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.
What’s your earliest memory of money?
It was wanting a Supa Strikas comic in primary school.
My school had an arrangement with a Mr Biggs restaurant to bring us snacks once in a while. Because of that, I assumed everything in Mr Biggs was free.
One day, while waiting for snacks, I saw a Supa Strikas comic in a corner and tried to grab it. The lady at the counter stopped me: “No, you have to pay for it.” That was the exact moment it clicked that things aren’t free; you actually need money to buy stuff.
Let me guess, you didn’t have money?
Nope. My parents dropped me off and picked me up from school, so there was no reason for me to have cash at hand. I think the comic was about ₦50 at the time (around 1999 or early 2000s), and I had to beg my mum to buy it for me.
She gave me a condition.
She ran a small shop on the side in addition to her full-time corporate job, and the condition was that I had to help out every Saturday morning until 1 p.m. I did that for four straight Saturdays before she finally bought the comic for me.
What was your family’s financial situation like back then?
We were middle-class, not particularly rich, but not poor either. My dad worked at an FMCG company, and my mum worked at an insurance firm.
My parents were strict with money, though. They didn’t just get me things because I wanted them. For instance, when the Game Boy Advance console dropped, almost all my classmates had one, but when I asked, my mum refused and told me to focus on my studies. My dad was even stricter; if it wasn’t about education, you didn’t dare ask him for money.
But the thing was, I wanted money. I wanted to get things for myself without having to defend my reasons to my parents. This need led me to the first thing I did for money.
Tell me about it
I moved to a boarding school for JSS 1 and noticed I could make money from selling snacks. They weren’t allowed in the school, but of course, that never stopped anything.
I became very good friends with one of the porters, and he’d buy me sweets from outside and bring them in. Then, I’d sell them to other students at double the price.
I became known as the guy who sold sweets. I felt like a secret agent making illicit deals. I spent every penny of that money on sweets and chin-chin. I was young, so I had no savings mindset; I was just spending frivolously. I stopped the business in JSS 3 when I almost got caught; contraband was a serious crime in school.
Did you try anything else for money in school?
In secondary school, no. The next time I tried to make money was in university. I got admitted in 2010, and by then, things had changed at home. My parents’ earning power dropped. I found out years later that they’d lost a substantial amount of money to bad investments.
In 100 level, my pocket money was ₦5k/week, which was really small. I went from a boarding school where all my needs were covered to entering uni and realising my parents couldn’t afford to give me more than a certain amount. It was a lot to deal with.
My self-confidence took a hit. As a law student, I couldn’t even afford ₦1,000 to buy application forms for student chambers. I couldn’t afford to date or go out. My life was super boring. So, I decided to hustle.
A friend ran a photocopy business, so I’d bring students who wanted to print or photocopy to him for a cut. My commission was usually ₦2,000 to ₦3,000 every week.
I also did word-of-mouth marketing and distributed flyers for a popular on-campus laundry service to get a commission when people patronised the owner. The main problem was that my pay depended on the owner’s mood. We didn’t negotiate anything, so he paid whatever he liked, usually between ₦5,000 and ₦12,000 every two weeks.
Thinking about it now, he was taking advantage of me, but as a broke uni student, that extra cash meant a lot.
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How long did you do both hustles for?
From 100 level to 400 level. I stopped in my final year to focus on passing my courses. The lecturers were terrifying and had a reputation for failing people. People carried over courses for years, and I didn’t want that. So, I cut off every distraction and survived solely on my pocket money again.
I graduated in 2015 and went to Law School. I survived the one year there on pocket money and extra cash my aunt occasionally gave me whenever I begged her.
What came after Law School?
Instead of going straight for NYSC, I deliberately looked for work because I desperately needed money.
I landed a legal internship at a bank paying ₦35k/month. After two months, they increased my salary to ₦55k/month. To me, that felt like I had finally arrived. Coming from a ₦5k weekly allowance, ₦55k felt huge in 2016.
By a stroke of luck, I was able to save the last two months’ salaries of my internship year. So by 2017, when I went to NYSC orientation camp, I had ₦110k saved up. I blew the entire sum in those three weeks.
Damn
I’m ashamed to say it too. But it was the first time I had that kind of spending power, so I was just spending.
After camp, I moved on to my Place of Primary Assignment (PPA) at an insurance company. The job was a huge reality check. The company paid corps members ₦20k/month, but my friends who got into big law firms as NYSC associates were earning six-figure salaries. I was living at home, so food and shelter were covered, but seeing that gap showed me how much money was actually out there.
I also tried to save during my NYSC year, but it didn’t end well.
What happened?
Someone advised me to save at least ₦8k every month from my ₦19,800 allawee, so I did. Six months in, I had saved ₦48k. Then I got scammed.
Someone called me, pretending they had accidentally sent a code to my phone, and begged me to call it out. Naïve and trusting, I gave them the code. They emptied the entire ₦48k. It doesn’t sound like much now, but back then, it was my entire world. I was devastated.
Phew. Sorry about that
Thank you. I completed my service in 2019 and decided not to stay at the insurance company. The place was toxic, and they paid peanuts.
I spent the next nine months unemployed, searching for jobs and volunteering at my mum’s shop while my friends kept their jobs at the law firms they served.
Eventually, in late 2019/early 2020, I got a Graduate Assistant (GA) job in the compliance department at another bank. My salary was ₦180k/month. It was my first time earning a significant amount of money, and it felt good.
In 2021, they bumped it up to ₦199k. The following year, I was promoted to Executive Trainee (ET), and my salary increased to ₦212k. My pay remained at that level until I left the bank in 2023.
Why did you leave?
I returned to the insurance company I worked at before. They offered me a legal role for ₦250k/month, and I naively took it because the pay was a bit higher and I assumed things would be better at the company. Someone should have really sat me down and explained how things actually work.
Within three months, I realised I’d made a mistake. The culture was still toxic, and people were backbiting and gossiping all over the place. It was not a nice experience at all. On top of that, my salary stayed stuck at ₦250k until I left in 2025.
Where did you move to next?
I landed my current job as a corporate legal officer in the energy sector. My salary tripled overnight to ₦750k/month.
Ooh. How did that feel?
Like finding an oasis in the middle of a desert. Sometimes I look at my account and ask, “Is this really me?”
I don’t feel like I’ve arrived yet, but I know I’m no longer where I used to be. I’m finally out of the ghetto and can start building something.
Have there been any lifestyle changes?
I still live a fairly basic life. I finally moved out of my parents’ house last year and rented my own place for ₦1.2 million/year.
Paying ₦1.2m rent on a ₦750k monthly salary wasn’t too difficult. I also bought myself a PS5 for ₦510k early this year — something young me could never have dreamed of — and spent ₦600k to upgrade my phone.
Besides these, there haven’t been any drastic changes. I know how long it took to reach a small semblance of soft life, so I’m not taking it for granted. At least I have more disposable income and can even save a little.
How do you handle savings now?
I actually only started three months ago. I was a bit wary because of my past trauma from losing my savings to a scam, but I finally started locking ₦100k away every month on a savings app.
I lock it away so I can’t touch it, because if it’s accessible, a small voice in my head will convince me to spend it. Right now, my savings portfolio sits at ₦300k. I know there’s so much more I can do, and I hope to develop a better savings mindset soon because I’m really not getting any younger.
A friend is also currently guiding me on how to invest in mutual funds and treasury bills, and I hope to get started soon. The goal is to reach a level where I can live solely on the passive income generated by savings and investments. My friend’s monthly passive income is currently more than his salary, and I want to get there so I don’t have to touch my salary.
Speaking of, let’s break down your typical monthly expenses
How would you describe your relationship with money today?
I feel like I’ve been chasing money for a very long time, and it keeps running away from me. But right now, it’s getting tired. It’s slowing down, looking back at me, and saying: “You this boy, you’ve been chasing me for so long. Let me slow down and hear what you have to say.”
Skrim. Is there an ideal amount of money you think you should be earning?
At least ₦1.2 million. This used to be an amount I could only dream of, but with my experience and knowledge of what my colleagues earn, I believe it’s possible to touch that income bracket. I don’t think it’s possible to settle down and be “comfortable comfortable” in Lagos without earning at least ₦1 million.
What’s something you want right now but can’t afford yet?
A car. There’s a Toyota model I’ve been eyeing since my university days. It used to be cheap, but right now it costs around ₦7.5 million. That’s my next major saving goal.
How would you rate your financial happiness on a scale of 1-10?
7. It took a lot of effort to get here. I’m nowhere near where I started, but I’m not where I want to be yet.
My motto right now is “Almost there.” I feel that clearly describes my situation. I’ve almost caught up with my goals. I just need to push a little more.
Out of curiosity, do you have a timeline for moving from “Almost there” to “There”?
Before 35. So, I have four more years to make my dreams come true.
If you’re interested in talking about your Naira Life story, this is a good place to start.
Find all the past Naira Life stories here.
