Every week, 91大神 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鈥檒l be revealing.
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What鈥檚 your earliest memory of money?
I have plenty of memories of not having money in my childhood. Once, in JSS 2, I couldn鈥檛 participate in my school鈥檚 Christmas carol because my mum couldn鈥檛 afford the clothes.
I remember thinking, 鈥淗ow much is a white shirt or red skirt that you can鈥檛 get?鈥 My mum insisted that she didn鈥檛 have the money, and it was frustrating. I also often missed school because I hadn鈥檛 paid my school fees. Sometimes, my aunties and uncles had to pitch in.
Did situations like this happen often?
They did. I was raised by a struggling single mum who tried petty businesses for money. She moved around a lot to hustle, so I had several stints living with relatives and friends. Our financial situation also played a part, though.
Things stabilised temporarily when I was 10. My mum got with someone and had my sibling. She also had a small shop that brought in money, and we all lived together: my mum, stepdad, and sibling. The only problem was that my stepdad depended on my mum, a factor that eventually led to their separation. I know my mum was often like, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e a man. You can鈥檛 depend on me for money. Go and make money.鈥
That incident and the whole dynamic shaped my relationship with money. I knew I wasn鈥檛 like the other people in my school, whose parents were stable and had money. I had to make money because I constantly experienced what it was like not to have money.
How did you go about trying to make money?
I did some things I鈥檓 not proud of. At 15, I started having sexual relationships with men for money. I didn鈥檛 even think there was anything wrong.
The men I dated were my mum鈥檚 customers when she sold barbecued fish. I think it was one of the effects of poverty because when they showed interest, my mum didn鈥檛 go, 鈥淥h, she鈥檚 a child鈥. Instead, it was more like, 鈥淭his person likes you? Fine, go ahead.鈥
She knew they gave me gifts and money. At this point, my mum and I lived alone. Some of these men even paid our rent.
Hmmm
In 2018, I got into uni and had to find another way to make money. My mum hardly made enough to pay my fees, and I often went hungry.
So, I reached out to a Facebook friend who sold vintage shirts. I asked if she could send me pictures of the shirts so I could market them, add a little money to the price, and take a cut for my efforts. She agreed, and I started posting them on social media.
I made sales, but the profit wasn鈥檛 significant; usually 鈧1k here or 鈧2k there. It was basically survival money. Sometimes, I saved up to sort out my 鈧60k school fees. Other times, my mum rallied around to raise money, but my school fees and living expenses were primarily my responsibility.
I did the business until my second year in uni when I dropped out.
Why did you drop out?
First of all, I was depressed. Secondly, I didn鈥檛 like my course at all. I couldn鈥檛 concentrate in class, and it showed in my grades. My first-year CGPA was one point something and the school was going to make me repeat the year. That鈥檚 when I decided school wasn鈥檛 working.
My mum was upset when I told her my decision, and I understood. We鈥檇 gone through so much and begged people for money to pay my fees. It felt like wasted effort. However, I didn鈥檛 think it was fair to continue studying something I didn鈥檛 like and couldn鈥檛 see a future in.
So, I officially became a dropout in 2020, packed my bags and moved to Lagos.
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Why Lagos? Did you have any plans?
I just knew I wanted to find a job and fend for myself. In Lagos, I lived with a male friend from Facebook who encouraged me to stay with him while I figured things out.
I finally found a job four months after my move. It was an administrative intern role at an energy company, and I was paid 鈧15k/month. Interestingly, the same day I landed the job, the guy I was staying with sent me out of his house.
Wait. What happened?
He expected sex in return for allowing me to live with him, even though we never talked about that. I initially refused when he demanded it after I first moved in. Then I relented because I desperately needed to find something to do, and I couldn鈥檛 return home.
However, just before I got the job, I told him I didn鈥檛 want to have sex with him anymore. I appreciated him for his help and promised to contribute my quota. He wasn鈥檛 happy with that, and after several attempts to get me to change my mind failed, he sent me packing.
Phew. Where did you go?
I don鈥檛 know if it was luck or divine orchestration, but I met an old family friend in the area that day. I told her my situation, and she allowed me to move in.
She was a baker, so after I returned from work, I had to help her till midnight, whether I was tired or not. Sometimes, I wouldn鈥檛 sleep. I couldn鈥檛 complain because she was literally putting a roof over my head.
I see. Back to your job. Was 鈧15k enough for anything?
It wasn鈥檛. To supplement my income, I began helping to sell the company鈥檚 solar products on Facebook marketplace for a 鈧1k – 鈧1500 profit. This typically brought me an additional 鈧6k – 鈧7k weekly.
But my accommodation issues were far from over. After living with the family friend for a month, she told me her mother-in-law was coming to stay. In other words, I had to leave again. I went online and put out a post looking for places to rent. I didn鈥檛 have money; I was just telling people to look for houses for me.
A random person saw my post online and asked if I had found anything. The question came when I saw an apartment for 鈧100k/year. So, I told this person, and he just sent me the money like that. I didn鈥檛 even know him. I still don鈥檛 know what he looks like.
Mad
After I moved in, my problem changed from accommodation issues to 鈥淗ow am I going to pay my next rent?鈥 鈧15k wasn鈥檛 going to cover it, so I began searching for a skill that could earn me money.
I knew I could write, and I heard people could get writing jobs from foreign companies online. I decided to do the same, so I started writing on LinkedIn. This was in 2021. Three months later, I got my first job from LinkedIn from a Nigerian guy who lived abroad.
He said he could tell I was enthusiastic about writing, so he hired me to write five articles weekly. My salary was 鈧12k/month. I did all three hustles 鈥 writing, my 9-5, and Facebook marketplace sales 鈥 until 2022, when I quit the 9-5.
Why did you quit?
They refused to increase my salary, yet they kept adding to my responsibilities. I鈥檇 even 鈥済raduated鈥 to the front desk. I couldn鈥檛 do it anymore, so I left. This meant I also had to stop selling the products on Facebook. I only made profits because the company gave them to me at a discounted rate as an employee.
So, I focused on writing. By this time, I鈥檇 grown a considerable following on LinkedIn and had started charging 鈧5k for LinkedIn optimisation and classes to teach people how to grow on the platform. Quitting was scary; I didn鈥檛 know if I could bank on LinkedIn alone. But I figured I鈥檇 just make it work. I was also job hunting.
Two months later, I found an intern content writer role, but there was no pay. It was only a 鈧5k/month stipend, but I learned much in that job. I did content strategy, social media management, and writing.
But 鈧5k though
The money wasn鈥檛 commensurate with my work, but I saw it as an opportunity to learn and gain writing experience in an actual organisation, not the self-taught thing I鈥檇 done before. Now, people who understood writing better than I did critiqued my work, and it improved my skill.
It also helped that I was still making money here and there writing on LinkedIn. In fact, the job grew my LinkedIn efforts because my writing improved, and more people began to follow me.
I left the job in 2023 for my mental health and freelanced for the rest of the year. I increased my LinkedIn optimisation service to 鈧20k and sold ebooks about growing on LinkedIn. I was a proper LinkedIn influencer.
What was your income like during this period?
I made an average of 鈧100k/month. I also got occasional invitations to speaking engagements, and those brought in like 鈧10k – 鈧15k. I wasn鈥檛 super rich, but I could sustain myself.
By 2024, I started considering moving my focus away from LinkedIn. I was tired of posting online and needed to start thinking long-term, so I dusted off my CV and went job-hunting again. In May 2024, I landed my current administrative executive job with an event company.
My salary is 鈧100k/month, but I usually get an additional 鈧60k for event coordination. Also, my dad returned to my life in 2024 and put me on a 鈧200k monthly allowance, so my total income is around 鈧360k.
Curious, is there a reason he put you on an allowance?
We鈥檙e just trying to have a relationship again.
Also, I returned to uni via a distance learning program around the same time my dad returned. School doesn鈥檛 afford me the time to pursue side gigs. Plus, my tuition fee is 鈧300k/year. I need as much support as I can get. So, I negotiated the allowance with him, and he鈥檚 been paying it.
Do you still make money from LinkedIn?
It鈥檚 once in a blue moon. I don鈥檛 pay as much attention to it as I used to. I can鈥檛 remember when last someone came to me for profile optimisation. But I鈥檓 very fine with it. I feel like I鈥檓 finally moving forward.
It鈥檚 part of the reason I returned to school. I want to build real-life skills rather than be that one person on LinkedIn who always does 鈥渁spire to Maguire.鈥 LinkedIn was a lifeline for survival, but I鈥檓 past that now.
I鈥檓 currently studying a business-related degree, and with my admin experience, I think I鈥檓 on the right track to a solid career path. I also plan to get a master鈥檚 abroad after this degree.
Rooting for you. Let鈥檚 break down your typical monthly expenses
I often borrow money from loan apps in the middle of the month when my account has turned red. The funny thing is, I repay loans every month and still borrow again because I don’t have money by the time I pay them back. It鈥檚 a continuous cycle.
One thing I don’t do, though, is touch my savings. I prefer to borrow and pay the money back. I save consistently all year round and lock it in my Piggyvest because it eventually saves me when rent comes along. My plan for my savings this year is to repaint my room, pay rent, travel with my friends, and buy myself something nice at the end of the year.
How would you describe your relationship with money?
I used to struggle to spend money, but now I see it as a tool to cater to my immediate needs and care for myself. I want to make money to save up to do something nice for myself. I don鈥檛 believe in just working and working. I want to hang out with friends and travel, even if it鈥檚 within Nigeria, because I鈥檝e not reached abroad level yet.
Is there anything you want right now but can鈥檛 afford?
It鈥檚 just one thing: to leave this country.
What鈥檚 an ideal amount of money you think you should be earning?
With how this country is going, I should be good with 鈧1m/month. I believe I鈥檓 not earning that now because I don鈥檛 have the skills. That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 investing in school and learning technical skills so I can get that soon.
How would you rate your financial happiness on a scale of 1 – 10?
5. I鈥檓 not doing badly, especially considering where I鈥檓 coming from. I鈥檝e achieved some stability, and it鈥檚 great. But I also don鈥檛 like having to borrow money because my income doesn鈥檛 take me to the end of the month.
If you’re interested in talking about your Naira Life story, this is a good place to start.
Find all the past Naira Life stories聽here.
