Between 1996 and 2014, today鈥檚 subject on #NairaLife worked as an auxiliary nurse. Her highest salary in that period was 鈧�12k. Today, she works as a hairdresser and lives on loans she repays every week.

What鈥檚 your earliest memory of money?

1995. I was 16 and decided to turn my hairdressing talent into money. My parents separated when I was two and my younger brother was 11 months. We first lived with my mum because we were kids, but my dad took us back after a few years. I only had the chance to visit my mum during the holidays after that, and it was during those visits I found out I was a natural at hairdressing. My mum had a neighbour who made hair. I used to stay at her shop watching her. Then one day, I tried to braid a friend鈥檚 hair and did a fantastic job.

By the time I turned 16, I decided to stop making people鈥檚 hair for free. I bought a poster and put it outside my mum鈥檚 palm wine shop. At that time, I charged as high as  鈧�100 to make people鈥檚 hair.

Sweet.

Because hairdressing brought money, I switched from going to my mum鈥檚 place only on holidays to going every weekend. My dad dropped me off on Fridays and picked me on Sundays, and by Sunday, I鈥檇 have made 鈧�1,000. Sometimes, my dad 鈥渂orrowed鈥� the money. Other times, I saved.

By 1996, I was in SS2, and I decided to stop and train to become an auxiliary nurse instead. 

Why?

I鈥檇 loved the idea of being a nurse since I was a child. Seeing people in nurses’ uniforms brought me joy that I couldn鈥檛 explain. 

How did you become an auxiliary nurse in secondary school?

I had a classmate who was also training to become an auxiliary nurse. She took me to a hospital that had a vacancy, and they took me in. I can鈥檛 remember how much, but to learn, I had to pay the hospital. My dad paid for me. On weekdays, I went to work after school, but on weekends, I worked full shifts. My job was to assist nurses, so I treated wounds, gave injections, etc.

11 months into my training, when I was in SS 3, I got pregnant, so I decided to stop. I also dropped out of school. I moved to live with my mum so she could take care of me during the pregnancy period, and I decided I still needed money to take care of my child, so I used the little money I鈥檇 saved to buy raw rice, beans and garri to resell. I made a profit and restocked multiple times, and that鈥檚 what I sold until I had my child in 1997. When the child was six months old, I decided to go back to auxiliary nursing. This time, at a different hospital. 

Why?

I wanted to start afresh somewhere I could learn comprehensively. The auxiliary nurse training is a three-year programme, and I鈥檇 only done 11 months at the first place. Starting afresh was an opportunity to refresh my memory of what I鈥檇 learned before. I started in 1998 and graduated in 2001. During that period, I survived only on pocket money from my mum and hawking medicine.

Hawking medicine?

By 2000, one of the doctors at our hospital asked me to work at his pharmacy from time to time. Being there made me realise people were always buying medicines, so I gathered all the money I could find 鈥� 鈧�8k 鈥� and bought medicines to start hawking. Because I didn鈥檛 have a license, I only sold painkillers and common vitamins, but the market moved well. 

What happened after you graduated?

The hospital hired me. My first salary was 鈧�8,000. Every month, I invested a bulk of the money into my business. So whenever I was off work, I was on the streets selling medicines. As time went on, my business grew, but I had to stop hawking in 2002 because I was pregnant. This time, with a different man 鈥� my husband. 

When did you get married?

That same year.

Where was your first child in all of this?

Mainly with my mum. I was always at work, so, she just helped me take care of the child. By the time I got married and moved in with my husband, the child didn鈥檛 come with me because she preferred being with my mum, so I left her there. 

A few months after I gave birth, I started hawking again to complement my salary, which was now about 鈧�10k. My husband was an okada rider and didn鈥檛 make too much money too, so I had to keep making as much money as I could to keep the family fed. 

By 2008, I left my job for another hospital. This one paid 鈧�12k. We pretty much lived hand to mouth with nothing to spare until 2013 when my husband passed away. 

I鈥檓 so sorry. 

Apparently, he was poisoned. Oh, by the way, my mum had died somewhere along the line too, and my daughter was now living with me, so I was a widow with two children to care for. It was difficult to do with my 鈧�12k salary. At some point shortly after he died, our rent expired, and I couldn鈥檛 afford it, so my two children and I had to move to stay in our church. 

How long did you stay there?

Two years. So I went to work in the morning, hawked medicine in my free time, and then, started making people鈥檚 hair in front of the church building. That鈥檚 how we survived those years. I still managed to put my children to school through that period. When they weren鈥檛 in school, they were in the church waiting for me to get back. 

By 2015, I met a new man who I was sure I wanted to settle with, and we got pregnant. We decided to move in together, but housing in the area where I stayed was too expensive. We couldn鈥檛 find anything cheaper than 鈧�160k per year, so we moved to a different area where we found a place for 鈧�70k. Because of that move, I quit my job.

When did you have the baby?

That same 2015. First, we survived on the money from selling the rest of the medicine I had. When that was done, I started making hair again. This time, with more energy. I put posters all around our house, bought a stool, combs, hair creams, everything. The money I was making still wasn鈥檛 enough, so I took a 鈧�50k loan from a loan company when I was about to have the baby. That鈥檚 the money we used to buy baby stuff. 

What does your husband do?

He runs a Baba Ijebu gambling shop. I try my best not to be the complaining wife, so I won鈥檛 push him to do illegal things for money, but he doesn鈥檛 bring anything to the table. He makes about 鈧�600 daily. He uses the money to eat. That鈥檚 all. It鈥檚 not like he鈥檚 not trying or he doesn鈥檛 care for the family, but I think he can do better. He gives me money only about two times a month. And when I say, 鈥済ives me money鈥�, I mean 鈧�200 or 鈧�300. 

Whoa. Let鈥檚 go back to 2015. 

Between 2015 and now, my hairdressing business has grown very slowly. There are a lot of hairdressers in this area, and people pay much lower fees than they paid in the other area. I鈥檝e had to supplement my hairdressing income by selling stuff. At some point, I鈥檝e sold puff puff, but now, I sell bags of pure water and drinks. I even bought a container for 鈧�30k to use as a shop one time. But after some months, the owner of the land came and chased me away because they wanted to build their house, so I sold the container for 鈧�35k. I eventually found a shop where I pay 鈧�3k monthly as rent.

How much do you make on an average month?

鈧�30k. This is from hairdressing, and water and drinks selling. 

Can you break it down into expenses?

I鈥檒l try. Here鈥檚 what it looks like right now. 

鈧�54k for debts?

I haven鈥檛 been able to survive on just my income for years, so I take a lot of loans. When I finish repaying, I take another loan. Between 2021 and now, my first two children have gone to polytechnic. I pay their fees and send them occasional stipends. 

Right now, I鈥檓 repaying loans from two different loan companies. From one, I collected 鈧�100k and pay back 鈧�5,500 every week. From another, I collected 鈧�150k and pay back 鈧�8,000 every week. 

What happens when you can鈥檛 pay back?

I borrow from people who have their shops beside me. We鈥檙e friends, so they can lend me the occasional 鈧�2k. 

Do you have any plans to get out of this situation?

If I can repay my loans and make some bulk money to stock my shop with lots and lots of drinks, I believe I鈥檒l be on a path to becoming comfortable. I don鈥檛 want to have to borrow to restock my shop. It鈥檒l continue the cycle. In fact, the reason I borrow most of the time is to restock my shop, but I never get to it because other things come up and take the money. Right now, there are only two bags of pure water and 2 crates of drinks in my shop. It鈥檚 how I鈥檒l repay my loans and get that bulk money I don鈥檛 know. 

What鈥檚 something you want right now, but can鈥檛 afford?

Stocking up my shop. 

And your financial happiness on a scale of 1-10?

Two. It鈥檚 bad, but I鈥檓 thankful to God for the little things I can do, like sending my children to school. 

There are activities that millennials call 鈥渇un鈥� that make me scratch my head. I鈥檓 going to need them to explain to me why they see DIY and the rest of the things on this list as fun. Because I don鈥檛 see it. 

Brunch 

Millennials find every opportunity to go for brunch. Anytime they鈥檙e thinking of what to do or where to go, the first activity that pops into their heads is going somewhere for brunch. Because food is life, I understand that going anywhere to eat can be fun. But what exactly makes brunch so special? Is it the bottomless mimosas? I need to know!

Sip and Paint

I really do think that the only fun part of 鈥楽ip and Paint鈥� is the sipping part. 

RELATED: 15 Nigerian Gen Z鈥檈rs Tell Us What They Really Think About Nigerian Millennials

Board games 

Go into a millennial’s house and you鈥檒l find at least one board game somewhere. If it鈥檚 not Scrabble, it鈥檚 Ludo or MONOPOLY. How do you say, “Oh, I鈥檓 bored, let鈥檚 do something fun,” and then bring out board games? Board games? I want better for y鈥檃ll. 

DIY

I truly believe that millennials use DIY as a way of not spending extra money. Because you cannot tell me that setting up a closet from scratch or re-designing your kitchen cabinets is fun. It is manual labour, please dears. Just say you don鈥檛 want to pay someone to do it. We get it. Things are hard these days.

RELATED: The Full Meaning of These Abbreviations Will Stress Every Millennial

Baking 

The end product of baking is always great (if you do it well), but the process you have to go through to get that end product? Omo! That鈥檚 why I can鈥檛 seem to understand how millennials will get up and begin baking banana bread or baking cupcakes simply because they鈥檙e bored or because they鈥檙e in the mood to bake. Where is the fun, please? 

Becoming friends with their parents 

Millennials are really making an effort to become friends with their parents, and for the life of me, I can鈥檛 understand why. And they鈥檙e not doing this because they have to, but because they want to willingly be friends with their parents. Why? How does that work? Is it even possible to be friends with your parents? Do parents get to a point where they see you as a grown adult and treat you as such? I have so many questions.

Going to bed at 10 p.m. 

Millennials go to bed at 10 p.m. and in their minds, that is fun and relaxing. How does a human being sleep at 10 p.m.? Do you know how much of life you鈥檝e missed out on by going to bed so early? 

ALSO READ: 6 Nigerian Boomers Share What They Really Think About Millenials

1. 2go

Tinder and Bumble are still learning work. Back in the day, 2go was all you needed on your Nokia C3 to connect with the love of your life. Babes only needed to have sexy or queen in their usernames: 鈥淪exychocolatemama33鈥� or 鈥淒ynamicqueen231鈥� and your request section would be filled up. 

2. Lyric books

Naeto C probably bagged his premium pie, Nicole, with the lines from this book. Are you a millennial if you didn鈥檛 send one of those emotionally powerful notes to your crush as a good morning text? Lyric books literally gave 101 ways to keep your ship moving back then. Someone needs to run an upgrade because the good morning texts these days are week AF. 

3. Summer lesson

Look, I鈥檓 not saying we didn鈥檛 go there to read, but what is life without a bit of balance? The summer lesson gist when school resumed was always fire. 

4. JAMB Lesson

All I can say is, sometimes, it wasn鈥檛 JAMB that jammed us, it was the lover we were chasing that didn鈥檛 allow us to see road to read. Everyone wanted to be that couple that found themselves and strolled to buy food in between classes. I hope they finally passed JAMB and married sha. 

5. Secondary school

Remember how boys used to jump the fence to give babes gala and yogurt during prep? Simpler times. Then there was that wicked senior that would flog you then leave a note professing foolish love, but of course, they didn鈥檛 born you well to tell anybody. Rumour has it that this is how BDSM was invented.  

6. Visiting day in school

This one is for the boarding school students. Visiting day meant eating food other than the trash in school, but it was also a national day for finding love. It definitely wasn鈥檛 because of cornflakes or milo you said yes to that student in your dorm.  

7. Sunday School

Any church that had a basement was a zone for lovers forteenagers. All the bible they used to teach was entering one ear and coming out another hole.

8. BBM

It always started with 鈥渉ow did you get my pin.鈥� Next thing, you鈥檙e pinging all night and then planning to meet at Mr. Biggs for meat pie. Like they say, the rest is history.

1. Chike, 25

A tanked business

I was 21 when a friend and I started a business for people to invest in buying plots of farmlands in Ogun state for an interest rate at the end of the year. Six months in and I had people bringing in millions of  naira to buy into the plan. It was a pretty sweet deal back in 2017. My clients cashed out on all their investments, so 2018 was even bigger for us. I even had aunties and uncles putting in money for me to grow the business.  I had about  鈧�15 million in capital by the second quarter and I was sure I鈥檇 be making nothing less than 鈧�2 million by the end of the year as profit. That 鈧�2 million became a dream when my partner made a horrible decision that made us lose all the money. That鈥檚 how I found myself in debt for 鈧�15 million naira at 21. We both had to come up with half of it by December to pay people back and it was the worst experience of my life struggling through it.

2. Stephanie, 28

Hospital Bills

The first time I had to borrow a huge amount of money was in 2018 鈥� I was 25. My parents had travelled to the US for a wedding and decided to stay back and work towards becoming citizens from the backend of things. Since the move wasn鈥檛 entirely legal, they couldn鈥檛 send money back to us in Nigeria immediately. So I had the responsibility of taking care of myself, my two brothers and my cousin. To survive, I sold everything, from shoes to electronic doors for banks to spaghetti and turkey on Saturdays, but I couldn鈥檛 save any of the money I was earning. A year later, my cousin got pregnant and had complications that required surgery.  Everything cost  鈧�150k and I couldn鈥檛 afford that. The doctors weren鈥檛 going to operate until I made a transfer, so I had to borrow the money from Etisalat 9-credit. That was the first time I was really pressed into a corner to borrow money as an adult.

3. Sandra, 29

Abacha

It was 2020 and Valentine鈥檚 day 鈥� I didn鈥檛 expect the gbas gbos that happened that day. I went to visit my boyfriend and  decided to buy a plate of Abacha from a woman across the street.  The Abacha was so good, I went back for a second plate. I slept off after the second plate and woke up vomiting and stooling until my body was too weak and I passed out. I only remember waking up two days later with a bill of 鈧�400k for just treating food poisoning. I don鈥檛 know who sent my boyfriend to take me to a private hospital. We didn鈥檛 even have up to  鈧�20k to cover the bill, so I had to call some of my friends to help me. People sent me as little as they could afford at the time to meet up so I was able to sort it out. I believe that Abacha woman was a witch sha. 

4. Sere, 26

Knacks and Love

I was 20, and the first time I had to borrow money was for knacks. My boyfriend asked me to take out 鈧�30k from a loan app to get a hotel room for us. He promised to pay back, so I didn鈥檛 mind 鈥� the knacks were too good to be bothered at the time. The next time, he asked me to lend him 鈧�300k to start a business while we were still in school. I loved him, so I didn鈥檛 really overthink helping him by asking around for the money. Three months later, there was no business in sight and people were on my neck to pay back. I had to beg for help to pay people back. It was so embarrassing to go through that. Never again.

5. Timmy, 31

My first apartment that never happened

I was 29 and tired of living with my friend, so I saved up 鈧�450k to move out after the pandemic. When I hit the streets to search for a house, the fees for agency and agreement wanted to kill me. I had to beg a friend to loan me 鈧�300k to cover the rest of the bill. I finally found a place, but before I paid, my friend invited me for a wedding in the US and advised me to use it as a japa plan. That鈥檚 how I used the 鈧�750k to get a travel agent and process my visa 鈥� everything was about 鈧�500k. Then I used the remaining 鈧�250k to buy my ticket in faith. Last last, nothing worked for me and I was denied the visa. I spent the rest of the year trying to re-sell the ticket so I could pay my guy back, but nobody was willing to buy. I ended up getting so broke, I had to move back in with my friend.听

1. They send you memes or TikToks

If your Gen Z coworker sends you memes or funny TikTok videos, you’ve made it. You’re alright, not necessarily cool, but alright.听聽

2. They have called you bestie once 

This is one of the highest levels of respect a Gen Z coworker can give you. Don’t try saying it back though, you might sound .听

3. They are comfortable making millennial jokes with you 

The thing with millennials is, they can have a mean temper. If your Gen Z coworker is comfortable making millennial jokes with you, it’s because they are sure you know it’s good-natured fun. 

4. They let you follow them on social media 

Gen Z’s are very pro setting boundaries, especially in the workspace. If they let you follow them on social media, they like you, they’d also be impressed that you could find them easily.听

5.  They might make you a playlist 

If they make you a playlist or recommend songs to you, they either think your taste in music slaps, or they want to make your taste in music better. Either way, it means they like you.听聽

6. They give you advice based on your zodiac sign

Gen Z only gives a shit about the zodiac signs of people they care about. If they give you zodiac compatibility advice or send you weekly zodiac sign predictions, you’ve made it.听

7. They let you use Gen Z slang without mocking you 

One thing Gen Z won’t do is be a gatekeeper, especially not for slang. You’re just less likely to get mocked for using the slang wrong if they like you.听

8. They check in on you 

This is the final boss that shows that your Gen Z coworker likes you. They care about mental health, a lot. If they regularly check on your mental health, they care about you and want you to be fine. 

9. They let you give them advice

Gen Z’s are very sure of what they want, believe in and want to do. If you find yourself being asked for advice by your Gen Z coworker, it means they rate you, congratulations.听

If you liked this, you’d like: 15 Nigerian Gen Z鈥檈rs Tell Us What They Really Think About Nigerian Millennials

[donation]

 If you fail a question, the entire quiz ends.

Who sang these songs?

Ikechukwu

Naeto C

D'Prince

Who sang these songs?

Tony Tetuila

Sound Sultan

Eedris Abdulkareem

Who sang these songs?

Faze

2Face

Blackface

Who sang these songs?

Waje

Asa

Ego

Who sang these songs?

I.D Cabasa

Banky W

eLDee

Who sang these songs?

9ice

Jaywon

Kelly Handsome

Who sang these songs?

Fela

Lagbaja

Femi Kuti

Who sang these songs?

R2Bees

Dammy Krane

Wande Coal

Who sang these songs?

Darey

Sunny Neji

Djinee

Who sang these songs?

Waje

Chidinma

Omawumi

Who sang these songs?

Paul Play Dairo

J. Martins

IK Dairo

You got #{score} of #{total} right

No way you're a millennial.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Retry

You got #{score} of #{total} right

You're not a millennial, but you did good.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Retry

You got #{score} of #{total} right

Great job! You're a true millennial.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Retry

Christiana, 60

A lot of people my age do not give them enough credit. They were born into a system that cannot be classified as ideal and instead of giving up, they fought and worked hard. They constantly have to deal with a lot of challenges just to get a fraction of the results people in other countries get. I think they are resilient.

John, 71

Two of my three children are millennials, so they will be my reference point. Millennials do not like to listen. They are stubborn, strong-headed and insolent. It is something I admire about them, but it also what causes the majority of their problems. I wish they knew when to just shut up and listen. Listen to the people that walked the road before you, and listen to the people that want to help you. They may know what is good, but they rarely know what is best.

Segun, 62

They are a bunch of lazy people that do not want to do any hard work. If you do not give them want everything given to them on a platter of gold, they throw a tantrum. They are always looking for an easy way out, and do not believe in the dignity of hard work.

Theresa, 59

I have not met a group more anti-marriage in my life. By their age, I was already married and having children. Whenever you ask them why they are not settled yet, they always give silly excuses about love and being settled. Marriage will settle you, and you will respect and find comfort with whoever you marry.

Akpala, 64

They are too westernized and have forgotten all about the tradition, culture, and values that make Nigerians Nigerian. They do not know anything about their people, about home, and the practices that existed before their birth. I blame my generation for not teaching them any of these things.

Chinwe, 58

My generation and those above us messed up this country. I had a lot of hope the Millennials were going to fix it, but I did not factor in the constant that is Nigeria. Nigeria has a way of breaking anyone, and they were not spared. They are not our heroes, they are young people that need to live.

For more on what is inside this life, please click here

[donation]