hustle | Zikoko!

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?

The lunch money I got from my mum in nursery and primary school. ₦10 could get me ₦5 buns and a plate of rice.

Those were the days. What was growing up like financially?

Terrible. You know how people say their parents weren’t financially well off? My case was different. The roof of our house was once removed because we couldn’t pay rent. It was that bad.

My dad was an artisan; he painted buildings for a living, and my mum was a petty trader. I noticed early that my mum was the risk-taker. If my dad didn’t get an opportunity he wanted, he was fine with what he had. He hardly pushed for more, but my mum was different.

She was constantly hustling, seeking new opportunities and exploring additional trades to try. I think I’m more like my mum in that regard. I started hustling at the age of 10.

Tell me about that

I hawked sachet water in the market to make money. I even raised the business capital myself.

Here’s how: I grew up in a rural area with many cocoa farms nearby. Cocoa merchants bought cocoa pods from farmers and dried them in their stores. When these stores closed at night, they’d pack the cocoa inside, but a few cocoa beans would fall on the ground.

Then, the town children and I would go pick up the beans. If we gathered up to one kilogram of the beans, we could sell them for ₦500. If you could gather two or three kilograms, that was very good money. This gathering often took weeks to reach a decent size.

Anyway, I sold my small stash of cocoa beans and started the business. My dad was against it, but I didn’t care. I bought a bowl for ₦130 and a bag of sachet water for ₦100. The first day I started didn’t end well.

What happened?

I didn’t know much about the business, so I made a few mistakes. After I sold the first batch of water, I went to buy more and repeated the process after selling them off. The sun went down, and I ignorantly bought another batch. Everyone who has sold sachet water knows that it was a wrong move because there was no way I’d sell off the water by that time.

When I inevitably couldn’t sell them, people advised that I return the stock to the person I bought it from. Most pure water sellers had agreements with their “suppliers” that allowed them to exchange warm sachet water for cold ones if they couldn’t sell. I tried to do the same, but unfortunately, the person who sold it to me wasn’t a good person. He refused to change them and even beat me up.

Oh my God

It was discouraging. I had to throw the remaining water away because we didn’t have a freezer at home. It was a big loss, and I was only able to start again because my friend gave me ₦200.

I sold sachet water every day after school for about two years. I could make ₦200 – ₦500 profit daily, and that was big money in school. The business also taught me a great deal, particularly how wicked people could be.

A sachet of water cost ₦10, and someone could take the water, drink it, and then give a 10-year-old ₦1000 to go and look for change. They knew I wouldn’t have change for them, and they’d ask me to come back for my money. I never saw them again.

That’s wild

I stopped the business when I was in SS1 or SS2 because my school started dismissing us late at 4 p.m., and I couldn’t keep up.

In SS3, I dropped out of school altogether because my dad couldn’t afford to register me for WAEC. While exploring what else I could do, I decided to apprentice at a business centre since I was naturally skilled with phones and computers. Plus, having briefly worked as an apprentice typist at a similar place a few years prior, it made sense to continue in that line of work. This was in 2014.

The place I worked was popular with lawyers. They often came to type processes and court judgments.

Was it a paid apprenticeship?

No o. I was essentially learning, so I didn’t have a salary. My dad encouraged me to be patient and just get the skill.

I quickly became popular due to my fast typing skills, and the lawyers always wanted to work with me. Some even started asking me to come work for them, offering to pay more than what I earned at the business centre. I couldn’t even tell them I wasn’t being paid.

My popularity didn’t sit well with the business owner; he didn’t like people praising me and always called me weird because I read a lot. I’d install PDF readers on the computers to read random things like philosophy. I often obsessed over learning random things. For instance, I could think about something like YouTube videos and go all in with learning everything about creating them.

So, I was really good. I could say I even knew more than the owner. I worked with him for about two years. During that time, he repeatedly promised to start paying me, but it never happened. I finally left in 2016, because I was considering returning to school and needed to save money. I went on to work with one of the lawyers who’d been trying to poach me.

How much did the new job pay?

₦15k/month to work as a typist for the firm. I also occasionally did some secretarial duties. It was the first time I earned a salary, and the money was okay for me. I was a 17-year-old living with my parents, so I didn’t pay rent or any major bills and was able to save. In 2017, I was able to raise enough money to write WAEC.

Besides the money, working with that lawyer was such a blessing. I still mirror his lifestyle to this day. He was very calm and organised. He taught me how to live a balanced life, and I really enjoyed working with him.

In 2018, while still working with him, I found another income source. One of the other lawyers in the firm gifted me a laptop, and I began using it for research. Every day after work, I’d buy ₦100 data and explore the internet for different things I could learn. I also created a blog using one of the free hosting platforms; I think it was Blogger. I knew it was possible to monetise the blog and start earning from Google Ads, but I also knew it would take a considerable amount of time, effort, and web traffic.

Fortunately, I found a way.

What did you do?

Around this time, a betting company was really popular, and people were always looking for information on how to become a company agent and open a betting shop. So, I wrote a post about the process on my blog and used it to sell an ebook I created about becoming an agent.

My post ranked well on Google, and people started buying my ebook. At first, I sold it for ₦1k, then increased the price to ₦2500 when I noticed it was selling quickly. In a month, I could sell 10 ebooks. At the same time, my blog got monetised, and I could make $100/month — about ₦32k — using Infolinks to display ads. In addition to the ebook sales and my salary, I was making over ₦80k monthly.

I wrote the JAMB exam that same year and had even gotten admission into the university when my income took a hit.

What happened?

Google regularly pushes out updates, and that year, one of these updates hit my site and affected my blog’s traffic. I stopped ranking, and revenue dropped. After gathering all I had (which was about ₦120k), I still needed about ₦350k to complete school payments and rent a place close to campus. The blog wasn’t bringing in money anymore, so I needed to shift direction.

I came across a European site that sold football betting tips for gamblers. The tips were quite expensive at $499/month (approximately ₦140k at the time), and I had a crazy idea of reselling them. I took all the money I had, added my salary and sent it to the guy selling the tips. I could’ve easily been scammed, but fortunately, I wasn’t. The guy added me to a group where he sent the games. I noticed the tips were actually genuine and profitable, but I wasn’t interested in playing them.

Instead, I went on Facebook, made a video and started running ads. In the video, I explained how, instead of $499/month for that site, people could just pay me ₦7k/month for the same genuine tips. I also showed proof that I bought them from the $499 site.

Omo, the kind of money I started seeing.

Too much sense wanted to finish you

My offer was too stupid for anyone to refuse, and people were just buying left, right and centre. I just created a Telegram group, added them, and sent them the games. By the end of the first month, I had almost ₦600k in my account.

The money helped me resume at uni and rent an apartment. I was still young and didn’t know a lot about money, so I was just spending. The iPhone 7 was in vogue at the time, so I bought one. I even changed my laptop.

In early 2019, Facebook started disabling sports betting ads. Luckily, I’d grown an email list of subscribers who trusted me. The thing about betting is, it’s very difficult to find someone who is not a scammer. Since I didn’t scam them, they kept resubscribing. Plus, people were winning too, which was good. Sometimes, they even dashed me money. So, my income was stable and almost passive due to the monthly subscriptions.

However, towards the end of 2019, I suddenly lost interest in the betting business. I don’t know why; I just stopped liking the idea and gradually stopped. My subscribers even reached out asking why I stopped, but I didn’t have a valid reason. That’s how that income source dried up.

Interesting. What did you do next?

My school was close to one of the most prominent markets in Nigeria, so I started going there, looking for products I could sell online and make 3x the cost.

I mostly sold household products. I could buy an item for ₦1k, and list it on JiJi and Facebook ads for ₦4k. That became a major income source for me. I hardly attended class because I was always at logistics companies to sort out deliveries.

The money wasn’t as good as sports betting; that one was unlimited money. I could sell a game one million times. However, with physical products, I could only sell as much as the available stock allowed. Still, I was making around ₦500k – ₦800k monthly, which wasn’t bad. I lived a comfortable life in school.

I’m also glad I started dealing with products instead of relying on sports betting because it set me up for what I do today. I still work with products, just on a very different level.

What do you do these days?

I’d say it’s e-commerce. I look at the market trends and bring in possible solutions in the form of products. For instance, insecurity has been a significant challenge for Nigerians lately. As a business, I can decide to start selling security gadgets, and people would buy in volumes. If I make ₦3k from each gadget and sell 10,000 units, that’s ₦30 million profit.

I use ads to push my products on Facebook, YouTube and MGID. It’s a thriving business now, and I work with a team of 12 people, generating an average monthly profit of around ₦12 million to ₦15 million. The expansion didn’t happen overnight.

In 2020, I recorded my first ₦1 million profit in a single month from selling a specific mosquito product, and we continued to grow from there. We also sold fitness equipment during that period.

The business faced a small struggle in 2021 when Apple released the iOS 14.5 update. It came with a privacy update that made it difficult for third-party platforms to track user behaviour and show them targeted ads. Now, users had to give permission before an app could track their data, and if they clicked “no,” it was all over.

Ad performance was terrible during that period, but fortunately, we started to recover in late 2022, and it’s been going well ever since.

How do the business operations work?

I have a way of knowing that a product will do well. I think it’s a muscle formed by how long I’ve been doing this. After picking the product, we’ll conduct a test run of like 100 units and use the performance data to determine whether we’ll scale or not.

I have an office where I work with a few full-time employees, but I also have agents in different states in Nigeria who get the products and handle delivery. 90% of the orders we receive work with the pay-on-delivery model because Nigerians don’t trust the internet. When the agents deliver, they remit the money to the business.

I decided to operate this way because I believe there’s a limit to how well a business can perform if it’s a one-man operation. If I’m doing it all alone and making a total revenue of ₦100k, 20% net profit of that is just ₦20k. However, if I’m running a ₦100 million business and I achieve that same 20%, I’ve just made ₦20 million.

Both the ₦100k and ₦100 million could be the same personal level of work, but for the latter, I’m using the leverage of getting more people involved to scale faster. It’s better to own the leg of an elephant than a whole ant.

Hmm. That’s a lot to think about. You mentioned a monthly profit of about ₦15 million. How much of that is your income?

After removing operating costs, salaries, and returning capital to the business, my “salary” is usually about ₦5 million to ₦7 million monthly.

I’m specific about always returning money to the business because it’s easy to lose an opportunity if there’s no available capital to allocate to it. I also don’t joke with expansion. Every extra money returns to the business.

You’ve had massive income growth over the years. How has that impacted how you think about money?

I believe fear is a significant reason why many people struggle to make money. It’s the truth. If you don’t take some kind of risk, you won’t make money. Also, money is a reward for helping people out.

If you aren’t solving a need, making someone’s life better or offering value, it’s almost impossible to make money. I never had any doubt about whether I’d make money or not. It was always a matter of time.

How would you describe your relationship with money?

I have a problem. Once people around me start sharing their problems, I feel an obligation to help solve them. Recently, I calculated how much money I’d given out this year, and it was almost ₦10 million. I’m not happy about that, and I plan to stop giving money away so much.

Beyond that, I’m not the materialistic type. My only guilty pleasure is food. It sounds unbelievable, but I spend at least ₦800k on food monthly. It’s that expensive because we (I live with my brother) have a chef whom I pay ₦180k monthly. I also eat out a lot and still spend at least ₦150k on protein powder every month.

Now would be a good time to walk me through your typical monthly expenses

I don’t save money. Whatever reserve I have is reinvested in my business. Another thing that takes my money is travel. I believe travel helps me learn, so I typically spend ₦4m – ₦5m on an annual trip within Nigeria or to an African country. My rent is ₦4 million, but I don’t save for it. Once it’s time, I just pay.

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

Honestly, nothing. I would like to move to the US, but money is not what’s holding me back. It’s the visa; I know it’ll be hard to get as a young person right now.

Is there an ideal amount of money you think you should be earning right now?

I always think in terms of the business, so I think we should be doing a net profit of ₦100 million monthly. We’re currently working towards that, already planning structures and hiring needs to guide expansion to more countries. We already sell in some African countries, but the goal is to scale. By the grace of God, we should have hit over 50% of that ₦100 million goal before 2027.

Rooting for you. What was the last thing you spent money on that made you happy?

A vacation package to Southwest Nigeria in September. It cost me ₦3 million. I’m almost always working, so I don’t go clubbing or things like that, so it’s nice to enjoy travel experiences.

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

10. Even if you’d asked me this when I earned ₦15k, it’d still be a 10. I don’t think there was ever a time when I was unhappy with my finances. I believe whatever I’m earning is the value I’m bringing to the marketplace. Therefore, if I want to earn more money, I must bring more value. I might sound unconventional, but that’s just the way it is.

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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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.

When did you first realise the importance of money?

I was returning from school with my aunt one day — I was in Primary 4 — and we passed a store that sold toys. I saw a toy that I liked and refused to leave until my aunt got it for me. I kept shouting, “I want it. I want it,” while my aunt insisted she had no money.

At some point, the seller told my aunt the price, and my aunt said, “Don’t mind him. I don’t have money.” That was the first time I realised people used money to buy things.

What was the financial situation at home like?

It wasn’t bad. My dad was a printer, and my mum was a government school teacher. I never lacked basic things, but it was also clear we had no money to spend on unnecessary “wants”. My dad was very strict in that regard.

For example, I wanted a PlayStation because all my friends had one. But my dad said, “Pick one. It’s either I pay your school fees or get you the game.”

I liked school, so I picked education.

Fair enough. When was the first time you made money?

I spent my primary school holidays with my much older cousins, and they would pay me to do their errands for them — ₦20 or ₦25 every time I washed the dishes.

One time, I returned home after the holidays with ₦700, which I’d made from errands.

Another experience I remember wasn’t money I made for myself. When I was in JSS 1, my church was raising funds towards a university building project, and they gave members a card to help raise money.

It was like a promise card; we got people to pledge donations and make sure they redeemed them. I did that for about two months and made over ₦1k. When I took the money to the vicar, he was so shocked I’d made that much money.

The next time I did something to earn money was in university.

Tell me about that

One day, during my final year in 2015, I went to my friend’s room and noticed he was charging people ₦5k to do the statistical analysis for their projects. I thought it was interesting and decided to do the same.

Another friend had SPSS — the software we used for analysis — on his laptop, so I asked him to walk me through it. After I learned it, I started charging people. I got five clients and charged them ₦3500 each. I also received money from my parents to pay for my statistical analysis, but I ended up paying myself since I did it myself.

The gig was just a one-time thing. For most of my time in school, I relied on the ₦5k – ₦10k pocket money and foodstuffs I received from home, until I left university in December 2016.

What came next?

I studied medical laboratory science, and like other medical students, I had to do a compulsory one-year housemanship.

Securing a posting was quite difficult, and the Nigerian system played a significant role. People seeking housemanships had to write exams at different medical facilities, and there was no public scoring system; so there was no way to know if you passed or failed. The facility would just release the names of people they’d accepted. If your name was there, fine. If not, sorry for you.

I waited over a year and wrote five exams before I found a spot in a teaching hospital in 2018. My salary was ₦122k/month.

Typically, when people are employed in a government facility, their salaries are delayed for three months due to confirmation delays, and then the government pays all the arrears at once.

Mine was delayed for five months because I didn’t complete some registrations on time. When the accumulated arrears finally came, it was the largest amount of money my account had ever seen — ₦592k. I felt rich. For a moment, I even wished they had delayed the salary for a year, so I’d get a bigger windfall.

Screaming. Do you remember how you spent the money?

Oh yes. I visited Computer Village the next day and bought a Samsung phone for ₦82,500. Then I sent ₦100k to my dad, ₦50k to my mum and ₦30k to my brother. I also sent my aunt some money, but I can’t remember how much.

Then I went to a supermarket with a couple of friends and spent ₦25k on a few items. After that, I settled my hostel porters. Since I graduated from uni, I’d been living in the school hostel illegally and had promised to settle the porters once I got posted for housemanship. So, when I got paid, I gave them ₦30k to split among themselves.

At the end of my spending spree, I had about ₦150k left, which I put in a savings app. The app I used had just launched, and my friend was sceptical of me putting my money there, but I couldn’t just leave it lying around.

In addition to the ₦150k, I saved ₦50k from my salary there every month. By the end of housemanship in 2019, I’d saved ₦770k.

Did you have any plans for the savings?

I wanted to buy a laptop, but NYSC posted me to a state that didn’t have many opportunities available. I thought it’d be a waste to take a laptop there. I even transferred my savings to my mum to keep for me until I left the orientation camp because I was concerned my phone could get stolen.

My Place of Primary Assignment was a general hospital that paid me a ₦28k monthly stipend, and NYSC paid me ₦19800/month. I lived on the latter throughout my service year and saved the other ₦28k every month. By the time I finished service in 2020, my savings had grown to ₦906k.

Then the pandemic happened, and I had to stay home due to the lockdown. Thankfully, I was with my parents, so I didn’t spend any money. It was also the same time I started my crypto journey.

How did you get into crypto?

A friend posted online about how his “ETH” was now ₦89k. Curious, I asked him, “What is ETH?” and he said it was a cryptocurrency called Ethereum. He explained how it worked, and I also did my own research.

When I made up my mind to buy, one ETH was about ₦270k. So, I put in ₦180k and got 0.94 ETH. I also bought ₦55k worth of Bitcoin, which was a very negligible amount, and I later sold it to increase my Ethereum holdings to about 1.2.

I was making all these moves, but I didn’t know how wild crypto cycles — bull runs and bear runs — could be, or what they even meant. I just logged into my app one day and saw that the value of my Ethereum had dropped to ₦50k. I panicked o.

I mean, anyone would panic. What did you do?

I called my friend, and he encouraged me to wait it out. At some point, the whole thing crashed, but my friend reassured me that things would get better. So, I just forgot about crypto for a bit and went on with my life.

I didn’t forget it for long, though. After the lockdown, I secured a ₦120k/month job at a medical lab facility. Some months into the job, the same friend introduced me to BNB. One BNB was $90, so I invested ₦130k and got 1.3 BNB.

The crypto exchange we used for this purchase allows users to stake their cryptocurrency. It’s like investing; you lock your crypto and receive rewards through airdrops, as well as access to blockchain programs when new projects emerge. Once, I received a 43 USDT reward from a coin, which I used to buy more BNB and increase my portfolio to 2.3 BNB.

So things were going well

They were. I mostly left the tokens (with my Ethereum) to increase in value.

Back to my job; I worked there for a year before I left for another lab that paid me ₦156k/month. It wasn’t a significant income jump from ₦120k, but it was less stressful and had a shorter commute.

By then, I was squatting with a friend, who I ended up staying with for a year before getting my own apartment in 2022. Then, my rent was ₦350k/year. It’s now ₦700k.

Damn. A 100% increase

It’s even reasonable. Plus, my landlord doesn’t stress me and I get along well with my neighbours.

I still work with the same laboratory, but my salary has grown to ₦405k/month. I’m actually trying to change jobs and earn more, but it hasn’t materialised yet. I’ve also been trying my hardest to further my education abroad, but I keep facing roadblocks.

What kind of roadblocks?

Mostly funding. I applied for a Swedish Government Institute Scholarship twice, but I didn’t get it. I even got on the waitlist once — a backup of people that could get promoted to receive the scholarship if any of the awardees dropped out. Unfortunately, no one dropped out, and the tuition for the course I want to study is about $25k, which is quite expensive.

Besides tuition, Sweden expects you to have at least $1k/month for living expenses for the duration of your course. Most master’s programs have a 24-month duration, so I’ll need around $50k in total. I can’t do that without a sponsor.

I eventually sold off my crypto portfolio a few months ago. I’d been keeping it, hoping it’d go a long way into funding my tuition plans. But with the naira devaluation, that didn’t seem likely. Plus, the crypto market entered another bull run, and I didn’t want to risk losing my money.

How much did you make from the sale?

$6000 – approximately ₦9.9m. Very impressive profit compared to what I invested. I locked the full amount for a year in a savings app. The locking came with an interest of ₦1.9m, which I still saved.

I also save ₦200k from my salary every month. I estimate that all my savings would have grown to at least ₦14.5m by the end of 2026. With that, I plan to resume pursuing my graduate school dreams.

Planning to try Sweden again?

Not just Sweden. I also have countries like Poland, Belgium and Denmark on my mind. Belgium, especially since tuition is around 5,000 euros, which I’ll be able to afford. I also have a friend there who can stand as my sponsor, so I don’t have to worry about proof of funds.

I’ll still try the Sweden scholarship again this year, but this time, I’ll pick a different course. I noticed they didn’t award anyone in my chosen course a scholarship, so I’m not sure if there’s a course bias or if it was mostly Europeans (who don’t have to pay fees) who picked the course.

I’m also speaking to a South African professor who said she’d love to have me in her laboratory for my studies. However, the US recently cut major aid that affected her, and she might not be able to pay me an assistant stipend. I was considering it, but a friend who studied in South Africa told me it’d be difficult to get a formal job in the country as a student. So that route is dependent on whether the professor confirms she’ll pay me or not.

You seem pretty focused on leaving the country

On the one hand, yes, I would like to leave the country. I’m tired of Nigeria; the economy and security situation don’t give much hope.

On the other hand, I’m not satisfied with my career trajectory because I’m limited by my BSc qualification. I earn better than I did a few years ago, but my minimal career growth makes me really unhappy. Most of the roles I want straight up specify that the minimum requirement is a master’s degree, and I don’t want to do a master’s in Nigeria. Our research output is too poor. I once applied to a school in America, but I knew I wouldn’t get in because I didn’t have any research papers published anywhere, not even my undergraduate thesis. Yet I was competing with students from all around the world who had standard research work.

There’s one school in Nigeria I could consider attending, but I’d have to leave work for some time, and I don’t think I have the financial capacity to do that. So, right now, I feel stuck academically and professionally.

Out of curiosity, what do long-term plans look like for you, after postgraduate studies?

One reason I’m particular about studying abroad is that I want to be exposed to new technologies in genetics and genomics, as I want to pursue a career in precision medicine.

I decided on this path a few years ago when I realised there’s a space for it in Africa. For instance, many drugs produced by big Pharma companies and even their research tend to people of European ancestry. The African gene is more diverse than any other in the world, and my work in precision medicine can help people understand themselves better and tailor their lifestyle to prevent diseases.

In summary, my long-term plan is to run a genomic startup. We used to have one in Nigeria, but I think it shut down. After my master’s and PhD, I’ll likely attend a business school because I don’t know how startups operate. I may end up not setting up business in Nigeria. It could be another African country; I have a few in mind. I don’t know how I’ll do it yet, but I’ll figure it out.

Rooting for you. Let’s come back to money. Is there an ideal amount you think you should be earning now?

At least ₦800k/month. That way, I can save ₦500k and kickstart my study plans a little quicker.

You live on half your salary now. Does that get difficult?

Not really. I think it’s because of how I grew up. I didn’t grow up having extra money to spend, so it’s easy for me to survive on the basics. I understand the comfort that money brings, but I have no real desire to spend a lot of it.

The major reason I want more money is to save towards my academics. If not, I’m fine. The last time I bought clothes for myself was early this year. Maybe I’ll buy some more in December, and that’s it. I’m perfectly okay.

Interesting. Can you break down what your expenses look like in a typical month?

In the months when I don’t get money requests from my family, I channel the ₦50k to my savings for rent.

Besides your academics, is there anything you want right now but can’t afford?

My girlfriend and I have been dating for nearly two years, but I can’t take our relationship to the next stage yet. I believe I need to have a more stable source of income or even some career progress before getting married. So that’s something I can’t do yet.

How about the last thing you spent money on that made you happy?

My brother got married early this year, and I supported my parents with ₦700k. They weren’t expecting that amount, and I was happy I could do that for them.

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

6.5. I don’t think I’d be where I am now if I hadn’t invested in crypto, so that’s something to be grateful for. I’ll most likely return to crypto in the future. I’m not where I want to be yet, but the future is bright.

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.

[ad]

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 was money like growing up?

My dad was the typical example of a struggling Nigerian.

At one point, he was a journalist. But when he lost his job, he got into furniture making and later worked at a bakery. My mum was a teacher, but their income combined wasn’t enough for us to escape poverty.

Money? We didn’t have it. It was bad.

How bad?

For starters, I have five siblings, and we all lived in one room. For many years, I thought “tea” was warm water and sugar because that was what I grew up drinking.

You know the kind of poverty that’s an identifier? The type where everyone knows you’re poor? That was what we had. Once, we went three days without food until church members brought us rice and other essentials to save us.

Another time, my landlady knocked on our door and asked my mum if she wanted leftover eba from an event she’d hosted. My mum took the eba, and for the next two days, we dipped the eba in water because we had no soup. Till today, I hate eba because of the PTSD from that time.

I’m sorry you went through that

There were many, many more instances like that, and those experiences left me with a resolution to never be poor for the rest of my life. I just wanted to make money.

I got into uni in 2009. My dad’s friend helped pay my first year’s tuition — ₦152,500. Tuition for subsequent years didn’t come that easily, and I struggled financially and academically. I could be writing a test or exam when the list of debtors would be called out, and I’d be asked to leave the hall. Of course, that meant an automatic carryover.

I was desperate and joined a cult in my second year. The person who recruited me told me that the cult would support me financially. He was like, “School fees is small thing. We usually raise money for members.” Out of ignorance, I believed that.

Let me guess: The reality was different

Very different. In fact, they were the ones collecting money from me in the name of dues. Whenever a leader saw me on the road, they would ask me for something, and I had to comply.

This was money I made from doing odd jobs to survive in school. I did everything from being a farm hand to working on construction sites and cleaning bird droppings in a poultry. Still, the cult took the little money I made.

Beyond the money aspect, I didn’t like the lifestyle cult members had to keep. It was all about alcohol, weed and violence. There were also a lot of deaths, but I avoided getting involved in that.

Two years into my membership, I started avoiding them altogether. I even joined a church and made it look like I’d taken it seriously and become a “pastor” so I wouldn’t have to associate with them anymore.

Did they let you go that easily?

It wasn’t easy at all. I faced threats and pressure. I was in my extra year when I started avoiding them.

For context, I got two extra years because of my multiple carryovers. So, I didn’t need to be in school all the time, and when I was, I actively avoided the cult members. I think they eventually decided I wasn’t interested, and just left me alone.

I eventually graduated from the university in 2015. I say “graduated” because my name came out on the graduation list. I didn’t actually get my certificate and wasn’t mobilised for NYSC.

Wait. Why?

My outstanding tuition debt. About ₦650k. It was that high because of the extra years, and the school added an extra ₦20k on every late payment. That figure is most likely to have increased since I left over 10 years ago. I just told myself the certificate was a piece of paper. The main thing was the education, which is in my head.

After I left uni, I got a job as a reporter at a newspaper through a friend in 2016. My salary was supposed to be ₦30k/month, but my employer showed me shege. The man would owe salaries and then come to the office one day to give ₦7k.

It got to a point where we didn’t even know how much we were owed. This month, oga would pay ₦7k. Next month, ₦15k and ₦13k the following month. Whatever dropped, you had to take it like that.

Phew. How were you surviving on that?

I supplemented my income by working part-time as a tutor at JAMB and WAEC tutorial centres.

Those paid me between ₦100 and ₦200 per period. Sometimes, ₦750. The rates depended on the subject I taught. Periods were usually an hour. So, if I had two periods, I would teach for two hours. I worked every day of the week, except Sunday.

I worked at the newspaper for about two years and resigned in 2018.

Got another job?

Nope. I resigned out of anger. It was a very toxic work environment. One Saturday, the editor called the team to a meeting and started lambasting everyone. Then he said, “If you want to leave, you can leave.”

The statement triggered something in my head. I thought, “Am I a slave?” I turned to my co-worker and told him. “Today’s my last day in this place.” He thought I was joking. On Sunday night, I sent the editor an email titled, “Dear Sir, I quit.”

Can’t lie, that was epic. But did you have a backup plan?

I had nothing. I’d even stopped the tutorials because the pay no longer worked for me. When I got home that Saturday, I told my dad I was quitting, and I saw respect in his eyes. He knew what I had gone through.

After I resigned, I set up my own version of a media company. While at the newspaper, I worked on stories focused on a particular sector in Nigeria and also maintained a personal website, which I occasionally wrote on. So, I just started writing more on that niche for my website.

Around this time, the industry began to pay more attention to my niche, and I occasionally earned a little money from my writing. People would pay me to cover news, conduct interviews with industry professionals, and write articles.

How often did you make money from this?

I could make a few thousand today and not see anything for the next four months. The money wasn’t stable at all.

I did this for about three years. I also started living on my own at some point, and it was tough. There were many times I didn’t know where my next meal would come from.

When I realised that focusing solely on the website wasn’t sustainable, I decided to try freelancing from another angle.

What angle?

I started looking for clients on LinkedIn. Interestingly, I didn’t even try other freelance platforms; I already had a LinkedIn presence, which helped me secure my first opportunity there in 2022.

A France-based company hired me to write articles about my industry in Africa and paid me $400 per article. I wrote one article per month, and our contract lasted a year. Then I got another contract with a US client that paid me $1 per word. My articles for this client typically ranged between 500 and 700 words, so my income was also around that figure. I worked with this client for four months.

Around the same period, I had another client who paid me 50 pence per word. I had several gigs like that, which occasionally brought in money. Of course, my income wasn’t stable, but at least I knew some money would come in every other month.

In 2023, I finally secured a full-time job, marking the end of my freelancing streak. A US company hired me as a content marketer on a $1500/month salary. Unfortunately, that didn’t last long.

Ah. What happened?

I didn’t know much about content marketing. I’d worked in journalism all my life, and I didn’t realise content marketing was more than just writing. I really wasn’t pulling my weight, and they terminated my employment after three months.

I was unemployed for another six months. I applied and applied, but nothing came out of my efforts. I only survived this period with the help of my wife. I’d gotten married and had a child before this happened, and my wife supported the home with her income. She really carried the family, and I’ll forever be grateful for her.

In July 2024, my job hunting efforts yielded success, and I finally had a breakthrough.

Whoops! Tell me more

I secured a content marketing manager job with a European company. They pay me $2000/month, and I still work there, so you can say I learnt from my first content marketing experience.

Haha. You’ve had a fascinating income growth trajectory. What has that meant for you?

My life has changed. I told my wife recently that this is the first time I’ve earned a stable income in my life, and to think that everything changed in less than two years. I desperately don’t want to return to my old life. Omo, I suffered.

When I got my job, I moved out of my neighbourhood because I wanted stable electricity. Also, the place wasn’t safe for remote work. People start to look at you a certain way if you’re earning well but sitting at home. Money made it easy to move.

Previously, I struggled to pay ₦250k rent, but now I can comfortably afford my ₦2 million rent — it’s less than my monthly salary. I also got a car within six months of working.

Another thing about money is that it changes the dynamics of friendships and family relationships. The way people treated me before is different to how they treat me now.

That’s interesting

It’s true. No one wants to associate with a poor person. I never billed anyone, but my friends ran away.

I remember, during one of my lowest days, I came across a passage in the Bible. I think it was in the Book of Proverbs. It said something like, “The brothers of the poor hate him. How much more his friends?” That passage really scattered my brain, but I saw it happen in real life. I don’t blame anybody, though.

Now that things are better, the dynamics have changed, which I expected. I just know not to expect too much of people. They see the money, not me, so I act accordingly. I do my part out of responsibility, not necessarily love. The only person who really has my back is my wife, and I don’t play with her.

Hmm. How would you describe your relationship with money now?

I’m wiser, and I pay close attention to how I manage my money, especially saving and investing.

Let me paint a picture of how my money moves. I earn $2000; half of this is used to cover home expenses and black tax. Then the other half stays saved in dollars. Every few months, I take it out to acquire land. For the most part, all my savings have been invested in landed properties. I currently own a couple of acres in various choice locations, which I purchased for a total of around ₦12 million.

Three months ago, I started investing in Nigerian stocks. I don’t completely trust Nigerian companies, and I’m still learning the stock market, so I just put ₦100k there monthly to learn and gradually build my portfolio. I currently have ₦500k there.

For the rest of my savings, I’m building them up to have sufficient liquidity to invest in US stocks and acquire actual property, not just land. I have only $1200 in my savings now. I’ll need about $8000 – $10,000 to do anything serious. If I have that, I can put $1000 towards US stocks and use some of it to get property. Beyond the investments, I want to be really liquid.

What does “really liquid” mean for you?

At least $10,000 in liquid assets. I just want to have it. I believe illiquidity limits one to the kind of investment opportunities they can take advantage of. I can see an opportunity now, but can’t immediately jump on it because there’s no money. But liquidity gives me that freedom.

Interesting. You mentioned budgeting $1000 for your monthly expenses. Could you break that down?

After conversion, $1000 is around ₦1.4 million, and I allocate it this way:

What kind of life does your income afford you?

As you may have noticed, I didn’t factor personal expenses into my monthly budget. I hardly spend on myself. I don’t drink or party; the only pleasure in my life is good food. I think that’s a major factor I got from my childhood. Food was a challenge, so now I must eat good food. I used to tell myself growing up that turkey wasn’t sweet. It’s sweet o, I just couldn’t afford it.

I’m screaming

That said, I live a good life. One thing my experiences have taught me is that when it comes to opportunities, face the opposite direction of wherever the majority of people are facing.

Most of the people I knew were journalists, so I decided to focus on something else. My decision is still paying off today. My former colleagues who stayed in journalism are still struggling to this day.

I’m curious. Is there an ideal amount of money you think you should be earning right now?

God bless you for that question. As I am now, I believe I should be earning at least $5k/ month for the level I am currently at. I’m actively seeking job opportunities and sending cold emails to potential employers. If you know of any jobs like that, please send them my way.

I was just about to ask you to help me

Haha. There’s something I must mention. Naira Life actually opened my eyes to opportunities in content marketing. In 2021, I read a story about someone who switched to content marketing. They were earning thousands of dollars, and I told myself I would earn that one day too. So, it’s like I’m living in my answered prayers.

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

I want to leave the country with my wife and children. I may not leave permanently; I just want the freedom to come and go whenever we want. It might cost us approximately $40,000 to relocate to Canada or a European country.

How about the last thing you bought that made you happy?

Maybe my car. I got it in December and it cost me ₦8 million.

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

6. I don’t have the liquidity I want. If I start earning $5k today, the number would increase to 7/10. I know I’ll be rich soon. There are signs now. Very soon, there will be wonders, haha.

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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In 2020, Lekan* (31) thought he’d finally made it, until the pandemic left him broke overnight. In this story, he recounts his gritty climb back to financial independence. Spoiler alert: it was marked by long hours, smart investing, and a few strokes of luck.

As Told To Boluwatife

In early 2020, right before the lockdown, I thought I had finally made it.

In January, after about four years of working as a photographer/graphic designer for multiple employers, I transitioned into freelancing full-time, travelling across Nigeria for gigs and taking home what felt like a substantial income.

The final push to venture out on my own came after my 9-to-5 job cut my salary from ₦120k to ₦80k for no apparent reason. I realised I could make my salary in three days just from shooting portraits. I was already taking on photography gigs on the side and knew I could make more money if I dedicated more time to it.

My bet paid off. By February, only about a month after I quit, I had almost ₦1 million sitting in my account.

For the first time, I wasn’t thinking about survival. I was thinking about growth. So, I took a huge chunk of the money and bought a drone.

Then the world shut down.

I’d just returned from a work trip when the government announced it would be locking down some states because of COVID. I’d heard about the virus going around in China, but I didn’t know it had hit home so quickly.

At first, I wasn’t worried. I had ₦200k left and thought the lockdown would only last a few weeks. That was a stupid error on my part. I had no idea how much the lockdown would affect the creative economy.

Everything came to a standstill, even after the lockdown was eventually lifted.

No events.

No travel.

My gigs evaporated overnight.

By May, I was down to my last ₦500, surviving on one meal a day and trying not to panic. Noodles and garri became my go-to food options.

At this point, I was living alone in Kwara, far from my parents, who were in Lagos. I’d moved there because of my 9-to-5 job and a desire to be independent. I didn’t know how to start asking them for money again. Besides, my parents were also dealing with the effects of the pandemic on their finances.

So, I tried to survive on my own, waiting for the next gig to come.

The Breaking Point

My breaking point came in June. I woke up to the sound of my cleaner sweeping the floor. It was the end of the month, and her ₦8,000 salary was due. I didn’t have it.

That was the day I broke down and cried. It hit me that I was truly broke; I had no backup plan, no savings, and no idea where my next meal would come from.

Later that day, I got a call from an old client. He worked at a really big firm, and I’d shot a project for him the previous year. He told me he was visiting my city and asked to meet. I scraped together transport money and went.

We talked for hours. I told him how I wanted to “make it on my own” instead of moving back to Lagos. He listened quietly, then said something that stuck with me:

“Lekan, the easiest way to make money is to be close to where the money is. The most money you can find in Nigeria is in Lagos. The closer you are to the money, the higher your chance of finding opportunities.”

He told me Nigeria was too unstable for entrepreneurs and encouraged me to return home and find a job. At least, my parents had a house, and I could figure things out while I looked for opportunities.

Before I left, he gave me ₦10,000 for transport. That small act of kindness became the bridge between my breakdown and my comeback.

I took his advice and started looking for a job. Two months later, I’d found one and was back in Lagos.

I Decided I Would Never Go Broke Again

My new job was also in photography and paid ₦250k/month. I made myself a promise: I’d never go broke again to the point where I don’t know where my next meal would come from.

My strategy to fulfil that promise was to work till I dropped and network hard enough to find as much work as possible. Rather than spend my free time after work playing video games or partying, I spent it working on side gigs.

Luckily, my 9-to-5 was remote, and I only had to go to the office when we had shoots. When I wasn’t at the office, I filled my time by shooting for other people, taking on graphic design gigs, and seizing any opportunity that came my way. Most of the time, I earned the equivalent of my salary from these gigs.

This strategy allowed me to live 100% off my side gigs and save the entirety of my salary. I clocked into dollar investments around that period, so I saved all my money in dollars through an investment platform, using their real estate and fixed assets options. Then, the exchange rate was about ₦450 to $1 and after converting my salary, I was saving around $500 monthly.

For about a year and a half, I grinded every day and didn’t touch a single kobo of my salary. I worked up to 18 hours a day, slept for only four hours, and just kept going. My body suffered, and I even developed high blood pressure that I still manage today, but I kept stacking money. I was addicted to seeing the figures in my investment app go up.

By 2022, I had saved over $8,000.

My First Lucky Break: Arbitrage

That same year, I started paying close attention to the dollar-naira exchange rate. I had noticed how quickly the naira fluctuated in that period — one week ₦580, the next ₦620, then back again. I thought I could make some money from it if I made close enough predictions.

I had this bureau de change guy whom I called almost every day to check the rates and compare with the rates I saw online. I started to notice a pattern that implied the rates were about to fall again: ridiculous differences between the buy and sell rates.

I’ll paint a scenario using 2022 rates: If the dollar moves from ₦500+ to ₦700, more people want to buy dollars. However, if it drops to ₦620, most people start to sell off their dollars because it appears the dollar is losing value.

The bureau de change guy also doesn’t want to hold on to more dollars, so if you try to sell to him, he’ll offer to buy at a ridiculous price. The Central Bank can say the dollar is ₦620, but he says he’ll buy a dollar at ₦550.

But then, if you want to buy dollar from him, he’ll tell you ₦680. Why? Because he’d bought those dollars when they were more valuable, and he doesn’t want to lose money.

So, whenever I called my bureau de change guy and saw a ridiculous difference in the buy and sell rates, I predicted there would be another fluctuation. So, I started making some crazy moves.

I did the opposite of what everyone else was doing. Instead of holding onto dollars when the value increased, I’d take out my savings, convert it all to naira and then wait for it to dip over the next couple of days. Then buy the dollars back to make some profit.

Those moves were risky gambles, but I thought, “the worst thing that can happen is that I’ll lose some value. I won’t lose the whole thing.” I did that at least once every two or three months, whenever the exchange rate started its thing.

I made small gains here and there, as well as a few losses. Sometimes I didn’t even make anything. But the thing about arbitrage is, you need a lot of capital to make a substantial profit.

So, in mid-2022, I sensed a massive fluctuation coming and withdrew all my savings of just under $10k and converted it to naira. I’m not sure how much the dollar had risen to then, but it dropped back down by about ₦100 a few days later, and I bought the dollars back.

I made almost $1k in profit from that move; $1k without doing anything major. That was my first proper money from arbitrage.

I did it a few more times, but I don’t think I made up to that amount again. I also didn’t have really crazy losses. The most I lost on a move was ₦400k.

My Second Lucky Break Came From the Government

In late 2022, I decided to pursue a master’s degree abroad. Most of my friends were moving abroad, and I didn’t want to be left behind. The master’s was my opportunity to do that and also take a chance on myself.

I had the money and didn’t need to worry about working multiple jobs to afford tuition. I applied to a school, got in and used my savings to pay tuition.

The tuition wasn’t in dollars, so I converted my savings to naira — it was ₦8.5 million — and used Form A to pay my fees. Form A was the Federal Government’s allocation that allowed citizens to pay for tuition abroad at official exchange rates; you didn’t have to pay the black market rate.

After I paid my fees, I think I had about ₦1 million left. I still needed to hustle for proof of funds, so I started talking to family and friends. While doing that, I realised I didn’t know much about what relocating to that country entailed.

Apparently, if I didn’t find a job willing to sponsor my visa within two years after my master’s program, I’d have to leave. Additionally, job sponsorships were becoming increasingly difficult to find.

The math didn’t make sense to me. I was paying so much money for tuition, and it didn’t even guarantee me a place in the country. It felt like too much of a gamble. Around the same time, I landed a new job that paid almost three times my salary. It felt like a sign from God to stay put. My fiancée also wasn’t ready to move with me as she didn’t have the necessary funds. I considered all that and decided to cancel the relocation thing and take the new job.

Next, I looked into the school and tried to see if they’d give me my money back. I called them, provided a lengthy explanation as to why I wouldn’t be attending anymore, and asked if I could receive a refund. To my surprise, they agreed.

Now, this was in 2023, and I paid my fees around 2022. During the six months between when I paid and when they refunded me, the exchange rate had almost doubled. By the time I received the naira equivalent of my tuition (approximately $19,000), it had increased to nearly ₦15 million.

Essentially, I “put in” ₦8.5 million and grew it to ₦15 million in six months. That one decision not to relocate unintentionally became my second big break.

After that, I still made small arbitrage moves occasionally, but I stopped risking too much. I had more to lose, so I converted currencies strategically while holding on to my core savings.

Present Day: I Can Finally Breathe

My approach to making money, saving and investing has changed. I still work a 9-to-5 job, and my monthly salary has grown to ₦1 million. I don’t work myself to the ground anymore, trying to live off side gigs.

I now save around 35–40% of my monthly income. I’ve stopped taking risky arbitrage bets. I could gamble like that because I was single. Now that I’m married with a child, I need to think about tomorrow differently.

That said, on the investment side, I’m now long on the naira. I noticed in 2024 that some policy changes meant money markets were returning almost 27% on investments steadily. So, I converted all my forex to naira funds instead. I just had faith that the ROI on money markets would be much more than whatever the naira devaluation would be. The naira has also been stable for a while.

Today, I have approximately ₦25 million invested in naira funds. I use a Nigerian bank’s fund manager for this, and make 18% per annum. It was 27% when I first started, so it’s dropped, but it’s still solid and safe. I also have an additional $5,000 in dollar investments that bring me just under 6% per annum. That’s a total portfolio of around $23k.

My finances have been stable for the most part, and it feels like I can finally breathe. Sometime last year, I went on my first real vacation. I felt like I had too much money saved up, so I took out close to $9,000 and took a trip across 10 countries. It was good to see the world after working 18-hour days for almost 3 years.

Sometimes, I remember that day in 2020 when I woke up crying because of ₦8000, and it feels like an entirely different life. I no longer feel that intense pressure. Even if I lose my job today, as long as I don’t do anything foolish, I can survive and pay my rent for at least three years.

I’m glad I made those early sacrifices and risks. They set me up for where I am today.

*Name has been changed for the sake of anonymity.

NEXT READ: I Quit My Job a Year Ago. 500 Applications Later, I’m Still Jobless

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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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What’s your earliest memory of money?

My aunt, whose place I used to wait at after school until my parents returned from work, usually gave my siblings and me ₦5 or ₦10 to buy sweets. Sometimes, we would take the money home and give it to our mum to keep. Of course, we never got the money back.

Of course. What was the financial situation at home like?

My parents were civil servants, and growing up was pretty chill. We weren’t “rich”, but I never worried about what my next meal would be. I don’t think I lacked anything, really.

Do you remember the first time you earned money?

That was in uni. I made money writing assignments for some of my guys. I started it when I first got into uni in 2017, but I was a naive young boy. They’d ask for my help, and I’d do the assignments for free; I only asked for money for printouts.

However, in 300 level, I realised they were taking me for granted and I needed to start charging for my time. So, I began demanding small payments, usually ₦2k – ₦3k.

How often did these assignment requests come?

Not frequently. In a semester, I could do about six assignments. My earnings from that supplemented my ₦10k – ₦25k/month pocket money, so I lived a relatively okay life as a student. At least, I didn’t go hungry even though I rarely cooked.

Besides the assignments, I also had a couple of volunteering stints with an NGO, where I got a ₦2k stipend whenever we went out for campaigns. It wasn’t an actual income.

Fast forward to 2022, I graduated from uni, then I taught at a secondary school for NYSC the following year. My only income was the ₦33k allawee, which I supplemented with money I made from shoemaking.

I need to give you some context for this shoemaking part.

Haha. Yes. When did you learn shoemaking?

2022. The long ASUU strike came just before my final exams, and I was idle and frustrated at home. I wanted to learn a skill that wasn’t already saturated. I’d already learnt graphic design earlier, but I wasn’t getting any gigs. I didn’t want to be a fashion designer because that’s what all my siblings learnt, and it felt like I knew too many tailors.

One day, I just thought, “What of shoemaking?” I didn’t know many people who did that, and I felt that footwear was something everyone bought, whether they had money or not. In fact, at the time, my footwear was the most expensive thing I owned. That’s how I came to a decision: I would learn shoemaking.

My parents were against it, though. They wanted me to continue in graphic design. Some of my friends didn’t like the idea either, mostly because of the “prestige”.

They said, “How can you be a graduate making shoes?”

But I didn’t care. We’re talking about money here, and you’re saying graduate. Is it better to be a poor graduate?

Plus, the person I planned to learn from was also a graduate. So, that was extra motivation. I was just like, “Fuck it. This is what I’m going to do.”

Energy. Did you have to pay to learn?

Yes. I paid ₦30k. The training was supposed to last a year, but I ended up learning for about four months because ASUU called off the strike, and I had to return to school.

However, from the first day of my training, I was already telling people I made footwear. I didn’t know how to do shit, but I was posting, “I’m a shoemaker” on my WhatsApp status.

My boss was a very nice woman. Whenever I received orders, I would tell her, and we would make the footwear together. It made me learn faster, while earning small cash on the side. I made like ₦1k profit on a ₦5k pair of palm slippers.

I moved to a different state for NYSC in 2023 and didn’t have any way to continue learning. I didn’t even have a machine to work with, so I initially planned to act as a middleman for footwear orders. I’d take orders, look for a shoemaker to make them and charge a little profit. But after making a few findings, I realised the arrangement would make the shoes unaffordable for people.

Instead, I decided to talk to the shoemakers and asked them to allow me to work from their shops. Luckily, I found someone who allowed me to do that. He didn’t charge me, but I took the initiative to occasionally buy him bread and drinks, or give his apprentice small money whenever I worked at his shop.

What was your income flow like?

It was pretty good. I stayed in a corper’s lodge, and sometimes I took the shoes I worked on home to complete them. When people saw me, they’d ask what I was doing, and I used that to spread the word. So, I was getting clients from my WhatsApp status and through word-of-mouth referrals.

In a month, I was sure of making at least five footwear. Some people also came to me for shoe repairs. My price for new footwear depended on the design. My customers were fellow corps members, and I couldn’t charge much. Plus, the number of shoes I made was more important to me than putting huge price margins on only one pair.

My only strategy was to add a ₦1200 profit to the cost of materials and transport for whatever footwear I was making. Then, there was a popular restaurant in my area that sold a plate of food for ₦1200. My reasoning was, “If I work, I’ll sha chop.”

Real. Did you do this throughout your service year?

Yes, I did. After I finished NYSC in 2024, I returned to the state where my uni is located, with a plan to double down on shoemaking. I was convinced I could make more money by putting more energy into my craft.

My theory worked. I stayed among students and quickly started getting customers. Unfortunately, my parents pressured me to return home to Lagos after three months. I got to Lagos and everything just dried up.

Phew. You stopped getting customers?

Not totally, but there was a big difference. During NYSC and in school, I had a community of people I could talk to and plug my work. But Lagos is like a jungle; no one sends you like that.

I decided to use the opportunity to improve my shoemaking skills. I found a shoemaker and paid ₦40k to learn more designs. I even paid the ₦40k in instalments.

How long was the training for?

I only spent about three months there because I secured an internship through a government-funded graduate internship scheme, which places people in various organisations. My internship was with an insurance company, and they paid me ₦60k/month for the three-month period.

While doing that, I returned to school for my master’s program because my parents wanted me to. They weren’t even in support of my learning more shoemaking skills. They insisted on the master’s until I relented. I’m still on it. I’ve completed my coursework, though; only my project is left.

How do you support yourself in school?

It’s mostly my parents. They don’t give me an allowance, but I tell them what I need for school, and they pay for it.

When I’m not in school, I live at home with them, so I don’t have major expenses. I handle petty expenses with the income from the occasional shoemaking orders. I usually pile up the orders for when I return home during the weekends so I can work on them at my boss’s shop.

On a positive note, I now have a filing machine, but that’s just one of the many pieces of equipment I’ll need if I hope to stand on my own one day.

What’s your income like these days?

I make an average revenue of ₦100k/ month, but my profit after deducting the cost of materials and transport only amounts to between ₦20k and ₦30k. It’s not big money, but at all at all na im bad.

At least, I’ve gone from charging ₦5k to at least ₦15k, and I market my business on my various social media platforms. I know I can earn more from this if I put in more effort and acquire additional equipment. I’m also jobhunting, but nothing has come out of that yet, so I’ll have to hold on to shoemaking.

If I push harder, I might even make more than whatever a 9-to-5 job would give me. I’m open to every opportunity.

You mentioned equipment. Have you thought about what you’d need?

The last time I wrote down a list of machines, it totalled about ₦10 million. But that’s on a full industrial scale. For a start, I estimate about ₦500k for equipment. The most important things I need are shoe lasts and a sewing machine. That ₦500k doesn’t include the cost of renting a shop. I don’t know how much that would be.

How would you describe your relationship with money?

I’m stingy with money like mad because I don’t know where the next one will come from. If I don’t need something, I won’t buy it. My major expenses are data and small stocks that I buy once in a while.

Stocks? How did you start?

I started in 2020 with a fintech app that allows you to buy shares from global companies like Apple, Microsoft and Google. I didn’t know much about it; I just put money there that time. I can’t even remember how much. Then, when I was broke, I took it out.

It wasn’t until recently, when I started seeing buzz around foreign stocks, that I realised I could’ve made so much money if I hadn’t sold it. The incident drove me to research financial instruments and education. Now, I try to put small ₦1k here and there in stocks. I follow people who talk about money online and try to observe what they’re doing.

I currently have like ₦40k spread across both Nigerian and US stocks. The dividends aren’t much because it’s still small money, but I figure it’ll grow as I stay consistent with it through the years.

Do you also save, or are stocks your primary financial instrument?

I don’t typically save. I used to buy dollars to keep my money before, but I stopped because the naira started gaining against the dollar, and it no longer seemed profitable to buy dollar. I should also have some Bitcoin somewhere, but it’s been a while.

Let’s break down your typical monthly expenses

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

If I see ₦500k/month right now, whether from a 9-to-5 job or my business, I’ll be chilled.

What do future plans look like for you right now?

Honestly, I’m still figuring it out. I want to do more with shoemaking; I also want to get a good job. I’ve been searching for one within the advocacy sector, but I’m fine with anything. There’s still a lot to figure out, but I’m optimistic and hopeful. I believe my future is bright.

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

I’d like to change my phone to an iPhone 11 Pro Max. I don’t even know how much they sell it. Maybe ₦400k?

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

Happiness? Zero, abeg. I’m not happy at all. I have no cash. That’s not a happy situation.

Hoping things change for the better soon. What would make you happy?

Thank you. If I see 100 orders now, I’m sure that rating will change. I believe it’ll happen one day.

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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When did you first realise the importance of money?

In uni. I had a relatively easy childhood, and although we experienced financial difficulties from time to time, my parents provided me with everything I needed. At the very least, I ate three meals daily.

However, things changed when I started university in 2020. My dad said, “You’re on your own now. Don’t ask me for money.”

Omo, I suffered. Scarcity taught me the importance of money.

No allowance?

There was, but ₦10k/month was never enough. There was one day I drank garri throughout the day. After I drank garri again in the night, I just started crying and asking God why I was in that situation. It was terrible.

Phew. Was there a reason your dad wasn’t open to billing?

My parents are pastors, and the pandemic grounded a lot of things financially. We couldn’t hold regular church meetings, and even after lockdown, we found it difficult to restart service due to several factors.

My parents tried a few businesses to supplement our income, but things weren’t going great. We had to manage, and that affected what they could afford to give me for school. After the garri incident, I resolved to find alternative ways to make money.

What did you do?

The first thing I tried to do was sell clothes when I was in 200 level. I didn’t exactly have a passion for it; I didn’t even believe I was a businessperson. However, the popular stereotype about my tribe is that we should all know how to buy and sell. So, I thought it was a good idea. Also, I was desperate.

So, I borrowed ₦20k from my elder brother and bought clothes from someone who imported them from China. The business didn’t last up to a month, and I barely sold anything due to my lack of interest in the whole thing. I didn’t know how to sell, nor did I have the energy to convince people to buy. I ended up giving most of the clothes away.

Did you try another business venture after that?

I didn’t. Instead, I turned to social media. It was initially an escape for me. I was bored and getting depressed because of my financial situation, so I became active on social media to take my mind off things.

Then, I started to read about opportunities such as writing, freelancing, and social media management. As I learned more about them, I felt they were things I could actually do. I’ve always known how to write, and I could easily learn the others.

In fact, I already had some community management experience from managing Christian Facebook communities. I had created those communities to make friends, and grew membership to hundreds of thousands. Facebook was hot in that 2020/2021 period, and the communities were very active.

My work with the communities and my writing skills pushed me to explore these new opportunities. Plus, if I couldn’t make money in the traditional way of buying and selling, I could acquire skills and earn money from the comfort of my house.

How did you go about acquiring these skills?

I took free courses in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and digital marketing on SEMrush and HubSpot. Then, I started building in public. I actively posted on Facebook, sharing my skills and my work experience. I also joined freelance platforms like Upwork and Fiverr and sent proposals back-to-back. My social media audience grew steadily, and clients began to come in.

I landed my first gig — $15 to write an SEO blog article — in 2022, about six months after I started taking those courses. That gig made me feel complete, and the whole freelancing experiment felt real. Like, finally, I’m earning my own money, and I could earn more with even more effort.

Energy

Subsequent gigs mostly came from Facebook and my school network. I had an audience on Facebook, and since I was steadily posting write-ups, clients came with their writing needs. I earned the odd ₦5k or ₦10k here and there.

The school clients were classmates who were too busy trying to make money to take school seriously. I told them I could write, and they paid me to handle their assignments and seminar papers. I charged anything between ₦5k and ₦15k, depending on the level of work to be done. Fortunately for me, the pandemic and multiple strikes had affected our school calendar, so we were constantly rushing.

The school authorities would condense a six-month semester into two months, and we always had a lot of assignments. So, I constantly made money from that. I even started a referral program, offering a 20% to 30% discount to people who brought friends and clients from other departments.

What was your average monthly income from these gigs like?

Initially, my income was quite irregular. However, as I became more consistent around 300 level, I built a solid reputation in school, and more people came to me. Between Upwork, Facebook and school gigs, I made an average of ₦100k monthly.

My income peaked during my final year. I started writing final year projects for clients and charging up to ₦90k per project. I also got the opportunity to write for UK clients —people who had used my services in school referred me to their siblings studying in the UK.

These international students rarely had time for assignments and theses because they juggled school and work, so I did them on their behalf and charged well for it. In my final year, I comfortably made up to ₦400k monthly.

Not bad money for a student

It was more than enough to cover my needs. I’m an introvert who hardly went out, so my money usually went to books and food.

When I graduated in 2024, I basically continued where I left off. However, I decided to pay more attention to SEO and social media marketing because the international student gigs were seasonal. They could go on holiday for like three months, and I wouldn’t make any income from that source.

Currently, I primarily freelance as an SEO writer and social media marketer. I still receive academic writing gigs from international students, but it’s not my sole source of income.

How do you get clients as a freelancer?

I recently started cold outreaches using LinkedIn. I’d find the contact details of decision-makers in companies I believe need my services and pitch them. That works half of the time. The rest of the time, my clients come from word-of-mouth referrals and freelance platforms. The academic writing gigs are solely referrals; I don’t need to pitch for those.

I average ₦500k/month when my academic writing clients aren’t in session. When they are, my income can get up to ₦800k or ₦900k. Now, that’s just from freelancing. I also have a 9-to-5 job that pays me ₦200k/month, and I receive ₦77k allawee as a corps member.

I feel like we’ve jumped a few chapters. When did the 9-5 happen?

March 2025. I moved to a different state for NYSC, and my cost of living skyrocketed. It honestly came as a culture shock. As a student, I paid only ₦150k for a decent self-contained apartment. But moving here, the same apartment costs ₦600k. Transportation and feeding are also more expensive.

To make it worse, my income wasn’t stable when I first moved here. My international students were on holiday, and money wasn’t coming in frequently. That was when I even decided to focus on my other skills to fill the gap from academic writing. I also decided to take a 9-to-5 job to keep me grounded during periods when freelancing didn’t bring in as much money.

I got a social media marketing job with a manufacturing company. They pay me ₦180k as salary and an extra ₦20k for data. The job is primarily for stability, and thankfully, it’s remote. At least I know, whether it rains or the sun shines, I’m getting ₦200k from somewhere every month.

So, it’s like your NYSC Place of Primary Assignment (PPA)?

Actually, no. My PPA is at an NGO where I work in communications, but they don’t pay me. So, I told them they shouldn’t expect me to come to work every day. Instead, I work like a consultant for them. I help them with newspaper and magazine contacts when they need to publish press releases and offer communication advice, but that’s it.

Interesting. What kind of life does your income afford you?

I live a comfortable life. I eat well, and I can afford data, good clothes, and live in a decent place. That said, I don’t think I live luxuriously. I have plans for my future, so I don’t overspend. In fact, 60% -70% of my income goes into my savings. 10% goes to tithe, and I live on whatever’s left to cover my cost of living.

Tell me more about how you break down your savings

This is how it works: I allocate 60% – 70% of my monthly income to two savings accounts. One is an emergency savings account that I can easily access if I’m stranded, and the second is under a lock feature in my savings app that doesn’t allow me to touch the money for at least a year. I put most of my savings into this feature. Sometimes, I also direct some of my savings to crypto and stocks, but that’s not regular.

Right now, I have around ₦700k in my emergency savings and ₦2m in the locked account. I started this approach in 2024.

Is there a reason why you lock your savings for a year?

Two reasons: The interest rate and financial discipline. I’m very liberal with giving, and it’s a way for me to caution myself. I intentionally make myself poor because if I earn ₦700k this month and keep the whole thing in my account, I’ll spend it when someone asks. So, I’d rather hold ₦100k so when they come, I can say, “I only have ₦100k. Take part of it.”

So, you live on about 20% of your income. Let’s break that down into monthly expenses

My feeding budget is that low because I’m a minister in my church, and we fast a lot. My church giving is exclusive of my tithe and offering, also because I’m a minister. I teach an age group in church, and I like to give them monetary gifts.

I should also mention that I recently started channelling some of my savings into a real estate investment program. The program allows people to pay a deposit for land and complete payment in instalments. The land I bought costs ₦3m, and I initially deposited ₦700k. I’m supposed to complete the payment by the end of December. I’ve already paid around 70% of the money; what’s left is ₦1m, and I know I can complete it by then.

The person who introduced me to the program is a trusted church member. He’s already given me the papers and necessary documentation for the land. So, I’m already technically the owner.

How would you describe your relationship with money?

“Interesting” is the only word I can think of. My mum says I behave like someone who hates money because I’m almost always broke, even though I earn a lot of money.

It’s a paradox: earning so much and still being broke, only that mine is induced poverty. Once I get paid, I channel my money into savings and make myself broke because I don’t want to be extravagant. I’ve also learned that money is a spirit. The more you make, the more you want to spend.

So, I’m conditioning myself not to succumb to that by having little cash to work with. I was recently stranded and had to ask my sister to loan me ₦4k because some bank issues prevented me from sending money from my savings account to my regular account. And that’s normal for me. It may not be ideal, but that’s how I condition my life.

I’m curious. Do you have a particular savings or investment goal?

My investment goal is real estate. I want to buy multiple lands in developing areas and wait for them to become prime locations. I’m also looking to japa through the student route, and I imagine I’ll need to have sufficient proof of income. I don’t know how much I’ll need yet, but I’m saving with that in mind.

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

At least ₦1.5m/month. I want to get a bigger apartment closer to town, but I can’t do that on my current income. I also have a relationship and marriage in mind within the next two to three years, so I need to increase my earnings.

What do future plans look like? Do you intend to continue freelancing?

Definitely. It’s working for me, so I’ll keep at it. I also want to go into thought leadership and content creation. I recently started posting videos on my TikTok, and I’ve been getting decent views. I know I’m a skilled communicator who knows how to deliver speeches and offer advice, so I’m confident my content will resonate well. I just need to get content creation equipment because I mostly do selfie videos for now.

Besides thought leadership, I also plan to produce content focused on career tips and organise classes for people who want to transition into the digital space. I’ll probably start all these by the end of the year.

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

A car. I spend too much on transportation, and it’s a major hassle in my city. I might need about ₦20m for the car I want.

How about the last thing you bought that made you happy?

I bought a tie for ₦1500 a few weeks ago, and it’s gotten me so many compliments. In fact, I was so happy the day I bought it that I placed it on my bed, snapped it, and posted it. That tie makes me so happy.

Love it for you. How would you rate your financial happiness on a scale of 1-10?

6.5. I’m happy with where I am presently, but looking at my goals, I feel like I should be earning more. I can’t japa or start a family with my current financial status.

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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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.

Everyone’s financial journey is different; Piggyvest gives you the tools to plan, save, and invest, so you can create your own money story. Start now with as low as ₦1,000!

What’s your earliest memory of money?

I started becoming conscious of it around the age of 10 or 11. My dad’s import-export business fell into issues, and my serial entrepreneur mum took over as breadwinner. So, we rarely had enough, and my earliest memories of money were of having to manage it.

How much “managing” did you have to do?

I didn’t get sent out of school for not paying my fees, but I remember having to heavily pad my school list. That way, even when my parents cut down the number of items they could buy, I’d have the basics.

I carried this habit to uni as well. My pocket money stayed at ₦10k/month throughout my time in school. For context, I was in uni between 2014 and 2019.

₦10k was nothing to write home about, so I often had to lie to get extra money. Thankfully, I studied pharmacy, and we always had to buy one textbook or another. So, I could say I needed ₦30k for a ₦10k textbook.

It wasn’t the nicest thing to do, but I had almost no choice. I couldn’t do runs or other bad things to make money. Maybe it was my mother’s prayers.

When was the first time you worked for money?

I had stints renting out my storybooks in primary school for ₦50 – ₦100. I also sold Parago sweets for a bit in secondary school when classmates kept begging me to give them mine. I was like, “Don’t beg me. Just buy it.” So, people bought, and I started buying to resell in school for ₦50 profit.

However, my first proper income was in 300 level. I really loved taking pictures and writing about my everyday life. My inspiration was Linda Ikeji’s story – how she became rich from blogging, and I thought, “Maybe I can start doing this too.”

I had a hand-me-down phone. Those types of phones that your elder sibling finishes using before passing them down to you. I used the phone to take pictures and write stories about my daily activities. At first, I only posted my content on my family’s group chat. However, my brother encouraged me to share it online and on my WhatsApp status as well. So, I did that.

One day, a contact reached out, saying she’d love for me to write for an entertainment blog she was starting. I planned to do it for free because I honestly didn’t feel confident enough in my writing. But she offered a ₦10k/month pay plus data. I was like, “Ah. So I can make money from this?”

Haha. Almost every writer’s rite of passage

Besides writing, I handled the blog’s Instagram page. I just knew Instagram was a place to post pictures, write captions and put hashtags. Social media management was a new terrain, and I really didn’t know what to do. But I’m quite solution-oriented; once you give me something, I must find a way to make it work.

So, I did some research and learnt from online business coaches. I worked with her for six months, then she stopped the blog.

However, I didn’t stay unemployed for long. One of the online business coaches I followed had a thing where she allowed people to pitch their services and share opportunities in her comment section on certain days.

It was from there that I met a client who was looking for someone who could write their Instagram captions. I didn’t even know this was a thing. They paid ₦2500 per caption, and sometimes I’d write two captions a day. I did this for three months, and it further opened my eyes to the fact that there was money to be made in this social media thing. So, I kept pitching people.

I DM’ed small businesses offering to manage their social media pages. Now that I think about it, I was severely undercharging. I’d tell them ₦15k, they’d price me to ₦10k, and I’d collect it. I was stuck at ₦10k for almost two years. I didn’t charge higher out of fear that people would refuse to pay more than that.

Then, in 2018, I made my first “big money”.

Tell me about that

People were always asking me about my hair, so I started a natural hair blog. I thought it’d be a way to make my Linda Ikeji blogger dreams come true.

While I didn’t make money directly from the blog, it helped me get in the eyesight of my next client — a diaspora-based Nigerian who wanted me to write articles for their mental health platform. The articles were SEO-focused; they provided me with keywords, and I wrote based on those. They paid ₦75k per article, and I worked on two articles monthly.

The contract lasted three months, and oh my God, I felt so rich that period. Unfortunately, I mismanaged the money. Suddenly, cooking became irritating. I visited restaurants, bought food for friends, and just flexed all the money. It felt good to have my own money, but I didn’t manage it well.

I didn’t get another gig in uni after this one. I was now in my final year, so I just focused on graduating.

What came next after uni?

An internship was supposed to come next, but while I waited to land a placement, I took on a locum role at a pharmacy. My salary was ₦40k, but I almost never received the full amount because my employer deducted money for various reasons, from punishment for lateness to the cost of expired or lost drugs. I didn’t mind because I lived with my parents and had no expenses.

I worked there for seven months before I got a proper one-year internship at a community pharmacy in 2020. For most people in the pharmacy space, community pharmacies are the last option, but I actually preferred them. I could actually impact people directly. Plus, I didn’t want to work at a hospital because I can’t stand the smell.

Please don’t ask why a pharmacist can’t stand a hospital. I studied the course purely for materialistic reasons. My mum sold me the dream of pharmacists driving cars and having money.

Haha. Real. What was the pay at the internship like?

My salary was ₦75k/month. Sometimes it went up to ₦85k because of my initiative to market drugs and drive sales. I had noticed some products weren’t moving, so I put my digital skills to use.

Our target audience was older people, and since this category uses WhatsApp frequently, I started a broadcast messaging campaign to our customers, highlighting the different products. I also shared health and wellness tips on specific days. It worked. Sales were consistently good while I worked at the pharmacy.

I completed my internship in September 2021, and NYSC was supposed to come next. While I waited for the call-up letter, I started applying to social media management jobs on LinkedIn.

You weren’t planning on practising pharmacy?

I wasn’t. I know most people strive for financial freedom, but location freedom was at the top of my list. I wanted the freedom of working remotely. Also, I’m not sure why, but I just felt cutting off transport costs would equal more money for me.

One of the roles I applied for was a social media associate role at a social enterprise I really admired. They didn’t get back to me for about a month, so I thought I didn’t get it, only for me to receive an interview invitation as I was rounding up NYSC orientation camp.

During the interview, they asked about my salary expectations, and I said ₦250k. My sister had told me to give that figure, and I followed her advice even though I thought it was a lot to ask for.

The interviewer said, “Hmm? What did you say?”

I repeated the amount with confidence, even though I was shaking.

Then she said, “Hmm. Okay.”

Ah. Please tell me you got the job

I honestly thought that was the end. However, to my surprise, I received a congratulatory email to proceed to the next interview stage less than one hour after the call. To cut the long story short, I got the job in December, and they gave me the ₦250k. But that was the gross pay; my net salary came down to around ₦188k after deductions.

I was still excited sha. I had a pension, HMO and all the other corporate things. It was my first big girl job and the first time I had all those benefits, so it was a big deal. On top of all that, it was fully remote.

Love to see it. How did you juggle the job with NYSC?

I was posted to a university for NYSC, and interestingly, they were on strike for almost the entirety of my service year. So, I didn’t work there. I just collected my ₦33k allawee.

I also got another ₦120k/month social media management job during my NYSC year. I had updated my LinkedIn to reflect my new role and was a bit more active on the platform when the client reached out to offer me the gig. I should’ve asked to be paid in dollars, since it was a US-based company, but I didn’t know better. Plus, I didn’t even have the facilities to collect payment in dollars, so there’s that.

So, I had two income sources (plus allawee) during service year, bringing my monthly income to around ₦340k. I was balling.

How long did you manage both jobs?

I stayed at both for a little over a year. I left my 9-5 in early 2023 because it felt like the right time to leave. I was tired of social media management and, to make it worse, I was juggling two demanding SMM jobs. I felt like I was dying inside.

So, I left my regular 9-5 first, and left the other in mid-2023. I transitioned to a media company, where I served as a project manager. The job came with a pay cut to ₦150k/month, and I think emotions played a role in my accepting the offer. My employer was a celebrity I admired and wanted to work with, so I didn’t negotiate.

Also, I took the job to explore something outside social media, but guess what? I ended up doing social media management there, too.

I’m screaming. How come?

I was employed to manage a film project, and after its completion, my employer continued to pay me as usual. I felt guilty about collecting a salary without working. So, when I noticed their social media wasn’t doing so great, I took it upon myself to manage the page.

The page grew in a relatively short time, and my employer decided to start pitching to companies that we could also handle their brand and social media. Of course, this extra work came to my desk because they saw I was doing a good job.

That’s how I became the brand and marketing person managing the portfolios of different brands. At one point, we had five brands on retainer. I did that for a few months before I started to think, “I can actually do this on my own.”

I’d essentially created a new income source for the company, but my pay was nothing compared to how much I was bringing in. So, even though I was scared, I quit my job in September 2024 to start freelancing.

Did you have any immediate plans?

I honestly didn’t. I had no plan or clients, but I was tired of 9-to-5 and wanted to try freelancing.

Fortunately, I got my first client almost immediately. Someone I’d worked with referred me to an international organisation for a four-month project. The project paid ₦250k/month to lead the marketing for their film project.

While this was happening, I was showing up on social media. I thought it was important for people to know what I did, since referrals have been the primary means of success in my life’s journey. So, I was working on my skills, getting better at LinkedIn and sharing my findings across my channels: WhatsApp status, Instagram and LinkedIn. I even did videos sometimes.

One day, a friend asked, “You do LinkedIn optimisation right? A client needs it for their MBA. What are your rates?” I didn’t have any rates. I was just learning LinkedIn for myself.

I asked someone active on LinkedIn how much he’d likely charge to optimise someone’s profile. He said “₦10k” and it immediately gave me PTSD from my ₦10k days. There was no way I was returning to charging ₦10k for services.

So, what did you do?

Thank God for ChatGPT. I asked it to provide me with three different optimisation packages, with the least expensive package costing ₦100k. It helped with the big, big English, which I carried to Canva and designed into a proper rate card.

The client liked it, even though she priced me too much. She wanted the ₦200k package for ₦100k. We eventually agreed that she’d bring two more clients who would pay ₦100k, too. That’s how I got ₦300k sharp sharp for something I could do within one or two hours.

After that gig, the client referred me to more people, and those ones referred me too. In two weeks, I made ₦1m from LinkedIn optimisation.

This same LinkedIn optimisation?

See, the English in my offerings was plenty. Besides creating profile banners, optimising their headlines and all the other updates, the most expensive package also included ready-made content for one month. They didn’t even have to worry about posting. I created the content and scheduled it. So, there was a lot of value.

The content idea helped me get several returning clients. They were like, “This is great. How much would it cost you to just manage my LinkedIn?” So, I slapped a price on it. Again, my lowest price was ₦100k.

I started the LinkedIn hustle in September 2024, and by December, I had four steady clients. I also got a client who paid me in dollars — $500/month to manage her Instagram and LinkedIn.

In October, my former boss reached out for help managing her personal brand on LinkedIn and Instagram. I knew she had money, so I charged ₦350k. She haggled a bit, and we settled on ₦250k/month to post twice weekly on both platforms.

You were on a roll

I was. However, the goal was to make sure all these clients stayed long-term. They’d all come towards the end of the year, and I didn’t want a three-month arrangement where they’d disappear again. I actually prayed on December 31st for my clients to follow me into the new year.

Fortunately, they did. I’m proud to say I’m even considering registering a company. Between December 2024 and now, I’ve onboarded four more clients, whom I manage their entire personal brand. As a result, my services have expanded beyond LinkedIn. If they want to start a podcast or website, I charge separately to handle the PR, arrange interview rounds, and all that.

Amazing. What’s your income like these days?

I earn at least ₦1.5 million per month from my naira clients and $600/month from my dollar-paying clients. This is my main job now; I don’t have a 9-to-5 anymore, so you could say I’m a full-time freelancer.

However, I’m looking at turning it into a creative business, specifically a personal branding agency. Personal branding brings me the most money, so I intend to position my agency to handle branding for C-level executives, founders and entrepreneurs with more than 10 years of experience in the industry.

Setting up a proper business will also allow me to hire some help to assist with the work. It’s a lot now, and I need to get assistance, especially because I plan to increase my rates in the new year.

What kind of lifestyle does your income afford you?

I can afford most of the things I need. Thankfully, I still live with my parents, so I don’t have rent expenses. What typically takes my money are subscriptions (all them Canva, ChatGPT, iCloud and the rest), data, gym subscriptions, cab rides and savings.

Let’s break that down into a typical month

How would you describe your relationship with money?

It’s still an ongoing thing. I grew up with a sense of scarcity, and I’m just now getting used to making money. I’m not proud of it, but I didn’t start saving until late 2024. Because I grew up with scarcity, I thought, “Now that I have money, I need to get everything I want before it goes.” I felt I could always make money since I provided value. So, I spent anyhow. However, I now realise the importance of savings and investments.

Was there any shift that influenced this mindset change?

Yes o. I realised Tinubu was likely to win the 2027 election, and it struck me that I had to prepare. It’s not 2027 yet, and the price of everything is increasing. What happens when he gets four more years? I decided it was time to save some money, so I could sleep better at night.

Right now, I save all my dollar income in an investment app. I use their real estate investment option, and I’ve been doing that for about three months. My investment portfolio is now worth $1800, and I have over ₦4m saved.

You mentioned planning to register a company. Do you have a timeline in mind?

I’ve actually registered it. It cost me ₦47k to register a limited company. I’m trying to get a tax identification number now, and I paid ₦15k for that. I just hired two interns whom I’ll be paying ₦70k each monthly. I want to test our arrangement over the next few months, establish a structure, and pursue more international clients before formally launching my business in January 2026.

Rooting for you. Is there an ideal amount you think you should be earning?

When I made my first ₦1m, I told myself that’s the least amount of money I wanted to make in 2025. Now, I’ve surpassed that, and I know I can double that in 2026. So, $2k/month wouldn’t be bad. That would mean my business is making at least $5k.

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

A car.

I feel like this is everyone’s problem these days, and it’s so crazy how unaffordable a car has become

It’s so crazy. I spend a fortune on cabs, and it’s so stressful. I might need around ₦15m to get a regular small car.

What was the last thing you bought that made you happy?

I didn’t exactly buy this, but I contributed ₦1m to my church building project in April, and it made me so happy. I’d never given that amount before, and I loved that I could do it at once.

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

6. I now see what’s possible with my finances, and I know I can double or triple what I currently earn in a year. I’m still a beginner in this money thing, but I’m on the right track. I want to be able to boast of a $20k investment portfolio by 2027.

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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When Tope* (24) left Nigeria for Egypt in 2021, she believed she was chasing a better life; one that would allow her to support her family, save money, and return home with pride. Instead, she found herself trapped in a cycle of exploitation.

This is the story of how she spent two years working as a domestic worker abroad and came back home with nothing.

As Told To Boluwatife

My second time at the Cairo International Airport in Egypt was a very different experience from my first.

The excitement and hope I felt when I first set foot in the country had been enveloped by regret and shame. I’d let everyone down: my parents, siblings and even myself.

I tried to distract myself by watching people come and go at the airport. I wondered if some of the dark-skinned girls I saw were entering Egypt for the first time. Maybe, like me, they also thought their lives were about to change. I desperately wanted to walk up to one and tell her to turn back and run as fast as possible. To warn her that she could end up like me.

But even as I sat there lost in thought, I knew I was lucky to be leaving at all. For weeks, I hadn’t been sure I ever would. My sponsor — the woman who brought me to Egypt — had made it clear that going home wouldn’t be easy.

She’d threatened me for weeks, insisting I couldn’t leave unless my family paid for my return flight and the balance of her “investment” on me.

“You think you can come here to work for free and just go?” she hissed. “Pay, or stay here forever.”

In the end, my parents took out loans from family friends so that I could return home. When my sponsor finally gave me my passport and flight details, she said, “You should be grateful. Some girls never leave.”

She didn’t give me a single naira. Not even for transport from the airport. I was returning to Nigeria with nothing.

Two years before this event, I’d left Nigeria for Egypt as a restless 20-year-old, desperate to ease the financial pressure on my family.

My parents are struggling traders, and we grew up poor. Rationing food and surviving on loans were our normal. I can’t count the number of times my dad had to avoid coming home because his creditors were always chasing him for their money.

The pandemic in 2020/2021 worsened our financial situation. Business was terrible, and my dad took even more loans. My two younger siblings couldn’t attend school due to unpaid fees, my elder brother dropped out of polytechnic, and hopelessness became a dark cloud over the house. I tried to support as much as possible with the little I made as a hairdresser, but it was clear that we needed something more.

When I heard a woman in our area was connecting girls to jobs in Egypt, I didn’t hesitate. She told me I’d be working as a nanny. “They’ll treat you like family,” she said. “You’ll earn in foreign currency. You can send money home every month.”

To make the arrangement even better, I didn’t have to bring any money. My sponsor would cover everything: my passport, visa, and the entire travel process. In exchange, I’d give them 90% of my salary once I started working in Egypt for two years. I was supposed to keep the remaining 10% as pocket money or send it home to my parents.

I imagined finally earning enough to save my family from poverty. I even saw myself finding a way out of Egypt to another foreign country after the two years. I had big dreams.

But from the moment I arrived in Egypt, I knew my sponsor had sold me a lie.

There was no nanny job. I was a full house girl; cleaning, washing, and taking care of three children under four. The house had five bedrooms and only one house girl: me.

I worked from 5 a.m. until past midnight. No rest and only one day off in two weeks. No privacy, either. I wasn’t allowed to go outside. The only time I saw sunlight was when I took the trash out.

My employers took my passport and didn’t let me use my phone during the day. The madam would scream at me in Arabic when she was angry. The man of the house never touched me, but I made sure to never be alone in a room with him. Something about the way he looked at me made my skin crawl.

My main issue was the pay. The family sent it directly to my sponsor, who claimed my 10% was E£500. She advised me to keep E£100 as pocket money and send the rest home to my family.

It sounded like sensible advice to me. I spent all my time at my employers’ house and had minimal expenses, so it was better to support my family as much as possible. My sponsor took care of sending my money home. Or at least that’s what she told me.

She never did.

Six months into the job, my mum asked if I’d settled enough to start sending them money. That’s how I found out my sponsor hadn’t sent anything home. When I confronted her, she claimed she was keeping the money to send in bulk since ₦14k (The exchange rate was around ₦35 to an Egyptian Pound) was “too small” to send every month.

After that, every time I asked for updates on when she planned to send the money, she said it was “processing”.

I found more inconsistencies in the story my sponsor sold me. I made friends with some other African maids and learnt it wasn’t normal for my salary to go to my sponsor. Apparently, I was supposed to collect my money myself and then remit her share to her.

Also, there was no “processing” that should have prevented her from sending my money home. She was obviously stealing from me.

I confronted my sponsor, and she told me I was stupid. “Who do you think you are to question me?” she shouted, “You want to collect salary yourself so you can keep my money, right?”

When I saw that the approach didn’t work, I went to my madam and asked her to pay me directly. She must have thought I was trying to steal from my sponsor because she chased me out of the house and reported me to my sponsor.

My sponsor welcomed me back with beatings. She beat me so much that I have a small bald spot on my head from where she dragged my hair during the ordeal. It was her way of making sure I wouldn’t try to go behind her back again.

For the next year and a half, I endured. I went from one employer to another, enduring mistreatment and hunger. I even worked with someone who threw plates at me when she was angry. I told myself I just had to wait out the two years to pay my sponsor back so I’d be free. Then I’d work for one more year to gather money and look for something else to do.

However, at the end of the two years, my sponsor began to tell me a different story. She claimed I had mostly worked with people who paid low salaries, so I hadn’t fully repaid her investment. She claimed I still owed her a year’s equivalent of salaries.

At that point, I was just done. Even if I stayed, what was my assurance that she wouldn’t turn around again to claim the money wasn’t complete? I begged her to let me return to Nigeria, where I’d work and pay her back. But she refused.

She insisted I had to pay her back and raise money for my return flight before she’d let me go. At the end of the day, I had to involve my parents for help.

I hated doing that. I was supposed to go and hustle to create a better life for them; yet I didn’t send them anything for two years, and I was still calling them to help me raise money. I don’t know how they managed to borrow ₦2m to clear my debt and pay for my flight ticket, but they did.

I’ve been back in Nigeria for almost two years now, and I’m worse off than I was when I left. Previously, I had a small kiosk where I attended to clients, but now I only earn money from hairdressing by providing home services to clients. I supplement my income with cleaning jobs, but my ₦60k – ₦90k/month salary is hardly enough for survival.

My parents still haven’t fully repaid the loans they took to bring me out of Egypt. I support when possible, but sending ₦30k monthly feels like a drop in an endless ocean. They don’t bother me about the loans. In fact, they’ve told me they plan to sell my dad’s land in the village to clear the remaining balance, but that makes me feel worse. I put them in this situation.

Still, I’m grateful to be back. I heard stories of girls who died in their employer’s house, and nothing happened because who even cares what happens to you? I also know of sponsors who did worse than what mine did to me.

I regret taking the step to move in the first place, but I thank God I have the chance to start again. I know things will get better soon. Or maybe I’m just hoping. Because hope is the only thing I have now.

*Name has been changed for the sake of anonymity.

ALSO READ: 5 Nigerians Share Their Biggest Loan App Regrets

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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.

Everyone’s financial journey is different; Piggyvest gives you the tools to plan, save, and invest, so you can create your own money story. Start now with as low as ₦1,000!

What’s your earliest memory of money?

I started helping my dad at his spare parts shop when I was in JSS 2. We had a deal: I could pocket whatever profit I made when I managed the shop on Sundays. For instance, if I sold a ₦200 bulb for ₦250, I could keep the ₦50.

That was my first experience earning money. Besides that, I think I’ve always been aware of how money worked. At least I knew we didn’t have it like that at home. One of the first stories I heard as a child was how my dad went from having money to going broke.

Oh. How did that happen?

According to my mum, he surrounded himself with people of small minds. They weren’t thinking about the future; instead, they carried girls, drank and partied. That affected how he spent his money, and he never really recovered.

All that happened when I was really young, so I don’t have firsthand recollections of how well-to-do my dad was. All I knew growing up was that we could only afford the bare necessities. My mum also supported the home with her income as a hairdresser.

Back to managing your dad’s shop, how long did this last?

I did that until I got into SS 2, then my brother took over. The next thing I did to earn money was to take advantage of the Ponzi scheme craze.

This was in 2017, and numerous sites promised to help people make money online. I think this was around the MMM and Racksterli time. A site would spring up today, people would make money quickly, and then it’d crash.

I had the idea of creating a Facebook group and charging people to help them scour the internet and find new money-making platforms. That way, they could quickly make money before others found the platforms, and they inevitably crashed.

I created the group and charged people ₦1k/month to join.

And people paid?

They did. In the first month, 60 people paid, and this number grew to 115 by the third month. Each month, I would usually give them three or four new platforms. I also included platforms that paid people for doing online tasks because I didn’t want people to say they put their money somewhere and then lost it.

I mostly saved what I earned during the three months this lasted. Then, ironically, I put ₦100k — almost all I made — inside one Ponzi scheme that promised me ₦130k in return, and they scammed me. I lost the whole thing.

Yikes. Sorry about that

Thanks. It was so painful because it was the first time I’d earned hundreds of thousands. I actually knew it was a risky move to put my money there, but money-making is always risky. If the risk had paid off, I wouldn’t complain.

After that, I went back to work with my dad again for about two months to get extra money. Then, my friend introduced me to another platform, and I decided to risk it again. This time, I only had about ₦15k. I put it there and collected ₦19,800 after a month. Then I put the whole amount back. I kept doing that for three months and grew my money to ₦30k.

This same friend also introduced me to crypto, and since he was always hyping it, I decided to give it a try. I put the ₦30k in a cryptocurrency project. I’m not even sure what they did with it. Maybe they traded the coin or something. But in two months, the value of my coin grew to almost ₦300k. This was in 2018, and I was in SS 3.

Wild. What did you do with the money?

I could have left the money in the crypto project to keep growing, but I’d learnt from the Ponzi event. So, I took my money out and spread it across different coins. I must have bought at least 20 coins.

I didn’t have any strategy; I just followed my guy. He was the one who told me which coin to buy and hold. I had a small Lenovo phone at the time, which I used to download my crypto wallet and track my investments.

Following my friend’s advice, I kept the investments intact and didn’t take out any money for about six months. At the end, my investment grew to ₦320k. I even took ₦50k out of it to buy clothes and shoes for my valedictory service in 2019. My parents couldn’t afford to get me anything, but I had to look good.

Inject it. What happened after secondary school?

I learnt graphic design at a printing press for about two years. My parents bought me a laptop and paid for the training, but there wasn’t a specific period I had to stay to “complete” the training. I guess I just stayed because I didn’t have anything else to do.

During my time there, I made a little money here and there helping customers with design tweaks. I wasn’t exactly a staff member. I was just the guy who sometimes helped with designs. This also helped me expand my network of contacts. Whenever I helped someone, I plugged in that I could assist with their graphic design from scratch.

So, when I left the printing press in 2021 to do my own thing, I already had potential customers. I just had to call and tell them to give me work.

How much were you making?

Not much. I typically charged ₦2k – ₦3k per social media design and ₦4k – ₦5k for banners and other designs that required printing. On average, I earned at least ₦50k monthly. Sometimes up to ₦100k.

I got customers back-to-back for the first four months, but the graphic design industry is saturated. There was always someone willing to take a lower price. So, when I refused to cut my price, customers moved to the next person. My income started to reduce to ₦10k – ₦20k levels.

I managed for three more months before I stopped entirely. I wasn’t getting customers, and I was losing money paying for design software and buying data. Also, I lived in an area that didn’t have good electricity, so I paid to charge my laptop and power bank. It wasn’t worth it anymore. So, I dumped it and went to learn product design.

How did product design enter the picture?

It was still design. Plus, some of my friends were in tech, learning web design and software development. I wanted to get a tech skill too, but I didn’t have the brain to handle coding, so I opted for product design because it felt more straightforward and similar to what I already did.

Remember the money in my crypto wallet? I emptied it to pay the ₦250k fee for the six-month product design course. It was a huge investment, but it felt worth it. My tech friends kept singing about the possibility of earning a lot from foreign clients, and that was a huge motivator.

I mean, what’s a better motivator than money?

Exactly. After completing the course in 2022, I got a job at a Chinese company that sold solar panels and also had an app. They were looking for someone who could handle both product and graphic design, so I applied and got the job — ₦200k/ month. I was so excited. It was the first time I’d worked in a corporate environment, and it felt like my investment paid off.

At this time, I still lived with my parents. I handled small utility bills occasionally, but I generally had minimal expenses. I worked there for close to two years and left in 2024.

Why did you leave?

Partly because they were trying to give me more work beyond what we agreed, and partly because I had been admitted to the university. I’d been trying to get into uni since I left secondary school in 2018, and it finally clicked.

Congrats! How do you fund your education?

I pay my ₦250k/year tuition and ₦600k/year rent from my freelance product and graphic designer income. I’ve worked freelance since I got into school, and my clients come from Upwork, Fiverr, Twine, and basically anywhere I can find work. My monthly income ranges between ₦300k and ₦1.5m. So far, there hasn’t been a month when I didn’t make money at all.

Let’s break down your typical monthly expenses

Wait. Why do you spend so much on internet and black tax?

I’m sort of a social media addict, and I use the internet a lot for my work, too. So, it takes a huge chunk of my money.

Black tax is that high because my dad had a stroke last year, so I often have to send money for his medication. My siblings also tax me from time to time.

Sorry about your dad. You mentioned investments. What does your portfolio look like?

My investment portfolio is primarily cryptocurrency and stocks. My crypto is currently worth ₦2.5m spread across Bitcoin, Dogecoin and Ethereum. I also have approximately ₦700k in stocks, including Dangote Sugar, Zenith Bank, GT Bank, MTN, and Google. I’m essentially just investing to have something to fall back on; I don’t really have plans for them.

For my savings, I use an app, and I currently have ₦300k saved. I’m not really consistent with savings.

How would you describe your relationship with money?

I definitely live above my means. I tend to spend more than I earn in a month and have to dip into my savings. Ideally, I should be able to live within a ₦500k/month spending limit. In fact, that’s my goal, but it’s hard for me to do because I’ve become used to a certain lifestyle.

For instance, I spend a lot on clothes. It’s not in the breakdown above because I don’t allocate a particular amount to it. I just spend what I can see in my account at the moment. Also, my ₦100k data should last three months, but it only lasts three weeks.

Are there specific measures you’re taking to curb your expenses?

I recently opened a Piggyvest account, and I plan to split my money into two and lock half there. So, if I make ₦1m, I lock ₦500k and force myself to live on the remaining. I just started a few weeks ago. Hopefully I’ll be able to follow through.

What do future plans look like?

I might stay freelance for the near future. I don’t think I’ll be returning to the corporate world. Freelancing can be unpredictable, but I haven’t had any bad months so far. Also, I’m building a savings and investment portfolio as a backup in case something happens. At least I’ll have something to sustain me.

If I ever stop freelancing, it’ll be to start my own business.

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

₦3m/month. I’m not there yet, but I hope to reach that level soon. I plan to enrol in an advanced product design course soon. I have one in mind already, and it costs over a million naira.

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

A car. I would need at least ₦10m for that.

How about the last thing you bought that made you happy?

I got a PS5 for ₦800k in July. It made me really happy.

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

6. I’m happy, but also not happy. I’m grateful for how far I’ve come, but I’m not where I want to be yet. It might be closer to a 10 when I have a car, a three-bedroom apartment and earn over ₦15m monthly.

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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Everyone wants to “make money while they sleep,” but what does passive income actually look like for Nigerians today?

In this article, we spoke to five Nigerians who are doing just that — from dividend stocks to short-term rentals and side hustles that now run themselves. They shared how they got started, how much they earn, and what it really takes to build an income that doesn’t require your 9–5 energy.

Spoiler: It’s not always as “passive” as it sounds.

**“Agritech investing brings me extra money without getting my hands dirty” — Tunde*, 29, Bank Executive**

What drove me to start: I’ve always liked the idea of making money from agriculture, but I couldn’t farm full-time. Then, in 2023, a friend introduced me to an Agritech platform that pools investors for farms and pays returns after harvest. My friend’s colleague runs the platform, and at the point my friend brought it to me, he’d made a 30% profit on his own investment. It seemed like a good way to make extra money without getting my hands dirty.

How I did it: I began with ₦300,000, split among three projects: poultry, maize, and plantain. I didn’t want to put all the money in one project to reduce risk. By harvest time, I had made a total profit of about 25% across the three different projects.

What I earn now: I mostly reinvest my profit, and right now, I have ₦1.5 million in two crops. These bring me around 20% ‑ 25% in annual returns during good cycles. So, that’s approximately ₦300,000 per year on my portfolio, or ₦25,000/month. Payments don’t come in monthly, though. It’s usually per harvest, which is yearly or quarterly. It feels like a reward for just leaving my cash somewhere.

That said, there’s risk in Agritech investing, and sometimes, crops just don’t do as well as you hoped. In 2024, I invested ₦400k in fish farming and barely made my capital back because most of the fish died. So, I try to study risk levels and farmers’ track records before putting my money.

**“I wake up to see money in my account” — Diane*, 28, Digital Marketer**

What drove me to start: I got my first digital marketing job out of uni in 2019. I handled social media content and ads. After a while, I realised I was always reading blogs and forum posts about affiliate marketing: you share a link, someone buys, you earn. I liked that I didn’t need to worry about stocking and delivering physical goods. The risk was lower. So around 2022, I decided to try.

How I did it: I chose a niche I understand — beauty & skincare, because I love trying new creams and products. I converted my amateur writing blog into a space where I reviewed products, wrote “before/after” content and shared discount codes. I also started posting regularly on my Instagram and TikTok.

Everything I read about affiliate marketing pointed to the need to have an audience I could actually sell to. So, my goal was to invest time upfront: create high-quality content and build a following. Plus, if affiliate marketing didn’t work, I could use my page as evidence of my work to apply for social media management jobs.

Then I joined Jumia’s and Selar’s affiliate programs (the latter to sell digital products). After that, all I needed to do was insert my affiliate links to the products I referred to in my content, and I made money when people made purchases with my link. Initially, I made random ₦10k here and there. Then Jumia started moving funny in 2023/2024, so I abandoned them.

Fortunately, Temu reached out to me around that time, and I now make money through their influencer program. I’m not sure if they have an actual affiliate program, but they allowed some influencers and creators to earn commissions from sharing referral codes and links for new members to sign up.

What I earn now: I make about ₦30,000 to ₦150,000/month passively from affiliate sales on Temu and Selar. Most of my Selar earnings come from repeat content I posted long ago, which continues to bring in clicks. I rarely create new content these days because I get so busy with my main job. I literally wake up and see money in my account. I still have to do videos for Temu, but I don’t consider it “active work” because I’d still create content for my social media regardless.

**“My shortlet apartment pays my bills” — Sean*, 33, Music Producer**

What drove me to start: I inherited a two-bedroom apartment in Lagos from my dad in 2018, and for the longest time, I rented it out on an annual basis. However, I kept having troublesome tenants who either delayed payments or frequently requested that I fix one thing or another.

Then, in late 2023, I came across the idea of running a short-let business. Some friends came to my area for a daycation, and I learnt they paid ₦50k per night for four nights. The apartment they rented was almost the same size as mine, and the owner made ₦50k practically every day. Yet, I was there struggling to get tenants to pay ₦1.2 million a year. I decided then that I needed to change my approach to renting.

How I did it: I evicted my tenant and spent ₦1.8m renovating and furnishing the apartment. Then, I listed it online (Instagram and Booking.com) at ₦45k/day and also did a lot of word-of-mouth advertising.

The first few months were rough. I hardly got bookings, and I didn’t realise how stressful managing guests could be. Guests would literally steal pillow cases and damage the entire place if one isn’t careful.

Thankfully, things got a bit smoother towards the end of last year, and it has now become a more passive source of income. I have a manager on standby to handle cleaning and operations when needed. So, it runs without me. I just get paid.

What I earn now: In a regular month, I book about 12 nights, which translates to about ₦660,000 in gross income (I now charge ₦55k/day). Out of that, I spend around ₦350k on staff fees, utility bills (NEPA, fuel, Wi-Fi, etc), platform fees (Booking takes about 10–15%) and occasional maintenance. So, my net monthly income ends up somewhere around ₦310,000, depending on how well the month goes. At least it covers a good chunk of my bills.

**“I make ₦200k ‑ ₦500k monthly from dropshipping” — Ebere*, 32, Teacher**

What drove me to start: My friend was into dropshipping, and I liked how it worked. She only needed to list the products; the supplier handled shipping when customers made orders. Zero capital, just handle customer service and marketing. I wanted that kind of ease, too. So, I started in 2022.

How I did it: I set up an online store on Instagram, sourced trendy items from local suppliers and tested small batches to see what people were more interested in. I found early success in female fashion and home decor, so I focused on that. Also, I ran multiple ads and kept my profit margins small to stay competitive.

What I earn now: I make between ₦200k ‑ ₦500k/month. I now have an online store on TikTok, and I also post my products on declutter pages to find new audiences. These pages charge a 10% – 15% commission on every item sold through their page.

When I first started, I managed day-to-day orders and connected buyers with suppliers. However, since last year, I’ve had a virtual assistant who handles that task. I pay her ₦85k/month to respond to customer messages and get pictures from the supplier. I only come in occasionally to tweak ads and ensure everything is running smoothly.

**“For me, investment feels like earning money just to hold onto it” — Sotayo*, 33, Product Designer**

What drove me to start: I’ve always been a chronic saver, but as I started earning more and interacting with people in similar income brackets, I realised I was just doing myself a disservice by leaving all my money in my savings account. I could take calculated risks in investments and actually get rewarded for that.

How I did it: I opened a brokerage account in 2020, and with professional advice from finance colleagues, I started buying shares in established Nigerian firms that consistently pay dividends (banks, telecoms, consumer goods).

I started with ₦1.5 million, diversifying among four to five companies. Since then, I’ve directed at least 20% of my monthly income to investments. The goal is long-term growth, so I reinvest most of my returns. I hardly sell.

What I earn now: My portfolio is currently worth ₦16m. With an average annual dividend yield of 10%, that’s ₦1.6m in returns. Of course, that’s a modest estimate. Some stocks do more than that, and the stock market has been on a bull run recently. So, I’m sure of making something. I also try to pick companies with stable earnings to minimise my risk and heavily lean on financial advice from professionals.

So far, my investment journey has been pretty interesting. It feels like earning money just for holding onto it.

*Names have been changed for the sake of anonymity.

NEXT READ: How This 27-Year-Old Built a Steady $500 Monthly Income from Investing in Real Estate

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What’s your earliest memory of money?

Those were the days. What was growing up like financially?

Tell me about that

What happened?

Oh my God

That’s wild

Was it a paid apprenticeship?

How much did the new job pay?

What did you do?

What happened?

Too much sense wanted to finish you

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Interesting. What did you do next?

What do you do these days?

How do the business operations work?

Hmm. That’s a lot to think about. You mentioned a monthly profit of about ₦15 million. How much of that is your income?

You’ve had massive income growth over the years. How has that impacted how you think about money?

How would you describe your relationship with money?

Now would be a good time to walk me through your typical monthly expenses

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

Is there an ideal amount of money you think you should be earning right now?

Rooting for you. What was the last thing you spent money on that made you happy?

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

When did you first realise the importance of money?

What was the financial situation at home like?

Fair enough. When was the first time you made money?

Tell me about that

What came next?

Screaming. Do you remember how you spent the money?

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Did you have any plans for the savings?

How did you get into crypto?

I mean, anyone would panic. What did you do?

So things were going well

Damn. A 100% increase

What kind of roadblocks?

How much did you make from the sale?

Planning to try Sweden again?

You seem pretty focused on leaving the country

Out of curiosity, what do long-term plans look like for you, after postgraduate studies?

Rooting for you. Let’s come back to money. Is there an ideal amount you think you should be earning now?

You live on half your salary now. Does that get difficult?

Interesting. Can you break down what your expenses look like in a typical month?

Besides your academics, is there anything you want right now but can’t afford?

How about the last thing you spent money on that made you happy?

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

What was money like growing up?

How bad?

I’m sorry you went through that

Let me guess: The reality was different

Did they let you go that easily?

Wait. Why?

Phew. How were you surviving on that?

Got another job?

Can’t lie, that was epic. But did you have a backup plan?

How often did you make money from this?

What angle?

Ah. What happened?

Whoops! Tell me more

Haha. You’ve had a fascinating income growth trajectory. What has that meant for you?

That’s interesting

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Hmm. How would you describe your relationship with money now?

What does “really liquid” mean for you?

Interesting. You mentioned budgeting $1000 for your monthly expenses. Could you break that down?

What kind of life does your income afford you?

I’m screaming

I’m curious. Is there an ideal amount of money you think you should be earning right now?

I was just about to ask you to help me

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

How about the last thing you bought that made you happy?

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

As Told To Boluwatife

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The Breaking Point

I Decided I Would Never Go Broke Again

My First Lucky Break: Arbitrage

My Second Lucky Break Came From the Government

Present Day: I Can Finally Breathe

What’s your earliest memory of money?