That didn’t last a month because a guy I was reading with in class decided to feel me up while I slept. 

    Yikes. Sorry about that

    It was such a nasty experience. Fortunately, a friend called me around the same time the incident happened and noticed I wasn’t fine. He pressed to know what happened, and I shared my accommodation issue. He sent ₦40k, and I used the money to secure a hostel. He even sent me extra for food later. It was just miraculous timing.

    How about your dad? Was he supporting you?

    My dad was drunk the whole time I was in uni and didn’t even know when I graduated. I survived in uni by doing a bunch of things.

    In year one, I sold puff-puff with my hostel roommate. We pulled money together and I woke up at 4:30 a.m. to mix the dough and fry it before class, while my roommate sold them in school for ₦5 apiece. We did that for less than a semester and made ₦15k in profit before everything scattered.

    How did it scatter?

    We agreed that I’d keep all our earnings, put it back in the business and wait until the end of the semester to share the money. But she started crying to our other roommates that I’d stolen her money. I was so pissed that I gave her the whole profit and buckets and every other item we’d bought for the business. 

    After I gave her everything, I remembered I was broke and didn’t have a dime. I lost so much weight because I wasn’t eating. My dad also fell sick, and we had to sell some of his properties to pay his hospital bills.

    Fortunately, I met someone in church who took on a spiritual mother role over me. She learned about my situation and was like, “You’re industrious, but you don’t like asking for money.” She eventually loaned me ₦10k, and when I resumed school for year two, I used it to start a supermarket in my room. I sold everything you can think of in that room — from spaghetti to tomatoes. 

    Was it profitable?

    I was a big girl. Gas cookers and stoves were contraband in the hostel, but I bribed the porters to keep one. I cooked soups and ate well. I did very well.

    But I fell sick at the end of the year and had to go home. When I returned, my roommate had started selling the same exact things. I didn’t even confront her. I just quietly stopped my own business.

    I’d saved up to ₦60k, so I got two other roommates to rent an off-campus room. From there, I started my next hustle as a house agent. I can’t even remember how I got into it; I just did.

    How did pay work as an agent?

    I reposted room-to-let ads from other agents on my WhatsApp status, and I made at least ₦4k on every person who asked to inspect the house. But I trekked so much during that period, taking people from house to house. I also got a small percentage of the agent fee if they eventually rented the house.

    Around 2018, a bike-hailing company launched in Nigeria, and I landed an activation gig with them. My job was to go around telling people about the app and convincing them to download it with my activation code. At first, I made around ₦300 per download, but the company kept reducing the bonus until it was about ₦150.

    I moved on to their competitors in 2019, and those ones paid between ₦350 – ₦400 per download. I was still doing the house agent thing, and my income from all the hustles came to ₦40k – ₦80k monthly. 

    The only downside was that I wasn’t saving a lot. I was pretty much eating whatever I wanted, spoiling myself, and even buying a phone.

    To be fair, though, my project took a lot of my money. My supervisor only reviewed printed work, and I had to constantly reprint to reflect the corrections. Anyway, I graduated from university in 2019.

    Yay. What did you do next?

    I had the brief panic feeling most people get when they finish uni: What do I do next? How do I survive? 

    So, I applied to jobs everywhere. I even fell for one of those network marketing scams where they gather job applicants and “train” them to become their own bosses. I moved back in with my dad because my apartment had flooding issues. That turned out to be a mistake.

    My dad was the kind of person who attributed one’s worth to money. He saw me sitting at home as lazy. On several occasions, he sent me to buy him drugs, and when I asked for transport fare, he said, “Why can’t you trek? What are you doing with your strength anyway? Are you making any impact on society?”

    Hmmm

    I knew I couldn’t stay home. One day, I walked into a random real estate company and told them I wanted to work. They insisted they weren’t hiring, but I was like, “Don’t worry. Don’t hire me. I’ll just stay here and assist the receptionist.”

    That’s how I started hanging around assisting everyone and tagging along whenever they went for site inspections. After some of those inspections, they’d give me ₦4k for transport. The random stipends came weeks apart, so my income was very irregular. But I made sure to be as useful as possible so they wouldn’t think, “What’s the point of keeping this person around?”

    A few months later, my spiritual mother introduced me to someone who worked at a mall. They put me in the accounting department, but I did everything from supervising the kitchen to handling the books. My salary was ₦70k/month. This was in January 2020.

    Then the lockdown happened, and I had to stop working.

    Phew. What did you do with the free time?

    I had started learning Excel at the job because I wanted to make myself useful. So, when the lockdown happened, I decided to start offering online “How to do accounting for your business” training sessions on WhatsApp. 

    I taught small business owners and vendors how to determine the selling price for their business, calculate profit, etc. I charged ₦5k, but I mostly sold the training at a ₦2k early bird price. I know I made ₦20k one time after posting excessively on my WhatsApp.

    I also did some dropshipping—mostly gym shoes—on the side, but my main income source during the lockdown was the training sessions. My then-boyfriend (now my husband) encouraged me to learn data analysis since I knew a few things about Excel. So, I took a course on Udemy, which helped me get my next job at an e-commerce company. This time, my salary was ₦60k/month.

    My dad also passed away at the end of 2020, and several people gave me and my sister money to help with the funeral. In the end, we had about ₦120k left after we buried him, so we used it to rent an apartment.

    Sorry about your dad

    Thank you. The new apartment was closer to my job, which reduced my transportation costs. I spent two years at the company, and during that time, I did so many certifications I thought my head would spin. 

    By the time I left in 2022, my salary had only increased to ₦80k, but my data analysis skills had more than tripled. I’d also started a perfume oil business at some point while employed there and made at least ₦30k/month in profits.

    After I resigned, I decided to register for NYSC and get it over with. I took 150 pieces of my ₦1k perfume oil to orientation camp and sold it all in less than three weeks. That was possible because the camp soldiers seized everyone’s big perfume bottles as contraband. My oil bottles were tiny, so they allowed me to take them in. You won’t believe I spent the entire ₦150k I made in camp.

    You say?

    The lure of the mammy market worked its magic. I was just buying shawarma, grilled fish, grilled chicken, you name it.

    Post-camp, my Place of Primary Assignment (PPA) was a tech company — I got the connection through a friend — and my official role was customer success intern. It was a bit weird to be at intern level, considering all my years of work experience, but that was the only role the company had for corps members. They paid ₦50k/month, and with the NYSC stipend, my income was ₦83k/month. The company retained me after I finished my service in 2023, and I got a salary bump to ₦150k. Later that year, after people complained, they reviewed salaries, and I got another bump to ₦250k. But my eyes were already on bigger things. 

    Customer success is heavily data-reliant, and as the only data analyst on the team, I was doing my normal customer success manager work and data analysis for the entire team. I knew I could get better opportunities. So, I began applying all I’d learnt on the job, talking to people about customer success and putting myself out there on LinkedIn.

    [ad]

    Did job offers come?

    Oh, they did. I was even selecting the ones I wanted. At that point, I worked mostly remotely — only one day at the office —but most Nigerian companies wanted a hybrid situation where employees would work from the office thrice a week. I didn’t want that, so I set my sights on foreign companies. 

    I eventually landed a customer success manager role with a Ghanaian company early this year. That’s my current role. But I really shot myself in the foot when negotiating my salary.

    Ooof. You didn’t ask for enough?

    I asked for less than they offered. They gave me a ₦400k – ₦800k range for the role, and I went and picked ₦650k because I was scared of picking the highest. 

    Only for me to enter the company and realise that other people picked the highest figure and even negotiated to like ₦900k or ₦1m. It’s painful, but I’m trying to work up the courage to ask for a raise.

    I also run two businesses. One is with my husband — we got married last year — and it’s a virtual tutoring company where we teach people coding, maths and English. My role is admin-related: I sort out the students, assign them to tutors, handle payments and the rest. I get 17% of the profits monthly, and right now, that’s about ₦200k/month. 

    The second business is a CV-writing service, and I have a virtual assistant who helps me with the social media page and anything else I want to do outside work. I pay the assistant ₦50k and get an average of ₦50k/month in profit.

    All together, my monthly income is at least ₦900k. 

    What kind of life does ₦900k/month afford you?

    I still feel broke. If someone had told younger me that I’d be earning almost a  million and still have to calculate so much before doing things, or not be able to do some things at all, I’d have said it was impossible.

    I bought a $300 course recently and I had to save for a few months to afford it. I also want to buy a laptop, but do you know how much that costs now? I feel like I shouldn’t be calculating as much as I do, or thinking about starting a business for extra income. ₦900k should make my life easier, but it doesn’t.

    Is there an ideal amount you think would help?

    The starting point is earning in dollars. I don’t even mind earning $1k and going up from there. I don’t want to earn in naira anymore. 

    When I got my job, ₦650k was about $600, but now it’s not up to $400. What happens next year? Will it be $200? What happens when I need to pay for another course? There are several courses I can’t do yet because I have to plan and plan.

    I recently got a $2k – $3k offer, though. But the company has several red flags on Glassdoor. I’m currently contemplating if I should sacrifice my mental health for money.

    I’m screaming. Let’s break down your monthly expenses

    Nairalife #302 monthlyh expenses

    These are my recurring expenses. I often spend more than this, but it depends on the month. For instance, I’m currently renovating my kitchen, and I’ve spent about ₦600k. Sometimes, I contribute to the home’s expenses, but that’s only when I want to assist my husband; he pays for everything.

    I regularly take a lot of courses, but there’s no set monthly budget for that. My last course was a two-level professional certification for customer success managers, and I paid over $300 for each level. For savings, I invest my money in stocks.

    How much is your stocks portfolio worth now?

    It’s a little below $1k now, but it fluctuates regularly because of the stock market and exchange rate. I’m not worried about it, though. The plan is to just forget the money there and let it grow.

    I should mention I recently started a master’s degree program, so that’s another thing taking my money. My husband paid the ₦300k registration fee, but I handled the almost ₦400k payment for my first semester.

    What part of your finances do you think you could be better at?

    I can definitely do better at saving money. ₦100k monthly is pretty small, considering my income and limited responsibilities. But I also don’t want to be the person who aggressively saves and doesn’t enjoy their money in the present. 

    Is there anything you want right now but can’t afford?

    An international MBA. I’ve noticed recruiters for global companies want to see that talents have gone past their immediate environment to gain international experience. I’ve seen relatively cheap MBA options I can do with $300/month, but it’s still expensive because I earn in naira.

    Secondly, I’d like to be able to relocate someday. But before this happens, I want to visit these countries and see what they’re like before uprooting my life. I can’t do any of those yet because my income is still too low, but hopefully, that’ll happen soon. 

    How would you rate your financial happiness on a scale of 1-10?

    7 or 8. I’m not where I want to be, but it’s a huge improvement from where I was. It’s like, I know I’m not squandering money, but I also feel like I’m not saving enough. 

    If you’re interested in talking about your Naira Life story, this is a good place to start.

    Yes, I want to do a Naira Life!

    Find all the past Naira Life stories here.

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  • Two years ago, Carmen* (23) gave her newborn baby to a random woman in her neighbourhood and didn’t look back.

    In this story, she shares why that was the best decision given her financial circumstances, why she accepts that people wouldn’t understand, and her plans for the future.

    As told to Boluwatife

    Image: Zikoko

    As a teenager, I used to think of my mum as the worst mother in the world. It’s ironic that someday, my child might feel the same about me. 

    Now that I’m older, I understand that my mum was simply a victim of circumstances. She wasn’t married to my dad when she had me, but they lived together as husband and wife. After I turned two, they started having issues, and my dad sent her out of the house. Then, he sent me to live with my grandmother so my mum wouldn’t have access to me. 

    I didn’t know this. All I knew about my mum was what my grandma told me, and that was mostly insults. So, I grew up believing my mum abandoned me and didn’t want anything to do with me. 

    My dad wasn’t any better. He only occasionally sent money for my care to my grandma; he hardly came to visit. Even with the money he sent, grandma was always broke, and she made sure I never forgot that. If I asked for biscuits, she’d go, “With the chicken change your father sends abi?” So, I had to learn to hustle early. 

    At 10 years old, I hawked pure water after school and used whatever I made to buy soup ingredients at the market so grandma could cook. If I didn’t sell enough, we would drink garri. 

    In secondary school, I taught myself how to braid hair and charged my friends ₦50 to plait all-back hairstyles for them. During term holidays, I washed plates for ₦500/day at a nearby restaurant. I also braided hair for neighbours and made between ₦100 and ₦200 per client. Most of the money went into buying foodstuff at home and other things I needed, like sanitary pads.

    I’m not proud to say it, but I also started dating people specifically because they’d give me money. The first guy I dated was a conductor in my area. I was 17 then and looking for money to pay for GCE. My dad had refused to send money because I failed WAEC, but I didn’t want to just sit at home. 

    This conductor guy had been toasting me for a while, saying things like,”I’ll take care of you.” So, one day, I just decided to give him a chance. He gave me ₦5k the first time we slept together, and soon enough, I’d gathered the ₦15k I needed for GCE. 

    I got into the polytechnic in 2019. There, I dated a married man for a few months so I could afford a ₦90k/year room — my school didn’t have a hostel. I still did other hustles like braiding hair and selling hair creams, but my income hardly covered my school fees. At this point, my dad wasn’t concerned about me again, so I provided for myself. 

    Things were going pretty well. I could afford to feed myself and handle most of my needs. If I ever got really broke, I could reach out to any of my guys. But then, I got pregnant just as I was rounding up my OND program in 2021.

    I still don’t understand how it happened because I always use a condom. I didn’t even know I was pregnant till I was almost six months pregnant. My period has never been regular, so I didn’t worry when I missed it for two months and when I only bled for two days in the subsequent months. 

    I only visited the hospital when my stomach looked swollen, and I began to feel slight movement. Alas, I was pregnant. 

    Abortion was my first conclusion. The baby’s father was one of my married boyfriends, and I knew he’d ignore me if I even told him. My friend introduced me to a doctor who could help, but one look at my scan results and the doctor refused to do anything. Apparently, I was too far gone.

    Another friend convinced me to get a ₦27k herbal potion that was supposed to “wash it away”, but the only thing the potion did was purge me for three days.

    [ad]

    I was still mentally calculating my next steps when I had a strange experience. A woman wearing a church’s white garment stopped me on the road behind my house and plainly told me not to get an abortion, or I’d lose my life. I’d seen the woman a few times in the neighbourhood, but we had never interacted. My pregnancy wasn’t even visibly showing. 

    I told her, “Thank you,” and was about to move on when she said, “If you don’t want the baby, just give me please.” She started explaining how she had been married for years without a child and that the Holy Spirit revealed to her that I was about to lose my life trying to abort a child. She began promising to take care of the child and give me anything I wanted.

    At that point, I was worried about attracting too much attention since we were on the road. So, I got us to exchange contacts and promised to contact her.

    Honestly, I was going to ignore her, but I found myself seriously considering her request. It was too late to get an abortion, and I knew without a doubt I couldn’t afford a baby. I was just finishing school and didn’t even have any close family to help care for a baby while I was trying to hustle. My grandma was completely out of the picture; I knew she’d insult my life and send me away.

    My accommodation was also uncertain because my roommates were leaving. I knew paying the rent — which the landlord increased to ₦120k — alone would be difficult on an occasional hairdresser’s income. I had no job, no money, no support and was soon to be homeless. I couldn’t exactly try my boyfriends because of the pregnancy, and I knew it’d be even worse if I became a single mum. The conclusion was clear: I wasn’t financially or even mentally ready for any child.

    So, I called the white garment woman and agreed to give her the child. She took me to her hometown so people in our neighbourhood wouldn’t see me pregnant and then see her with a child without pregnancy. 

    She registered me with a hospital for antenatal care and really took care of me during pregnancy. I didn’t have pregnancy cravings, but I had to fake some cravings when she wouldn’t stop asking if I wanted anything. I think she was just trying to make sure I wouldn’t change my mind. I didn’t.

    After I gave birth in 2022, the woman even asked if I wanted to stay a few weeks longer to breastfeed the child. But I didn’t want to form any connection. She also wanted to give me money, but that felt like I was selling the child. So, I refused. She said I can come see the child whenever I want, but I don’t think that’ll ever happen.

    Since then, I’ve tried to push the whole thing to the back of my mind and focus on making something of myself. I still offer hairdressing services, and last year, I got a ₦60k/month receptionist job. I also started a degree program at the open university earlier this year to get a better certificate while still working. I’ve spent close to ₦90k in school fees so far. It’s worth it because a degree would increase my earning potential.

    Overall, things have been going well. I no longer have to rely on men for money, and I can see a clear path to success. I’m sure I wouldn’t have recorded all this progress if I had a baby to worry about. I also reconnected with my mum this year—she looked for me on Facebook—and we’re repairing our relationship. I don’t think I’ll ever tell her about my child because I’m not sure she’ll understand. I don’t plan to share this with anyone else, either. 

    People will likely judge me, but I don’t care. I made the best decision for both of us. My child has a mother who wants her and can provide for her, and that’s all that matters.

    *Name has been changed for the sake of anonymity.

    NEXT READ: I’m the Easiest Person to Scam, and It’s Not Funny Anymore

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  • The topic of how young Nigerians navigate romantic relationships with their earnings is a minefield of hot takes. In Love Currency, we get into what relationships across income brackets look like in different cities.

    How long have you been with your partner?

    I’ve been with my primary partner for eight months, but I just started seeing my secondary partner last month. It’s not serious sha.

    Hollup

    Haha. Me and my primary partner, Ola*, are in an open relationship. It’s actually my first open relationship. Before Ola, I struggled with relationships and commitment because I easily get attracted to people, and monogamy felt like a trap. Like I had to force myself to stick to one person while pretending I didn’t find other women attractive. It didn’t sit right with me.

    So, when I realised Ola felt the same way, I knew I’d found my person.

    How did you meet Ola?

    We met on a mutual friend’s WhatsApp group. It was a group for bants, and Ola was the babe who was constantly dropping an opinion. 

    One day, she was arguing with someone else about feminism. I DM’ed her to say I agreed with her, but I thought she should tone it down because she was starting to do too much. She immediately cleared me and told me never to enter her DM to say rubbish again. 

    I’m screaming

    I apologised, and we made up. We started talking often, and within a few weeks, we were in a talking stage. That’s how I knew her position on relationships. She’s polyamorous and doesn’t believe in monogamous relationships. 

    We transitioned from the talking stage to a proper relationship after we met each other for the first time, about two months into the talking stage. We wanted to make sure we were sexually compatible before committing to a relationship. 

    So, how does your relationship work?

    Ola and I laid down the ground rules when we became official. We’d tell each other before getting involved with anyone else and not try to hide any parts of the relationship with that person because that would make it cheating.

    Ola is also very against threesomes, so she doesn’t want to meet any woman I’m sleeping with. That’s not a problem for me because most of my other partners have just been hookups that last for a few weeks at most. 

    Sometimes, I tell these hookups about my girlfriend. Other times, I don’t because some ladies find it difficult to agree that my girlfriend is okay with me being with someone else. The lady I’m currently with, Amy* knows about Ola. Amy also has a boyfriend, so it’s more like a friends-with-benefits situation. 

    How do finances work in your relationship?

    To be honest, an open relationship is expensive. I like treating my women to a good time, so whenever I’m with someone, I pull out all the stops to make sure they’re comfortable. I can’t take a woman out on a date and expect her to pay.

    The typical expenses are restaurant dates and cab fees, which can run into ₦80k. I share my apartment with a friend, so sometimes I also pay for hotels to avoid inconveniencing my friend. That’s usually between ₦25k – ₦30k. 

    Ola is in university, so we aren’t always in the same city. Whenever she’s around —thrice since we became official— we go on dates, explore Ibadan, or even visit Lagos. Ola loves the outdoors. The last time she came around, we travelled to visit Lekki Conservation Centre. 

    The two-day trip plus accommodation cost close to ₦100k, and Ola paid around ₦40k of that amount. That’s another thing about Ola — I like spending on her and don’t expect her to pay for anything, but before I blink, aunty has opened wallet and brought out her card. She doesn’t mind paying for shared dates, but I always try to beat her to it.

    What’s Ola’s financial situation like?

    She’s a student and works as a social media manager. I’m not exactly sure how much she earns, but I know she also gets an allowance from her parents. I suspect she’s much richer than I am. She’s always telling me how I need to be more financially disciplined and save more so my savings can save me one day.

    I’m the more impulsive spender between the two of us, and she’s made it a personal mission to change me.

    Have your spending habits ever caused conflicts between you two?

    Oh yes. Since Ola knows about my other relationships, she also has an idea of how much I spend on them, and she often gets upset. She feels I’m just throwing money away, which has led to a few arguments. 

    I tell Ola that her objections make it difficult for me to share details of my other relationships because I don’t want to receive a financial lecture, and she feels I’m just making excuses. 

    I also sometimes struggle to get her gifts because she complains about how much I spend. During her birthday in August, I got her a wig from an Instagram vendor and thought I was the best boyfriend in the world. But Ola complained that the wig was too expensive for ₦108k. She said she knew where to get it cheaper. In my head, I was thinking, “Just collect this thing and keep quiet.”

    So yeah, there are the random communication gaps and arguments here and there, but we work through them. No relationship is perfect.

    Do you have a financial safety net, though?

    I try to save at least ₦40k monthly for my emergency savings. I also sometimes get freelance gigs. When they come, I direct my earnings to my savings account. Sometimes, I spend out of that account, but I try to be reasonable about it.

    What’s your ideal financial future as a couple?

    We’re still in the very early stages of our relationship, so I’m not thinking that far yet. But for me personally, I hope to earn enough to afford japa in the next five years. 

    Interested in talking about how money moves in your relationship? If yes, click here.

    *Names have been changed for the sake of anonymity.

    NEXT READ: This Brand Designer’s Marriage Is Recovering From a Financial Crisis

    Get more stories like this and the inside gist on all the fun things that happen at Zikoko straight to your inbox when you subscribe to the Zikoko Daily newsletter. Do it now!

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  • Volume 109

    Brought to you by

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  • Every week, Zikoko seeks to understand how people move the Naira in and out of their lives. Some stories will be struggle-ish, others will be bougie. All the time, it’ll be revealing.

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    TW: Revenge porn, sexual abuse, attempted suicide. 

    What’s your earliest memory of money?

    I remember watching my primary school classmates go out to get snacks during break time and being unable to do the same because I didn’t have money. That’s when it first clicked that money was necessary to get basic things.

    Did your “not having money” have anything to do with your family’s financial situation?

    It did, but we weren’t poor. My mum is a teacher, and my dad is a civil servant, so they’re pretty well-to-do. But they have a scarcity mindset, which I think may have come from their childhoods. I don’t know the specifics, but they probably had limited access to money and thought their children should also have limited access to cash. 

    My siblings and I had to give full explanations to support any money request. At first, I thought it was normal, but I realised as I got older that their attitude towards money was extreme. It was so bad that, even when I hit puberty, my parents refused to buy me a deodorant. I was a sweaty adolescent, and everyone in my class complained of my body odour, but my parents didn’t think I needed a deodorant. 

    It also didn’t help that I struggled with my mental health as a kid, which further fractured my relationship with my parents. I was a withdrawn, unhappy child, and my parents didn’t understand it. Like why are you depressed when we provide every basic thing you need? 

    I thought they saw me as an ungrateful child and vibe killer — my mum especially — and it made it even more difficult for me to ask for money. My mum would say I didn’t deserve things because I didn’t make her happy. I kinda understand my mum now, though. It must have been difficult dealing with a child who was always sad. 

    Hmmm

    I endured a whole lot of mental and emotional stress growing up because of all the weirdness.

    There was a brief period when I was 18, and my mum became nicer to me. My parents finally took me to see a mental health specialist who said I suffered from clinical depression caused by a chemical imbalance. The diagnosis cost about ₦300k. They also prescribed me drugs for treatment, and that helped. 

    But the damage had already been done. 

    What do you mean?

    It’s a long story. 

    I’m listening

    I entered university in 2019, and my parents gave me a ₦10k/month allowance, which was barely enough for feeding. I’m sure they knew it wasn’t enough, too. But since I was uncomfortable with asking them for money, I had to sort myself out. I started dating people I shouldn’t have because they’d give me money. I also tried a few other things for money at uni.

    Tell me more about these other things

    The first thing I did was write. I used to write essays for my classmates in high school, so I knew I could write. I met a copywriter in school, and he put me through freelance sites like Upwork and Fiverr. 

    I started content writing on those sites in 2020 and got occasional ₦20/word gigs. The most I made from a gig was ₦40k for a 2k-word article. Around the same time, I began to get a considerable social media following due to some of my thirst traps I posted online. I’d also been posting some of my writing on my accounts, so when the social media attention increased, I started getting requests to write smut content. 

    How much were you getting paid to write smut?

    The average pay per smut piece was ₦50k, and each piece contained three to five chapters. I received a lot of requests, but I only took one or two gigs weekly because the writing had to be pretty detailed, and I didn’t feel good writing it. 

    Why do you think that was?

    The most common requests I got were about rape fetishes and gay smut that still had hints of rape. It became so irritating and uncomfortable writing these pieces that I couldn’t even read them after writing. It was quick money, but I started to hate it so much. I stopped after about nine months.

    I moved on to writing music recommendations on social media. By then, I’d gotten over 10k followers and was something like an influencer. So, up-and-coming artists paid me at least ₦10k to recommend their songs. My life was going well. 

    Then, a few years ago, someone leaked my private photos and a sex tape, and I had to leave school.

    If you have been a victim of revenge porn or you know someone who is currently being victimised, here’s a resource that can help.

    Oh no. Do you have any idea how that happened?

    My ex-boyfriend did it. We had a messy breakup, but it never even occurred to me that he’d do that. I didn’t even know he was holding on to those pictures and videos. I also didn’t know when the pictures started going around in my uni and on social media until a few weeks later.

    You know how you never think something can happen to you, but it does anyway? That’s how I felt. I used to be super judgemental about things like that and be like, “Why can’t women be more careful?” But it happened to me, and it’s like, “Yeah, it’s not exactly something you see coming.”

    I’m so sorry

    It was so world-altering, and it’s crazy how much one person has impacted my life. My university got involved after someone reported that I was self-harming and hadn’t left my room in a week. The school authorities also involved my parents — I asked them not to tell my parents about the pictures, so they just thought I was depressed. I was hospitalised for three days as everyone concluded I was a danger to myself. It was also the period I finally got the clinical depression diagnosis I mentioned earlier. 

    My school didn’t let me write exams two different times because they wanted to make sure I was in the right mental state. However, they couldn’t do anything to stop people from sharing the pictures. Ultimately, I had to transfer to another uni towards the end of 2023. 

    I’m sorry you went through that

    That wasn’t even all. The pictures started making rounds at my new school not long after I started there. I heard boys were literally sourcing for new pictures and selling my shit. 

    It was so embarrassing. I missed exams again and attempted suicide during the semester break. My parents thought it was depression again, and they went into panic mode, trying to watch over me. That was until my sister revealed that the whole thing was because my nudes leaked.

    My parents were angry, as expected. It was a whole lot.

    If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts or crisis, please reach out for support here.

    Where was your head during this time?

    First, I stayed away from social media. I deactivated all my accounts because some people started to recognise me from the pictures going around. I stopped writing the music recommendations because I couldn’t even think about making money.

    However, I rejoined social media a few months ago when I learnt that the pictures were beginning to resurface. I try to limit the leaks by finding the account of the person actively sharing them and paying hackers between ₦60k and ₦100k to take down the accounts. When the pictures started trending again a few months ago, I reached out to the source, and this guy actually told me he was making money on my pictures, so he couldn’t take them down. He was like, “It must suck to be you.” 

    That’s wild

    It was so shocking to me. That same day, I saw an online ad about a new platform where you could get paid to post pictures and videos. I thought it’d just be an opportunity to gather followership again and find people who liked me enough to pay for my attention. I created an account, set my subscription rate at ₦30k/month, and put the link in my social media bio. 

    I thought my subscription rate was ridiculous and didn’t expect anyone to pay, so I just forgot about the account. But a week later, the platform’s managers reached out to tell me I was amassing a lot of money on the platform and wanted to give me a contract. I was surprised, so I opened the account. I found ₦1m sitting in my wallet. I hadn’t even posted anything yet.

    But what were they subscribing to?

    Let me tell you how the platform works: Every creator’s account is locked to the public, and only a paying subscriber can see the content. The creator can also put custom content behind a different paywall and charge subscribers more to see it. When they pay, the money goes to the creator’s wallet, which they can withdraw to a bank account. The platform takes 30% as commission.

    When I returned to the platform, I uploaded regular pictures at first. But then I started getting weird DMs from my subscribers about wanting explicit content. That’s when I checked other content creators’ pages and realised the platform was essentially an adult content creation platform. 

    Remember the contract I mentioned? The platform’s managers offered to pay me ₦800k to promote my account link three times a week on my other social media platforms for three months, in addition to whatever I made from subscriptions and other content. 

    It seemed like a no-brainer. At that point, all the negative attention from the leaks had become overwhelming. I couldn’t return to school because I was scared and miserable, and people avoided me. I felt like I was radioactive. I’d also told my parents I wanted to take a gap year and attend fashion school, but they refused to pay for it.

    I just thought, “I’m being shamed regardless. Might as well make money from it.”

    So, you started creating adult content fully

    Once I started, I knew there was no going back. I moved out and went to squat with friends because I knew what I was doing would get to my parents one way or another. 

    Also, about a month ago, I accepted the platform’s contract and started posting explicit content. A lot has happened since then.

    First, there’s the money. I’ve never seen the amount of money I’ve made this past month before. I spent several days looking at that ₦1m I made in my first week because I just couldn’t believe it.

    That said, I quickly got a lot of negative attention, which in turn increased my subscribers. The attention was mostly people accusing me of my “hypocrisy.” Like, this same babe who complained about her nudes getting leaked is now doing this. 

    I learnt that guys from my former school were contributing money to pay for access to my content on the platform. Some of my male friends even created burner accounts to subscribe. The first two weeks were the hardest —It was difficult to become comfortable with the whole thing, and I was depressed for a bit, but I think I’m getting the hang of it.

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    Has your family found out?

    They found out almost immediately and were understandably upset. My parents called me via conference call, and they couldn’t wrap their heads around it. My mum and I didn’t even speak for a while. But we’re slowly getting back on talking terms. 

    I told my parents I needed to do it to figure out my life and get into fashion school, and they’ve been following up, especially my dad. He made sure I got an apartment and sent him receipts after paying for fashion school. My apartment cost ₦3.5m, and my tuition is ₦2.5m for a one-year program — all paid with my income. I won’t just be learning how to sew, though. The program also teaches a course on the business side of the fashion industry.

    Out of curiosity, how much have you made since you’ve been creating adult content?

    Over ₦10m. Most of this income came from custom content. I currently have six subscribers who consistently request custom content, and the least I charge is ₦100k. Right now, I make at least ₦800k weekly on the platform.

    Interestingly, custom content isn’t always anything crazy. Sure, I get the nude photos and video requests, but some subscribers just ask for a regular conversation. They’re probably just lonely guys who want someone to talk to. But of course, there are also people with weird fetishes, which I sometimes decline.

    READ: A Week In The Life Of A Sex Worker

    What are some of the weirdest requests you’ve gotten?

    One guy was really into armpits and kept asking for footage of my armpits in different positions. That one was just confusing. 

    I honestly used to think fetishes were mostly a white people thing, but Nigerians have some of the weirdest ones I’ve heard. I’ve declined requests where guys ask me to send videos where I’m peeing on myself.

    People also ask for sex tapes, but I’m not comfortable with that either. There’s no way to film without showing my face. The tapes would pay more, but I already have a bad experience with them.

    Right. What’s the weight of being an adult content creator on your personal life?

    I struggle with the stereotype and how I’m constantly sexualised. It also hurts me when my siblings and friends text me about what I’m doing. Or when I meet guys, and they see my adult content link on my bio, and the first thing they want to do is sleep with me.

    People have called me a prostitute and associated what I’m doing with sex work even though I’m not actually sleeping with anyone. I understand it, though. Nigerians can’t accept the concept of adult content creation and the immorality around it. A year ago, I wouldn’t have accepted it either. 

    So, I get the stigma, but I’ve learned to tune out the background noise. I now restrict my comments section and limit people’s access to me. Interestingly, the people dragging me are the same ones paying to view my content, so I’ve learned not to take the social media noise seriously anymore. That doesn’t mean I’m always unaffected by it. It’s hard. I just don’t feel like I have the right to complain because I made this decision.

    I’ve also consciously begun surrounding myself with people who don’t judge me. I’m making new friends and taking each day as it comes.

    Quick segue: You’ve made so much money so quickly. How do you feel about that?

    Sometimes, I feel like it’s just beginner’s luck. I worry that the money will stop coming, and I fear going broke. So, I’m under intense pressure to make the right financial decisions that can guarantee me other income sources when this one stops paying. 

    Even if adult content doesn’t stop paying, I’m not sure how much more I can take. I pretend like I don’t give a fuck like the other creators, but I’m certain my mental health can’t handle doing this for a long time, so I’m actively considering alternatives.

    Is this where fashion school comes in?

    Yeah. I just started the program and will need to figure out how to run a fashion business when I’m done. I’ve also promised my parents I’ll only do adult content for the year it’ll take me to complete the program. That means I have a year to figure my shit out.

    In the meantime, I want to create a brand as a fashion influencer while I still have social media attention. So, hopefully, when I go cold turkey on adult content, the attention will move to my brand.

    Have there been any lifestyle changes due to the income surge?

    Besides my apartment and school fees, my financial habits haven’t really changed. I squandered that first ₦1m on clothes and other essentials because I left home without packing anything. But now, I mostly keep my money. I just like looking at it in my account — possibly because I’m scared it will disappear.

    Oh, and this isn’t exactly a lifestyle change, but everyone now asks me for money. My relatives and former friends literally look at my subscriber count to calculate my money. For them, that’s enough justification to bill me. It’s crazy because they judge me but still want my money. It’s weird having to say no all the time.

    I might consider investments because I still need to be smart with my money. I owe that to myself because no one will come to my rescue if things go south. But for now, I enjoy looking at it while figuring out what to do.

    What are your typical monthly expenses like?

    Well, I’ve only had money for about a month, so I still think of my expenses on a weekly basis.

    Nairalife #301 weekly expenses

    Is there anything you want right now but can’t afford?

    A car. I don’t even care whether it’s a Corolla or Camry; I just want something that can take me from point A to B because cabs are so expensive right now.

    While I can afford a car on paper, I don’t think it’s a wise decision. It’ll most likely take a chunk of my earnings. I want to get to the point where I can buy something between ₦3m – ₦5m without stressing about how much I have left. 

    How would you rate your financial happiness on a scale of 1 -10?

    5. I feel like I’ll still have money anxiety, no matter how much I have. It took me making money to know ₦1m isn’t a lot of money and that money can go as quickly as it comes. I know I’m comfortable right now, but I’m not confident about my finances. 

    If you’ve been a victim of revenge porn or you struggle with your mental health, here are some resources you might find helpful:

    If you’re interested in talking about your Naira Life story, this is a good place to start.

    Yes, I want to do a Naira Life!

    Find all the past Naira Life stories here.

    Subscribe to the newsletter here.

  • You’re sexually active, and we know it. There’s no need to deny; we don’t judge. But we want to make sure you’re going about it the healthy way. Start by taking this quiz.

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  • You’ve probably fallen for at least one scam in your lifetime, but for Adeoti*, the number is far greater.

    In this story, she shares her frustrations about having fallen for more scams than usual, the possible causes, and what she hopes to do differently so it doesn’t happen again.

    As told to Boluwatife

    Image: Zikoko

    I don’t know if it’s because I automatically see the good in people or I’m just dumb, but I’ve fallen prey to too many scams in my life. It’s actually ridiculous. 

    I think the first scam I fell for was in secondary school. I was in SS 1 when my mum decided to sell recharge cards to augment her income as a civil servant. I convinced her to let me take some to school to sell them to my classmates and teachers. The agreement was that she’d reward me with ₦50 for every ₦1k worth of airtime I managed to sell.

    The business went well for the first two weeks, but then my mum started complaining that customers were returning the recharge cards, claiming they’d already been used. I also experienced that twice in school. We initially thought the mix-up was from the distributor my mum bought the cards from, but after asking a few questions, it turned out to be me.

    This is what happened: The recharge cards were basically airtime printed on paper. If you bought cards around 2010-ish, you know the airtime pin is just on the paper for anyone to see. One of my classmates always bought the cards for his mum who sold food in the canteen. But sometimes, he’d return them, claiming that he mistakenly bought a different amount. 

    Mumu me, I collected the cards back, not knowing he’d memorised and used the pin. That’s how the business stopped. My mum came to my school to report my classmate to the principal, but I also got punished because I sold recharge cards in class without permission.

    Just before entering uni, I fell for one of those beach game scams. The type where you see people throwing rings on items on the floor, hoping to win cash prizes or big teddy bears. I think the game organisers charged ₦100 per ring throw and didn’t let people throw themselves — the ring had to be thrown by one of the organisers. Unknown to me, it was an impossible game that no one could win. I spent ₦2k at a go and left there with nothing.

    In uni, I fell for one of those cab scams—the one where the bus driver says he saw dollars in the boot, and one of the “passengers” claims it and promises to share the money with everyone if we help him convert it. 

    In my head, I was already calculating my share of the money, so I foolishly followed the cab to the “baba” who would change the money for them. I don’t even know how it happened, but the baba convinced me to bring money for one thing. I’d emptied my account and given him my last ₦20k before I knew what happened.

    I’ve even fallen for a romance scam. In 2016, I met a supposed “oyinbo” on Facebook, and the guy started catching feelings for me. That’s how he said he wanted to send me a phone, laptop and some clothes. I thought I’d hit the jackpot.

    This “oyinbo” sent me a courier receipt to prove he’d sent the items, and within a few hours, someone called me, claiming to be from the logistics company. He asked me to pay ₦35k to clear the delivery. I thought, “How much is ₦35k in the face of what I stand to gain?” So, I sent the money. At this point, you can already guess what happened. The oyinbo and the logistics guy were both scammers, and they blocked me immediately after I sent the money. 

    Less than a year later, I still carried money and put in MMM and all the other Ponzi schemes. You’d think I’d have learnt my lesson from all my experiences, but I heard all the success stories around me and thought it was worth the risk. I lost my money.

    I’ve also once given someone ₦1k because he walked up to me and claimed he just got robbed and had no way of paying for his wife’s hospital bills. When I got home that day and narrated the story to my sister, she revealed she knew the guy and that was his go-to story to scam people. 

    Just last week, I lost ₦70k to a fake Instagram wig vendor. I’m not sure this one was even my fault because I looked out for all the warning signs. I made sure it was an account with over 5k followers, and I noticed that the vendor often posed testimonials from other supposed buyers. I thought everything looked legit, so I paid for a human hair bob wig — only for this vendor to send the most synthetic hair I’ve ever seen and block me when I started complaining. 

    My friends always laugh when I share my scam stories, but it happens too frequently to be funny anymore. I’m the easiest person to scam, and I’m not sure why it keeps happening. Maybe I’m just too greedy, and that’s why I keep falling for things like this. Is there a big signboard on my forehead that says “Mugu”? 

    My partner has suggested that the best way to be less susceptible to scams is by informing at least one person before I make major financial decisions, and I think that’s what I’ll do going forward. I can’t continue like this.

    *Names have been changed for the sake of anonymity. 

    NEXT READ: I Don’t Mind Starving All Year Long Just to Have Money to Spend in December

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  • With inflation on a consistent rise, the most basic items in the Nigerian market are quickly turning into luxury items, and phones are at the top of that list. However, Android smartphones are necessary for communication, entertainment, and even business. We can’t exactly do without them. 

    So, we’ve made a list of the latest and most affordable Android phones in Nigeria and their prices to help you make informed, cost-effective decisions.

    Imose GIDI 2 (₦56,000)

    The Imose GIDI 2 Smartphone has a 6-inch display, 4000mAh Li-Polymer battery, and supports a 4G LTE network. These features make it one of the most affordable smartphones in the market today.

    Specs highlight

    • SIM: 3G/4G Dual SIM 
    • Screen:  6.0-inch IPS LCD
    • Battery Capacity: 4000mAh
    • Memory: RAM (2GB), Internal (16GB)
    • Other features: 8MP Autofocus rear camera plus 2MP selfie HD camera

    itel A56 (₦57,600)

    The iTel A56 was launched in 2020, building upon the success of its predecessor, the iTel A55. However, the A56 offers several improvements, like increased battery capacity and larger storage, all while maintaining affordability.

    Specs highlight

    • SIM: Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
    • Screen:  6.0-inch IPS LCD
    • Battery Capacity: 4000mAh
    • Memory: RAM (1GB), Internal (16GB)
    • Other features: Dual rear camera with front-facing camera, memory card slot for expandable storage and runs on Android 9.0 Pie (Go Edition)

    Infinix Smart 6 HD (₦75,000)

    The Infinix Smart 6 HD is one of the cheapest offerings from the Infinix brand. It runs on Android 11 and has a 5000mAh battery for long battery life. The smartphone also features a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and 10W wired charging.

    Specs highlight

    • SIM: Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
    • Screen:  6.6-inch IPS LCD
    • Battery Capacity: 5000mAh
    • Memory: RAM (2GB, 3GB), Internal (32GB, 64GB)
    • Other features: Dual-LED flash, FM radio and comes in three different colours

    itel A06 (₦82,000)

    The A06 has a premium and stylish design and a 6.6-inch HD+ display. It runs Android 13 Go Edition and is powered by a 4000mAh battery for faster downloads and more stable calls. This smartphone is also purported to be dust and moisture-proof.

    Specs highlight

    • SIM: Dual SIM, 4G LTE
    • Screen:  6.6-inch Waterdrop FullScreen
    • Battery Capacity: 4000mAh
    • Memory: 2GB RAM (Up to 4GB RAM with Extended RAM), 32GB ROM and up to 128GB expandable memory 
    • Other features: Fingerprint sensor & face unlock, 8MP camera and Type-C charging port

    itel A50C (₦92,900)

    The itel A50C boasts a 6.56-inch display and runs on the Android 14 operating system. It also features a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and a non-removable 4000mAh battery.

    Specs highlight

    • SIM: Dual SIM, 4G LTE
    • Screen:  6.5-inch IPS LCD
    • Battery Capacity: 4000mAh
    • Memory: 2GB RAM, 32GB ROM 
    • Other features: USB Type-C, 8MP camera, LED flash

    ALSO READ: 55 Ways To Make Money Online, Offline and from Home as a Nigerian

    itel A50 (₦99,000)

    The itel A50 is a slightly bigger version of the A50C. It has a larger 6.6-inch display, a better battery capacity and more storage space.

    Specs highlight

    • SIM: Dual SIM, 4G LTE
    • Screen:  6.6-inch Waterdrop Full Screen
    • Battery Capacity: 5000mAh
    • Memory: 2GB RAM, 64GB ROM 
    • Other features: USB Type-C, 8MP camera, LED flash

    Tecno Pop 6 Go (₦100,000)

    The Tecno Pop 6 Go runs Android 10 and is powered by a 5000mAh battery. Its 6.0-inch screen doesn’t offer the largest display, but it makes up for this by providing face unlock features and an AI lens camera.

    Specs highlight

    • SIM: Dual SIM, 4G LTE
    • Screen:  6.0-inch HD+ Dot Notch Screen
    • Battery Capacity: 5000mAh
    • Memory: 2GB RAM, 32GB ROM 
    • Other features: Accelerometer, ambient light sensor, compass/ magnetometer, proximity sensor, and fingerprint sensor

    Poco C61 (₦107,000)

    The Poco brand may not be well-known in Nigeria, but it definitely produces budget smartphones with essential features. The Poco C61 boasts a 90Hz high refresh rate, ultra-thin design, and massive storage space, supporting expansion to up to 1TB.

    Specs highlight

    • SIM: Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
    • Screen:  6.71-inch IPS LCD
    • Battery Capacity: 5000mAh
    • Memory: 3GB RAM, 64GB ROM 
    • Other features: Dual-LED flash, Circular central camera

    itel A70 – A665L (₦107,000)

    The itel A70 houses an advanced octa-core processor for seamless multitasking and swift performance. It also boasts a 6.6-inch screen with a dynamic bar display.

    Specs highlight

    • SIM: Dual SIM
    • Screen:  6.6-inch display
    • Battery Capacity: 5000mAh
    • Memory: 3GB RAM, 128GB ROM expandable storage.
    • Other features: 13MP Super HDR camera and 8MP AI Portrait Selfie camera

    Xiaomi Redmi A3X (₦110,000)

    The Redmi A3X has a smooth and stylish 6.71-inch display protected by Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3, making it resistant to accidental water splashes. This smartphone also comes with a 5000mAh battery and a Type-C charger.

    Specs highlight

    • SIM: Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
    • Screen:  6.71-inch 90Hz HD+ Display
    • Battery Capacity: 5000mAh
    • Memory: 6GB RAM, 128GB ROM expandable up to 1TB with a microSD card slot.
    • Other features: 8MP AI Dual camera (circular camera) and stylish glass back design

    Tecno Pop 8 (₦118,000)

    This Tecno smartphone has a 6.6-inch LCD display and a rear camera with impressive 13 MP + QVGA lenses. It’s also 4G supported.

    Specs highlight

    • SIM: Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
    • Screen: 6.6-inch 90Hz Hole Screen
    • Battery Capacity: 5000mAh
    • Memory: 3GB RAM/ 64GB ROM or 4GB RAM(Extended to 8GB)/ 124GB internal storage
    • Other features: Ambient light and distance sensor, G-Sensor, Side-edge fingerprint and octa-core processor

    Infinix Smart 8  (₦121,300)

    The Smart 8 was introduced in 2023 and features a selfie camera with a punch-hole cutout in the display. This feature also allows it to display the charging status and audio call details via Magic Ring, which is comparable to the iPhone’s Dynamic Island.

    Specs highlight

    • SIM: Dual SIM 
    • Screen: 6.6-inch IPS LCD with HD+ resolution
    • Battery Capacity: 5000mAh
    • Memory: 8GB RAM/ 128GB ROM 
    • Other features: Unisoc T606 chipset, a dual back camera arrangement with ring-LED flash, side fingerprint & face fast unlock

    Freeyond F9s (₦122,700)

    This LTE smartphone features a 13MP camera, an impressive 5000mAh battery for all-day use, and a 6-inch display.

    Specs highlight

    • SIM: Dual SIM 
    • Screen: 6-inch display
    • Battery Capacity: 5000mAh
    • Memory: 3GB RAM/ 128GB ROM 
    • Other features: Android 13 (Go Edition) operating system and 13MP camera

    VIVO Y03  (₦132,000)

    The Vivo Y03 was launched in the Nigerian market in 2024 and supports proprietary fast charging. It runs on Android 14 and is powered by a 5000mAh non-removable battery.

    Specs highlight

    • SIM: Dual SIM 
    • Screen: 6.6-inch display
    • Battery Capacity: 5000mAh
    • Memory: 4GB RAM/ 64GB ROM 
    • Other features: 13MP rear camera and 5MP selfie camera, USB type-C, and dust and water protection

    Xiaomi Redmi A3 Pro (₦135,900)

    The A3 Pro offers a 6.88-inch display and a larger battery (5160 mAh) than most of the other smartphones on this list.

    Specs highlight

    • SIM: Dual SIM 
    • Screen: 6.88-inch display
    • Battery Capacity: 5160mAh
    • Memory: 4GB RAM/ 128GB ROM 
    • Other features: 120 Hz refresh rate, 720 x 1640 pixels resolution and fast charging

    HMD Pulse+(₦151,000)

    The HMD Pulse+ has a 50 MP rear camera and a 5000 mAh battery capacity, boasting a 59-hour battery life. It also supports 4G network connectivity.

    Specs highlight

    • SIM: Nano SIM 
    • Screen:  6.56-inch HD+ HID display
    • Battery Capacity: 5000mAh
    • Memory: RAM (4GB), Internal (128GB)
    • Other features: 50 MP AF dual camera, LED flash, super night + Tripod mode, flash shot, AI HDR, skin tone optimization and side fingerprint sensor

    Samsung Galaxy A23 (₦154,000)

    The A23 is a mid-range smartphone with a 6.6-inch display that supports Full HD+ resolution, a quad-camera setup and 25W fast charging.

    Specs highlight

    • SIM: Dual SIM 
    • Screen: 6.6-inch, Full HD+ display
    • Battery Capacity: 5000mAh with fast charging
    • Memory: 4GB RAM/ 128GB ROM (expandable)
    • Other features: 50MP + 5MP + 2MP + 2MP rear, 8MP front camera and Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 processor

    Tecno Spark 30C (₦160,000)

    The Spark 30C offers a reliable network with 6G capability, 50MP main camera with dual flash and versatile storage options.

    Specs highlight

    • SIM: Dual SIM  (nano sim)
    • Screen: 6.67-inch HD+ display
    • Battery Capacity: 5000mAh
    • Memory: 4GB RAM/ 128GB ROM 
    • Other features: Helio G81 processor, 18W fast charging and Android 14 processing system

    NEXT READ: The Nigerian Air Force Ranks and Salary Structure 

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  • The topic of how young Nigerians navigate romantic relationships with their earnings is a minefield of hot takes. In Love Currency, we get into what relationships across income brackets look like in different cities.

    How long have you been with your partner?

    We’ve been together for four years and married for two.

    How did you meet?

    We met in the comments section of an Instagram Live during the COVID lockdown. The IG Live was a competition—I can’t even remember the reward—but I noticed Lydia kept trying to win. I checked out her profile, liked what I saw, and DM’ed her. 

    Lydia also recognised my username from the comments, so she responded. We had a good conversation that day, which subsequently became regular. After a few months of talking, we met at a mall. I brought her flowers and asked her to be my girlfriend. She accepted.

    Smooth!

    To be honest, I had the confidence to ask her out because I’d just gotten a job. After my NYSC, I was jobless between 2019 and the first few months of 2020, surviving on my parents’ goodwill and the small design gigs I got here and there. 

    But COVID brought remote work, and I landed a $200/week brand design gig on a freelancing site. I felt financially ready for a relationship. 

    What was Lydia’s financial situation?

    She was still a corps member, but her PPA paid well. Her salary plus the NYSC allowance brought her income to about ₦133k. 

    Lydia is a big saver, too. She used to complain about jumping buses to work in the morning, but when I suggested she take a cab, she’d be like, “With which money?” That babe could stretch ₦5k for a week and have ₦100k chilling in her account. She sort of infected me with her saving habits, too. 

    For instance, when we went on cinema dates, she’d insist we shared a pack of popcorn rather than buying two. I was the one paying, but she hated what she termed “unnecessary spending”. 

    Lydia would ask me to outline my expenses every week so we could track my spending and find out if I was overspending on certain things. We really worked well financially. That, among other reasons, made it clear that I had to marry her. We got married in 2022. 

    But I lost my job shortly after my wedding. 

    Damn. What happened?

    The startup I worked at folded three months after I started working with them. I joined after the agency I worked with on the freelance site didn’t need my services anymore. It seemed like a blessing in disguise because the new job paid ₦600k. I’d just moved my family to a ₦1.2m/year apartment when my employers asked me to go home. 

    I thought it was a bad dream. Like, we were just two weeks into the new apartment. I’d spent all my savings on the wedding and relocating to the new house. We had no bed frames or chairs in the sitting room — we gave away the old set in my old apartment because we thought we’d buy a new one. To top it all, Lydia had resigned from her job when they refused to give her time off for wedding preparations.

    Yikes. How did you both manage?

    We got about ₦300k in money gifts from the wedding and managed that for a while. My mother-in-law also sent us plenty of foodstuffs after the wedding, so we used that to see road. We got plastic chairs for the sitting room and slept on a mattress on the floor for months. Our friends thought we didn’t want them to visit because we were honeymooning. In reality, it was because we were crazy broke.

    We were also job hunting like mad but with little success. I should note something here: Lydia hardly nagged me. Of course, she wasn’t happy about our situation, but it was more like both of us complaining about our financial crisis rather than fighting each other. We approached the problem from an “all hands on deck” standpoint. 

    We knew we couldn’t afford unnecessary expenses like a Netflix subscription, eating out, or even eating chicken with every meal. We began a Sunday tradition of visiting our parents to eat dinner and take foodstuff home. I even pretended to prefer drinking garri at night so we could stretch meals for longer. We were in this situation for about seven months before Lydia got a job in 2023. Her salary was just ₦150k, but it was a lifesaver.

    Phew. How was your job search going?

    I applied to and interviewed at countless places but got nothing. I even abandoned the job search for a while and focused on getting freelance design gigs. But it was tougher to get foreign clients because no one trusted Nigerians. I got a few local design gigs that brought ₦15k or ₦20k occasionally.

    At one point, I thought I was being attacked spiritually. I knew several designers making serious money even as freelancers, but I was just stuck. I started taking prayers seriously. The whole situation affected my self-esteem and led to arguments between me and Lydia. 

    What kind of arguments?

    I constantly carried a “woe is me” expression, which affected our communication. I didn’t want to talk or joke because I didn’t find anything funny, but Lydia wasn’t having that. She was like, “We’re working out this money thing together, and I’m not complaining. Why are you letting it affect our relationship? Is it money you want or this marriage?” 

    I tried to explain that I didn’t feel comfortable without an income as the man of the house, but Lydia never accepted that as a valid reason. She also didn’t understand why I complained when she transferred money to my account to handle my personal needs — she knew I wouldn’t ask for money. I felt useless, and she thought I was too proud. 

    Our relationship really changed a lot. We went from talking about everything to sitting in silence for hours. It’s just funny because when people hear that a wife is feeding the husband, they expect the arguments will be about the woman feeling frustrated about taking care of the bills. In our case, our arguments were primarily due to my feeling sad for myself and allowing it to affect our communication. 

    My moodiness worsened when the time came to pay rent, and I couldn’t find any means to loan money to augment the ₦400k my wife had managed to save. We had to move to my brother’s boys’ quarter apartment. 

    Depression and shame almost killed me.

    I’m sorry you went through all that

    Thank you. For the rest of 2023, we survived on my wife’s salary and my brother’s kindness. We also had to get on birth control after having a pregnancy scare. Imagine giving birth while squatting in someone’s house. 

    Thankfully, things changed in May 2024. My brother helped me get my current job and gave us ₦400k to add to the ₦500k my wife had saved to get our own apartment. The house is still mostly empty, but we’re slowly getting the necessary furniture. I’m just glad that things are finally looking up.

    I’m happy about that as well. I hope your relationship is getting better too?

    Gradually. We aren’t as close as we used to, but I’m trying to make up for it by communicating more. At least, I can now afford to take us out to eat once a week. I couldn’t afford to buy her a Valentine’s gift this year — even though she swears she loves the love notes I gave her — and I look forward to finally being able to afford to buy her gifts next year. 

    What does your relationship budget look like now?

    The weekly dates don’t cost more than ₦10k. Besides that, I’ve told my wife I’ll handle all the household bills from now on. She can just save her salary for emergencies or do whatever she wants with it. Knowing her, she’ll probably just save it. 

    Have you considered planning for a safety net?

    Oh yes. I know better than just relying on one job now. I save at least ₦40k monthly for rent, and I’m actively looking for another job on the side. With another income source, I can look at investment options.

    What’s your ideal financial future as a couple?

    I really want us to own our house one day soon. Rent is such a huge expense, and once that’s out of the picture, I believe we can look at achieving other things.

    Interested in talking about how money moves in your relationship? If yes, click here.

    *Names have been changed for the sake of anonymity.

    NEXT READ: This Abuja Teacher Doesn’t Believe in Girlfriend Allowance

    Get more stories like this and the inside gist on all the fun things that happen at Zikoko straight to your inbox when you subscribe to the Zikoko Daily newsletter. Do it now!

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  • Every week, Zikoko seeks to understand how people move the Naira in and out of their lives. Some stories will be struggle-ish, others will be bougie. All the time, it’ll be revealing.

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    Nairalife #300 bio

    What’s your earliest memory of money?

    That was in 1994. I’d just finished secondary school and had gone to spend the holiday with my uncle while I worked on uni admission. My uncle was a clergyman and was so generous. The man was just dashing me money. He could give me ₦200 to buy something worth ₦50 and ask me to keep the change. Or he’d just randomly give me money. It was the first time I ever had money that was mine. 

    I spent a few months at his place, and when I left, I’d gathered about ₦700. That was big money in 1994. It was even bigger in my eyes, especially because my family didn’t have much money. I opened a bank account with the ₦700 because it felt like the adult thing to do.

    Tell me more about your family

    My dad was a civil servant, and my mum was a trader. Both incomes didn’t do much to provide for our family. My dad tried to supplement his income by purchasing shares, and I remember he’d send me or any of my siblings to pay his dividend warrants into his bank account. 

    In those days, the company you bought shares from would post your dividend warrants to you by mail at the end of the year, which you’d then cash in at the bank. It’s unlike now, where people get their dividends straight into their accounts. Anyway, the income from the shares was often really small — I saw a ₦26 payment once. 

    Our financial situation was the reason my dad forced me into science class in secondary school. I wanted to join the commercial class because I had a knack for business management, but my two elder brothers studied science. My dad said he’d already bought all their textbooks and couldn’t afford to buy new ones. I wasn’t happy, but I managed. I even went on to study biochemistry at uni. It was at uni that I first made a conscious effort to make money.

    When?

    My first year of uni in 1997. I sold plastic hand fans. They had just come out, and the weather was hot, so I decided to try my hand at selling them. 

    I went home and bought the fans from our main market at ₦30 apiece. I sold them for ₦50 each, and the fans quickly became popular among students. Business was good. I stopped selling them after 100 level because I found it really difficult to balance my course requirements with a business.  

    With the business gone, I had to rely fully on whatever allowance my parents gave me, usually ₦2k – ₦3k. Even that didn’t come regularly because my dad had stopped working, and my mum was now the primary provider. 

    Whenever I was returning to school, I’d give my mum a list of the items I needed, but she’d only give me what she had. Once, I cried on the bus back to school because the foodstuff I was travelling back with wouldn’t last three weeks, and I couldn’t return home for another month or two. I’m not sure how I survived uni, but I did.

    What happened after uni?

    I wasn’t immediately mobilised for NYSC after I graduated from uni in 2001, so I worked briefly with my brother in his electronics store. I was his sales assistant, but he didn’t pay me. That period was a humbling experience. 

    Picture market people with a young girl they assume is a salesgirl who knows nothing. I had to deal with people talking to me anyhow. Fortunately, I didn’t have to stay too long before I went for NYSC in 2003. 

    After NYSC, I got my first real job with an FMCG company in 2005. I was supposed to come in as a jobber — to pick up the products and transport them from the distributors to retailers. But the company decided to take me on as a salesman instead. My job was to supervise the jobbers, ensure they met targets, and liaise with the retailers. It sounds like an important job, but the salary was only ₦22k/month.

    Was ₦22k enough for anything?

    Not at all. I lived with my parents, so I wasn’t paying rent, but I still struggled. I often worked overtime and on weekends to get my salary to ₦33k. In fact, my dad turned my job into prayer points during our morning and evening prayers. Everyone knew I was underpaid. 

    Fortunately, I was promoted to area sales manager in 2007 and got a salary bump to ₦45k. That happened because some top managers decided to give salespeople with degrees a chance to take the graduate trainee test. I was the only one who passed in my set; it was a computer-based test, and not many people knew how to use a computer. 

    I didn’t get another raise until 2010 when I got promoted to junior executive. My basic salary increased to ₦150k, and my takehome was ₦450k after allowances and commissions. I also received additional perks like an official car, domestic help allowance, and housing allowance. There was also a ₦35k weekly float for transportation and other quarterly bonuses. Those perks made my life easier.

    Did you still have limited responsibilities at that time?

    I got married in 2008, but my responsibilities didn’t increase. My husband handled most of the expenses. My only major contribution was rent, which the housing allowance covered. At this point, my financial situation was smooth and easy.

    Fast-forward to 2016, I lost my job due to company restructuring. The loss came barely a month after I buried my dad, so I was coming out of huge expenses. My husband had to start paying rent in addition to everything else, and things generally became tight. My only saving grace was that I’d saved roughly ₦7.5m from all my years of working, and I put it all in money market funds, a high-interest deposit account (HIDA) and the stock market several months before I lost my job. 

    I actually started because a finance person I met online taught me about those investment channels. I already knew about stocks from my dad, but I learned that I didn’t have to wait for dividends from a company. I could also trade stocks by watching the market, buying stocks low and selling them high. 

    So, how did these investment channels save you?

    I’d been investing in money market funds, and the monthly returns became my primary source of income. By then, my monthly returns were around ₦100k. One good thing about the money market is that the interest compounds. For instance, let’s assume you get ₦100k interest on ₦1m this month. By the next month, interest is calculated on the ₦1.1m in your account, so the new interest is higher. 

    In addition to the monthly returns from the money market, I also received a 28% interest from my HIDA account. I can’t remember how much it was now, but it was definitely not up to ₦100k.

    I used my free time to return to school. It was always the plan, even when I had a job. Years back, I opened a separate account dedicated to saving for a post-graduate degree, and losing my job brought me the perfect opportunity. Between 2016 and 2023, I studied for a post-graduate diploma and a master’s in business administration. I also started my PhD.

    Were the investment returns your only income source through this time?

    For the most part, yes. But I also did several things at different points for money. During my master’s programme, I often helped some of my lecturers review their articles and taught some of them how to use Microsoft Office for little money here and there.

    Once, I also helped my uncle, who was abroad, to buy some real estate property in Nigeria. I made about ₦550k in commissions from that. At another point, I invested in my sister’s mini computer accessories business. I invested about ₦5m to import the accessories and got my profit back after sales. We also split the profit. This happened thrice, and I made a total profit of ₦2m. I basically survived on these side incomes through those years. My husband also supported me from time to time.

    I actually got a job at a hospital in 2022, but it was a one-month stint. My experience was so bad that I didn’t even put the job on my CV. People thought I was stupid when I resigned because I’d been complaining about unemployment, and there I was, throwing an opportunity away. 

    But what happened at the hospital?

    A lot. A man and his wife owned the hospital, and they offered me ₦120k/month to work as the hospital’s manager. They made it sound like I’d be managing the staff, but it was more than that. If there were no buns in the canteen, it was on me. No fuel in the generator? Call the manager. 

    It wouldn’t have been a challenge if there was unity of command. The husband could give one instruction, and the wife would come later to give a counter instruction. I lost so much weight in one month from stress and developed tension headaches. I’d never heard of a tension headache before working there, and I only knew the name because I Googled my symptoms. I’ve never been happier writing a resignation letter than when I resigned from that place. 

    It definitely sounds terrible

    I had to take a walk for my mental health. I’m also back to full-time employment: I got my current role in 2023, and thank God it’s nothing like the hospital. I work with a public policy office as a research analyst, and my job is basically to research, write and develop policy briefs.

    I earn ₦300k/month, which isn’t great, but I get to work from home and be there for my family. Also, I’m close to completing my PhD programme, and once that’s done, I can head back fully into the labour market to find better opportunities.

    I was just about to ask about the PhD. Why did you decide to pursue one?

    I love academics. I hope to teach one day, and I learnt that a PhD is the minimum requirement for employment as a lecturer with the Ministry of Education. 

    I also want to solve problems through research. I read journals and a lot of international documents, and they always talk about how they solve societal problems with research done by institutions like Johns Hopkins University, MIT, and others. I want to see how we can solve some of this country’s problems via research and what I can do to make it happen. 

    A PhD would definitely increase my earning potential, but it would also mean I would be paid to do what I already enjoy. Because right now, my salary isn’t doing anything for me.

    What kind of life does your salary afford you?

    My salary just maintains me. I can’t even afford to contribute to the house, save for maybe ₦20k for the light bills. I’m just grateful that my husband earns well enough to handle our family’s expenses and our child’s school fees. ₦300k doesn’t do much at all.

    Could you break it down to show how you typically spend your salary?

    Nairalife #300 monthly expenses

    I don’t keep any money in savings because the interest rates are just like 2% – 4%, while I can earn 20% with the money market funds. Also, I can still withdraw my money from the money market at any time, so it’s a no-brainer.

    How much is your investment portfolio worth right now?

    I have ₦23m in money market funds and ₦6m in stocks. I also have a piece of land I bought for ₦1.5m in 2013, which is worth ₦10m now. I plan to develop it and build a warehouse. 

    I don’t want to build a house to rent because I feel people tend to owe their landlords. The average person would first pay for the space they’re using for business because they don’t want anything to affect their source of income. 

    Do you have a timeframe for when you hope to build this warehouse?

    Not yet. I estimate I’ll need about ₦50m to build it, and I don’t have that yet. 

    How would you describe your relationship with money?

    I believe money comes and goes, so I don’t deny myself anything I can afford. I’m not extravagant, but if I want something, I don’t do unnecessary calculations to justify the expense. I just get it.

    There’s something my people say — nobody eventually finishes all the money they have made. One will die someday, and some part of your money will be left for people who don’t know how you made the money. I stand by that.

    Is there an ideal amount you think you should be earning?

    Of course. I should be earning at least ₦1m/month. I feel underpaid right now, but I know I’ll get there one day. 

    I wish I had known about the gold mine that’s the stock market earlier. If I had known what I know now when I was touching money at the FMCG company, my case would’ve been different. I try to make up for it by encouraging young people to take it seriously. I tell my nieces, “This isn’t the time to buy wigs. It’s time to invest”. Wealth creation is an intentional process; when you start seeing the returns, it’s like making money while you sleep.

    How much do you get in investment returns now?

    I earn around ₦400k monthly from the money market. I also receive stock dividends when companies declare them at the end of the year. I monitor the stock market daily and sometimes sell. 

    For instance, I bought a bank’s shares at ₦8 before the 2023 elections and sold it for ₦28 about a year after the elections. If I had bought millions of those shares, I know how much I’d have made in profit. 

    How would you rate your financial happiness on a scale of 1 -10?

    7. I think I’ve done really well. I’m grateful that despite the setback in 2016, I didn’t struggle. I’ve not gotten to where I want to be yet, and that’s the only reason it’s not a 10.

    If you’re interested in talking about your Naira Life story, this is a good place to start.

    Yes, I want to do a Naira Life!

    Find all the past Naira Life stories here.

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