“A Week In The Life” is a weekly Zikoko 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 of today’s “A Week In The Life” is an online sex worker in her early twenties. She talks about hating her body, the Nigerian factors like NEPA that affect her work, and her biggest fear of one day getting exposed.
MONDAY:
I’m up by 3 am every day. I don’t say wake up because I have no choice in the matter. I get up early because my audience lives in the USA and 3 am in Nigeria is their midnight. At midnight, they are all awake and horny. So, once I’m awake, I start pushing out content (pictures and videos) to my abroad subscribers until like 6, 7 am. Once I’m done, I go back to sleep until around noon.
Today, after waking up and showering by noon, my day resumes. I’m not filming so I decide to do promos (a discount on my OnlyFans content) on Twitter and Reddit. I schedule my promo to around 3 pm Nigerian time because that’s when the Americans wake up so this ensures that they see me. These promos, especially on Twitter, help to keep engagements up and get new subscribers. I also reply to one or two messages because it’s important to interact with current subscribers while trying to get new ones.
The Reddit promo stresses me out because Reddit is a rabbit hole. Like today that I’ve decided to focus on Reddit promo, I’m ignoring everything else for the next 2hrs to do it well.
How Reddit works is that you have to find different subreddits to post in. Sometimes, you have to search with keywords. Sometimes you have to check other girls’ pages; girls that look like you. I can’t post in a subreddit where they want skinny girls (I’m not skinny), I can’t post where they want tight tits (I have saggy breasts), I can’t post where they want light-skinned girls ( I’m dark-skinned). So, I have to search for keywords. For example, there’s a subreddit called “chubby” that has 200,000 members so girls like me can post there. There’s another one called “ass” that has almost 200k members where you just go to post your ass. But Reddit also has rules – some subreddits don’t allow you to sell content while others are specifically for selling. Some won’t allow you to post a picture with your watermark in it so I have a folder for pictures without my watermark for those.
Some have no rules so you can do whatever you like. I like the ones without rules because I can manipulate it however I want — I can advertise my work and put whatever caption I want without the fear of getting banned.
The only upside is that Reddit subscribers are profitable. A lot of big tippers and people who are into fetish come from Reddit. And because fetish videos are expensive, they give me tips. So, this makes it worth it.
So, I plan to keep searching groups and posting links until midnight. Then I’ll sleep because by 3 am, I go again.
TUESDAY:
Today, I start my promo a lot earlier because it’s Titty Tuesday and everyone loves Titty Tuesday. I have to get my post ready so I can post under some babe’s thread. She’s the organizer of this movement and because she has over 400k followers this means that I’ll get a lot of engagement. I always make sure to send her my post early so she can add it to her thread.
People ask me how I’m comfortable sending pictures of myself but I tell them that I’ve always wanted to do OnlyFans. I think that it’s a talent I’ve always had. Initially, when I started, my content was lazy. But then I started looking at other girls and I realised that if I wanted to do this, I had to pick up the pace.
Another worry I had at the beginning was that someone would identify me, but no face, no case. Plus after a while, people learn to mind their business. Only my closest friends know what I do and as long as I have their support, no one else exists.
All the time people come up to say “You’re the one in the photos” but I always throw my face away. Once you throw away your face, they will not have the audacity to ask again.
Another thing that keeps me going is that there is potential to cash out. I have friends that are crazy successful from this and this is their main job. Anything can happen, as long as I keep grinding, I’ll keep seeing results. Even when it seems slow, or sad, I just have to keep going. Sometimes when I get frustrated, I remember my British friend who made $3000- $4000 in July and made almost $20,000 in August. Even though I recently started and things are slow, I know that there’s potential for me to start earning six to seven figures if I put in the work.
Thinking about these things is what makes me look for the best pose to take photos so I can send my entry for Titty Tuesday. There’s money to be made, please.
WEDNESDAY:
One thing doing this job has shown me is that I’m very open to fetishes. More open than even I thought. Sometimes, I’m the one that suggests things. I understand that it might not be the same for other people because you have to consider a lot of things. However, a lot of people have fetishes that I also share so it’s a win-win for me. Additionally, fetish content is very expensive especially videos of you acting out the fetish.
I charge per minute for fetish videos. It helps that I have a price list for specific fetishes, unlike other girls who size customers up and price them. So that makes my subscribers happy.
Today, I’m making a custom (we agreed on a fetish) video that’s supposed to be three minutes long. All I can say is that it involves recording myself doing a very specific fetish. The better I get at these videos, the more the possibility of making between $90 – $150 for 3-minute videos.
However, NEPA wants to ruin my vibe. We haven’t had light all day so I can’t record anything. My phone battery is low and coupled with the sound of my neighbour’s gen, I can’t do anything. I definitely don’t want generator noise in my background because I don’t like when things aren’t right.
I’m going to spend the day apologising to the client and I’ll even give a discount for the stress.
I need to distract myself from all these thoughts so I’m going to watch Fat Dog Mendoza to pass time before Nigeria frustrates my enemy.
THURSDAY:
My biggest challenge with this job is showing my body. I know that it sounds like a paradox but I struggle with body dysmorphia. This also manifests as social anxiety. I don’t like being outside because I feel that my body is ugly and hideous. Sometimes if I have to go somewhere, I start crying. I think that if I go out, people will see my ugliness. I know that it’s weird doing this work and feeling this way but it’s a daily struggle that I can’t help. I often get so sad and don’t want to work.
Even when I’m filming, there are some things I try not to do because I think my body is ugly in an outfit. When I get a scar or something, I get really insecure. One time, I got a scar on my belly from shaving and for a week, I didn’t post anything that showed my belly. I haven’t taken an ass pic in a month or two because I don’t like how my back rolls look. Also, I have cellulite on my ass and I don’t like how they look in photos. Another time, I went for two months without taking breast pics because I felt my breasts were too saggy and I didn’t want to see them. Sometimes, when I want to take titty pics, I hold them up with my hands to feel better with myself.
I haven’t taken pictures sitting down because I feel my hips won’t pop out. Struggling mentally and doing this work is really hard. I’m constantly scrutinizing my photos. I zoom in on my picture and say what if someone is looking at this scar or those rolls. The reality is that many times, I’m the only one noticing these things. There are times I start going “Oh my God, my content is trash. Oh my God, my content is trash.” Throughout last week, I didn’t open my OnlyFans feed because I didn’t like how I looked in any video. Like sometimes you’ll be sad and you just have to keep going. Thankfully, I’m not alone, some other girls doing this work also feel this way.
Sex work also saved me from drug dependency and alcoholism. Usually, I’d be drunk or high to get away from sadness. But when I’m drunk or high, I’m inefficient and can’t work. If I don’t work that means I can’t earn so I’ve been way more sober due to having to work[hehe].
Today, I feel sad and can’t do anything. I can’t do promos on Twitter or Telegram so I’m just going to lay in bed. The only difference now is that instead of escaping and not doing anything, I’ll brainstorm. If I’m going to be sad and not do anything, I might as well plan my content strategy for when my mental health break is over.
Who no work, no go chop.
FRIDAY:
Nigerians living in Nigeria are terrible towards online sex workers. Today, I think of how hurtful this is because I have no community. The abroad guys are accepting of us but there are still differences even when we are in group chats. Many of the girls in this group are white so there’s a disconnect. White girls have it one hundred times easier and being black makes you accept the fact that some people will automatically decide not to fuck with you. Our realities are just too different and they can’t relate. It’s easy to feel alone — how many Nigerians are doing this on an international scale? I only know of like two other people on Twitter. And to be honest, in this industry where everyone is busy chasing the bag, there’s no time for many many.
I remember one time my friend (who does OnlyFans) hinted about her potential earnings in an article. She just said you can make up to four figures in dollars and Nigerians started reporting her account. She got locked out of her account for two days. I just advised her to unfollow and block everyone she followed from Nigerian Twitter. And that she should start integrating herself into abroad Twitter. When I started doing this, I knew that I wasn’t working in Twitter NG space so I just blocked half of them because they were body-shaming me. Sometimes, I just see a random Nigerian account and I’ll just be like fuck off and block it. It’s just bad vibes and negative energy. You can’t actually survive in this climate with people that hate you for no reason when you’re not doing anything to them. They just hate you for no reason. Let me not lie, sometimes I tell people that I’m Ghanaian because Nigerians hate my existence.
Sometimes I get anxiety attacks. I have nightmares. Getting my identity revealed is my biggest fear. My real name out there on the internet. American girls will get their content leaked and move on but I don’t know what will happen to me.
But if I start thinking, I won’t do anything. If you find something you love, I think you should do it. As long as you’re not hurting anyone and your conscience is clear.
SATURDAY
I don’t work much on weekends. So, today I try to stretch out as much as I can. I also need a break. I’m going to do Telegram promo and that’s the worst of them. I legit need to hire an assistant to do that for me because it’s so hard.
It’s because of how difficult this work can get that I want a partner who’s loving and accepting of me. I see a lot of girls like me who have boyfriends and husbands that love them for who they are. I know I can’t settle for less when I see girls like me being valued. I know a girl that makes content with her boyfriend. One time, they did a thread on sex workers and their partners and how long they have been together – I saw people who had been together for 5 – 6 years and I saw love and acceptance.
Some of these girls, their boyfriends do their filming, planning and budgeting for them. I also know someone who’s married doing this work whose husband is an engineer. So imagine seeing all that genuine love, you definitely won’t settle for less or for anyone that will be talking to you anyhow. These decisions become easier because you now have your own money on top.
Thinking about this again, I’ve made up my mind that I don’t need anyone’s approval to follow my dreams.
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