鈥淎 Week In The Life鈥 is a weekly 91大神 series that explores the working-class struggles of Nigerians. It captures the very spirit of what it means to hustle in Nigeria and puts you in the shoes of the subject for a week.
The subject for today鈥檚 鈥淎 Week In The Life鈥 is a doctor currently waiting for his youth service. He talks about choosing not to practice medicine, discovering his love for entertainment, and why he shows up every day.
MONDAY:
On most days, I typically wake up by 8 am but I don鈥檛 stand up from the bed until 9 am. I鈥檓 currently in the phase between finishing my mandator program and waiting for NYSC so I have some 鈥榝ree鈥 time. I say 鈥榝ree鈥 because the coronavirus and the lockdown are delaying me from going to NYSC camp. All I can do is wait patiently for the government to say something. Anything at all. Even if it鈥檚 that they cancelled the 3 weeks orientation camp so that I can just start NYSC and move on with my life. However, since they aren鈥檛 saying anything, I鈥檓 trying to make the best use of this period.
This period is depressing for me in two ways: Firstly, because there are no events happening, I can鈥檛 host shows. I can鈥檛 entertain and make people happy as I normally would. I鈥檓 a master of ceremonies and I enjoy making people happy and shutting down shows. Secondly, because of the lockdown, I can鈥檛 go for service, so this makes me feel stuck. To prevent idleness, I鈥檝e gotten a remote job as a health consultant on an app. where I interact with patients and give health tips. I鈥檝e also started hosting some radio and TV shows as an in-house doctor where I talk about common sports injuries. Additionally, I鈥檝e also dived into content creation for my social media and Youtube channels.
Today, after sorting out food and running some errands, I鈥檓 going to focus on creating content for those channels. I plan to finish today but if I can鈥檛, I鈥檒l roll it over to tomorrow. Whatever happens, I must be done creating by Tuesday evening because Wednesdays through Fridays are for shooting videos. I really can鈥檛 wait to see what I come up with.
TUESDAY:
I didn鈥檛 finish creating content yesterday so I鈥檓 continuing today. Even though I appreciate that I have time to do what I love, I鈥檓 starting to consider getting a proper 9 -5. Only my remote job pays me a salary and that鈥檚 barely sustaining me these days. For now, the television and radio gigs I鈥檓 doing are mostly out of passion and not because of money. If it was because of the money, I鈥檇 have quit a long time ago.
I once swore that I could no longer practise clinical medicine but these days, as things are getting tighter, I鈥檓 starting to entertain the thought. In the past, when I hear anything clinically related, I鈥檇 just turn off like engine. When my classmates advertisejobs, I鈥檇 un-look. However, these days I find myself asking if I鈥檓 sure that I don鈥檛 need that extra 鈧5,000. Now, I look at job opportunities and feel bad for not taking it. I just hope it doesn鈥檛 reach the stage where I鈥檒l have to take one of these jobs because I have no interest at all. I need to shake off these thoughts and focus. Pre-COVID, I鈥檇 not have been bothered because I always had an event every other weekend and that made me enough money to keep pushing it.
I鈥檓 doubling down on creating my content plan today because tomorrow is shoot day. I have to make sure that everything is good to go. In the middle of this, I also plan to cook my favourite food of Jollof rice and white beans because, at the end of the day, I can鈥檛 kill myself.
WEDNESDAY:
I鈥檓 up early today because my show starts by 8:30 am. I have my bath, get ready, and quickly rush down to the radio station. My show ends by 9:30 am and once I鈥檓 done, I head over to shoot my videos. I work with a management team for the videos so they handle all the production and heavy lifting. After all the stress of the shooting is done, we take pictures, play games and just chill.
I鈥檝e had an extremely productive day.
THURSDAY:
Today, I鈥檓 not going anywhere so that I can save my t-fare. Money is tight so I have to plan my outings well. I鈥檓 reminiscing about how much I miss being an M.C and t鈥檚 funny how I got started on this path.
In my final year of medical school, I was confused about what to do with my life so I started asking around. I was sure that I didn鈥檛 want clinical medicine but I didn鈥檛 know what I wanted. Luckily, I read a book by – and that motivated me to explore this path. In the book, Teju listed characteristics of an MC and I fit the description perfectly. However, it was still not an easy journey because coming from my medical background to entertainment was hard. It was difficult to find people with a similar background. Thankfully, I met a mentor called Dr Hakeem who put me through. He took me around and taught me the ropes of the business and I鈥檓 forever indebted to him.
I鈥檒l never forget the first big event I hosted which was a wedding. After a while doing free shows and 鈧10,000 – 鈧30,000 shows, I decided to shoot my shot and charge 鈧100,000 for a wedding. In my mind, I was like they鈥檇 price me down to 鈧30,000 and I鈥檇 still kill the show. I remember the groom saying that the price was too much but he could only afford 鈧75,000. I put on a straight face along with big English. I was like 鈥渢his is below my usual rate but because of the circumstance under which we met and who introduced you, I鈥檒l do it. I consider you family.鈥 But in my head, I was asking myself who sent me message. Immediately, the groom left like this, I called my mentor [Dr Hakeem] to cry on the phone that I had bitten more than I could chew. That I overpromised even though I鈥檇 never hosted a wedding alone before. He ended up calming me down and coaching me on what to do. From the day they paid my fee till the wedding, I couldn鈥檛 sleep because I kept on asking myself who sent me message. I’m sure that my blood pressure went up during that period.
To further worsen things, my final year medical exams were moved to the weekend of the wedding. Exams in medical school are split into one week of theory and one week of practical/oral exams. Initially, the wedding was supposed to be two days after my final exams and that鈥檚 why I took it. Then, exams got moved by a week so the wedding fell on the weekend after the theory exam and just before the practical exam.
I couldn鈥檛 sleep and I also couldn鈥檛 refund the money because I had spent it. It was like my village people were out to finally get me.
Somehow, I found a way to do it. Immediately after my last theory exam for that week[on a thursday], I started preparing for the wedding which was on that Saturday. I had barely one day to do all of the runnings. At the wedding, I was so scared because my mind kept on going back to my books. My mates were studying for exam while I was jumping up and down. I remember that I wore a grey suit that was soaked with sweat. Not from the jumping, but out of fear. At the end of the day, I did the wedding, killed it, and ran back to school to continue studying. To add to my win, I passed my exam in one sitting which also shocked a lot of people.
I learned a valuable lesson from that incident- If you don鈥檛 try some things, you鈥檒l never know what can come out from it. You just need to be brave. I think that lesson is part of why I鈥檓 still pushing it during this period even though things are not so smooth.
All this thinking is exhausting, I鈥檓 going to spend the rest of the day doing what I truly love, which is sleeping. Tomorrow, I go again.
FRIDAY:
I鈥檓 on my way to the studio this morning. I have a show on T.V from 10 – 11 am. After that, I鈥檓 going on the radio by 11 am where I鈥檓 going to talk about sports injuries. I do all these because my end goal is to combine these skills into opening a media house focused on health communications. The space is relatively untapped and I hope to be a pioneer. Since I have no plans to leave the country, this is my way of showing up. I鈥檓 hopeful that everything will add up and by the time I鈥檓 forty, I鈥檒l be close to achieving that reality.
It鈥檚 scary sometimes thinking about it because, at the end of the day, na money be fine bobo. All these things must translate to living a comfortable life. At least let me be able to sustain my family and plan. The world is moving away from certificates to talents – If I can keep putting in the hard work, taking short courses, creating relationships, and learning from people, I鈥檓 sure that it鈥檒l pay off. It also helps that I am very fluid. I might have dreams that are in pillars but they are not fixed. If something comes up tomorrow and based on available information, I feel that鈥檚 the next step that鈥檒l benefit me, I鈥檒l dive into it.
For now, all I can do is control the present.
As at today, I鈥檓 just praying that the government re-opens event centres. Abeg, let events just come back. Even if they give me mic say make I stand for road dey shout. I go take am. I have missed events – That dressing up, looking good, having fun and collecting money. I鈥檝e missed it so much and it has affected me.
I can鈥檛 wait for things to return to normal.
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