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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What’s your earliest memory of money?

I started helping my dad at his shop in primary four and continued until I finished secondary school. He did a couple of photography-related things: he sold photo accessories and photo printers, and made picture frames.

In exchange for helping him, he allowed me to take a cut of the daily profits.

How big a cut are we talking about?

It wasn’t specific. He’d just give me a daily sales target, and if we exceeded the target, I could keep the extra money. 

I mostly spent the money I made from the shop on toys — nothing reasonable. The only memorable thing I bought was my first phone in primary 5. It was a Multilinks phone, but I don’t remember how much I bought it. 

However, I remember not telling anyone before I bought the phone. My parents just saw me with a phone. While my dad didn’t mind, my mum was like, “Why would you buy a phone just like that?” She was only on the subject for a few days before the whole thing died down.

Can I assume this solo spending adventure meant your folks had money?

There was money in the beginning. My dad had his business, and my mum had a big provision store. We were comfortable, and I got whatever I wanted.

Things suddenly changed in 2014, after I finished secondary school. Both my parents’ businesses crashed for reasons I don’t understand, and we had to start managing. 

My dad’s business crashed first, and my mum used hers to support the family. Then, she got scammed by an agent while trying to send me abroad for school, and she lost all her savings.  

Oh my

We had to adjust to our new financial situation. My dad went from giving my siblings and me pocket money every morning to nothing at all.

After secondary school, I started looking for ways to make money. I tried to follow in the footsteps of my friends who were hustling and finding jobs as bar attendants and security guys, but my dad didn’t allow me. He said he didn’t want me to work for anyone. Instead, I should keep helping him out with his business.

When the job plan didn’t work, I decided to upgrade my photography and videography skills instead. I already knew the basics from working with my dad, but I needed advanced training to monetise the skills. Still, my dad refused to let me go to work with someone else. 

I stuck it out for about a year, but when my dad didn’t change his mind, I did the only thing I could do: I left home.

Where did you go?

I started living in a church. I played the piano and often played at events, earning small money. I did that for a few months until I met a photographer at a wedding. I watched him work, and after the event, I went up to him and told him I really wanted to learn photography. Thankfully, he gave me his business card.

A few days later, I contacted him, and he asked me to meet in town. I did, and I told him my life story and why I wanted to learn the trade. He spoke to my mum before he agreed to take me in as his apprentice. This was in 2016. 

Was this a paid apprenticeship?

I didn’t have a structured salary, but I often travelled around Nigeria with my boss for jobs, and he regularly gave me stipends. After we completed a job, he’d transfer between ₦50k and ₦100k, and we had an average of four jobs monthly. He was very kind and generous in that regard.

At this point, I had moved in with a friend. Then, in 2017, I got my one-room apartment at ₦70k/year. That same year, I bought three cameras at once. It was a distress sale, and I paid around ₦1m for cameras worth about ₦3m.

The money for that purchase came from the income I’d saved from my boss, a ₦20k weekly ajo contribution I was part of, and income from side hustles.

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What side hustles?

I didn’t want to rely only on photography gigs, so I learned graphic design and made some money by taking printing gigs. I designed and printed everything from picture frames to flyers.

I also used my cameras to take on side jobs and earn money. But that didn’t last long, as they were stolen in 2018.

All of them?

Yeah. My boss got a new apprentice who turned out to be a thief. The one time we left him alone in the office, he emptied it. He took my cameras, my boss’s cameras, and several equipment. 

My boss didn’t really recover from that loss because it prevented him from getting gigs. No gigs meant no money came in. I had to look for something to sustain myself, and I found a job as a cashier at a barbing salon.

What was the pay like?

₦12k/month, and I was also the cleaner. It was a very depressing period for me, from earning so much to that level. Most people didn’t know what I went through because I still looked regular on the outside. 

I worked at the salon for six months until I met someone who asked why I was cleaning. I told him how I’d lost my cameras, and it turned out he was into cinematography. He offered to train me, so I left the salon and went to work with him.

I only lasted three months with him. He was toxic, constantly complaining about everything, and the atmosphere was just off. He also didn’t pay me at all while I worked with him. He just kept feeding me ”It’ll get better” stories. 

What did you do after you left him?

I moved in with my uncle in 2019. He was into home security solutions—CCTV, home automation, and the like—so I stayed with him to learn the business and assist him. He didn’t pay me either, but I got small cash here and there from my graphic design and printing side hustle.

In 2020, I was admitted to the university and had to leave my uncle’s place. Of course, I needed money for school, so I found another hustle. This time, it was a job at an oil and gas firm. I was employed as an IT/Admin officer. 

My employer knew I was in school, so I needed to show up at the office only twice a week and work remotely for the rest of the week. My pay was ₦50k/month.

How did you manage work and school?

I’m honestly not sure how I managed it because it was a real struggle. But I needed to pay myself through school, so I guess I had no choice. 

I graduated from university in 2024 and still work at the same job. My pay is now ₦150k/month, and I supplement my income with side gigs. I make signage — yes, I learned that one, too — and take up CCTV installation gigs from time to time. I also occasionally go out for photography gigs. I do a lot of jamajama just to sustain myself. 

What’s the income from your side gigs like?

I honestly can’t say because it’s once in a while. I can make ₦1m today and nothing for the next few months. I haven’t been able to go out to look for gigs as much as before because I’m struggling to meet my 9-5. My salary is the only income I’m sure of, even though it doesn’t sustain me. I just do it so I can leave the house daily.

2022 was the last time I made big money from my side hustle. I got a contract worth ₦20m to make signage for a hotel. My profit from that job was over ₦8m, but I didn’t handle that money well. 

What did you do with it?

I sent ₦2m to my uncle to help me buy a car, but I haven’t seen any car or received my money back.

Then, in January 2023, I got scammed of ₦4m while trying to buy a CNC router machine from China for my signage business. I still had some change from the contract money, which I used to buy a few needed tools, but it was nowhere close to the difference the machine would’ve made. 

I eventually lost that hotel client because I couldn’t meet up with subsequent jobs.

Yikes. Sorry about that

Thanks. I feel like I’m in a cycle where I can make good money from my side hustles today and be very comfortable, and then be very broke for the next three months. I think it’s because I don’t make the best financial decisions when money comes. In fact, I can say I have bad money habits.

Tell me more

When I have money, I like to spend it. I love gadgets, so I often buy things I don’t need. But I’m learning to be better. I now draw up budgets to plan my expenses and try to limit my spending unless it’s necessary. 

I’m now at a stage where I believe money comes to you when you treat it nicely. I used to spend lavishly, but that hasn’t exactly helped me. I’m now pursuing financial discipline so I can be financially stable.

I don’t go out so much anymore because when I do, I spend money. I’m also trying to save money to get a physical space for my business. I don’t know what it’ll cost yet; it’s just on my wishlist.

What does your typical month in expenses look like?

The ajo contribution is my savings; I’ve been doing it since October. I expect to collect ₦600k in September, and I want to put it towards my plans to get a car. I also have ₦300k locked in a savings app.

Is there any aspect of your finances you wish to be better at?

My earnings. I just want a stable cash flow every day. It would make a world of difference.

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

Studio equipment. I learnt music production…

Is there anything you haven’t learned to do?

Haha. I learned this one during COVID from YouTube and with help from a neighbour. I even produced my own song just for fun. I also learned web development and web design during that period. I just randomly learn different things.

Anyway, back to what I was saying. I know a lot of upcoming artists around my area, and music production would be a stable income source. I once produced music for someone in 2023 and got paid ₦70k. 

If I get like ₦1m now, I should be able to get a studio space and basic equipment. I still want a shop for my business, too. It’s now a matter of whichever opportunity comes first. My long-term business plans are music production, the signage business, and CCTV installations. Maybe I’ll even find a way to put everything under one business label.

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

4. I’m still struggling financially, and I don’t feel stable at all. Maybe when I get a physical shop space, I’ll become serious about my business and change my finances.

Find all the past Naira Life stories here.

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