#NairaLife: The 19-Year-Old Creating Her Own Safety Nets

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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When did you first become conscious of money?

My parents separated when I was 7 years old. It didn’t become a financial problem until 2020, when I turned 15. Before this time, I went back and forth, living with both of them at different times. 

I started living with my mum permanently in SS 1 and hardly got money from her. We didn’t have a great relationship and seldom talked to each other because she’d remarried, and I thought she focused more on her new family. So, I couldn’t tell her my school and personal needs. That wasn’t the case when I lived with my dad, and I realised I had to make money by myself.

How did you do that?

I began writing notes for my classmates for money. I attended a free public school, and most students didn’t take things like writing notes seriously. So, I charged them to do it. I wrote a full topic or two for ₦500 – ₦1k. If the topic was too small, I accepted snacks as payment. It was a win-win situation for me. The more I wrote, the more I read, so I liked it.

I also washed clothes for two neighbours on weekends and made ₦5k/week from both of them. For the rest of secondary school, I fended for myself with both hustles. I also opened a student account and saved some of my earnings there.

I’m curious. Why didn’t you ask your dad for help?

Let me give you some context: My dad didn’t have a steady income source. He was a pastor and only got money when churches invited him to preach. It wasn’t an actual job. However, he always provided for me when I lived with him. During bad periods, he didn’t mind borrowing money to ensure I was comfortable. My mum worked as a caterer. When I moved in with her, she’d remarried and had other children. 

It didn’t occur to me to ask my dad for money because I knew how difficult things were for him. Also, I think he expected my mum to sort out my needs because she basically forced me to come to live with her permanently. She arrived at my dad’s house one random Sunday and made me follow her. 

But my mum barely provided for me. We had a huge fight once, and I accused her of focusing only on her new family. I told her to leave me alone and allow me to fend for myself. So, I guess that was a factor in why I had to be independent early.

So, what did you do after secondary school?

My mum enrolled me in a government-funded catering school in 2022. Tuition was free, but participants paid for materials and foodstuff for the practical projects. My mum gave me the money for each project — usually around ₦1k or ₦2k — for the first two to three weeks, then she suddenly stopped. 

I kept washing clothes to earn money, so I had enough to get me through the six-month catering programme. I toyed with the idea of going to the university, but there were no funds. I also considered making money from catering, but I wasn’t sure how to start.

So, I stuck with laundry, making around ₦5k/week. Then, one day in December, I followed a friend to the microfinance bank where he worked. I applied to work there as a joke. They told me to resume immediately.

What role?

Loan collector. Basic salary was ₦40k/month with a ₦5k monthly bonus for complete attendance at the office. There was also a ₦5k bonus for using my personal phone to work and incentives for every amount I retrieved from a debtor. In total, I made ₦50k – ₦60k/month. But the job came with many challenges.

I’m listening 

A big part of my job was calling debtors to remind them to repay the loans, and I had targets to meet. My colleagues often resorted to screaming at debtors, insulting them, and even intimidating them by sending false messages to their contact lists.

At first, I found it difficult to rain insults, but I had to adapt when people refused to pay the money they owed. The only thing I didn’t do was send messages to their contact lists. I often missed my targets and was constantly threatened with losing my job. It was so stressful.

On top of that, I started selling pastries at work. My goal was to make as much money as possible, save and then use my savings to return to school. So, three months into the job, I began making chin-chin and peanuts at home and taking them to the office the following day to sell to my colleagues. I figured I’d use the profit to sort out transportation and other minor expenses so I could save a bulk of my salary.

Did it work out like you imagined?

It did at first. I’d spend about ₦7k getting flour, sugar, and other ingredients to make a batch of pastries. I sold them at ₦100 each and made about ₦2k profit per batch. Then, after some weeks, more people started buying, and my profit grew to ₦4k. 

I sold the pastries for only two months, though. The stress was too much; I’d return home by 11 p.m., make pastries, and wake up at 6 a.m. to prepare my siblings for school. The pressure from missing targets at work was also at an all-time high, and to make it worse, flour and sugar became wildly expensive. 

A paint rubber size of flour shot up from ₦2k – ₦3k to ₦5k straight up. Sugar also went from ₦5k to ₦10k, and butter went from ₦1700 per row to ₦2,200. Every single day, the prices increased by an additional ₦100 or ₦200. I changed my pastry prices from ₦100 to ₦150 to try to meet up, but people complained, and I lost money. 

I had to stop for my peace of mind. I even considered quitting my job too, but fortunately, I didn’t have to.

Did anything change at work?

Yes, and it’s still funny how it happened. Around June/July 2023, I went to work and was preparing to go round to collect payments when my boss stopped me and asked, “Can you do auditing?” 

I replied, “Yes,” even though I didn’t know what she meant. It just sounded better than loan collection. The next thing she said was to ask me to resume at the auditing department the next day.

When I got home, I did some research about auditing to understand what I’d agreed to. The next day, an existing audit staff member gave me a crash course about the department. That’s how I became an auditor at my job without a degree or any form of higher education.

Does everyone in the auditing department have degrees? 

Yes. Only people with BScs and HNDs work in auditing, and I’m still shocked I got the opportunity. My boss didn’t even ask to evaluate my CV or anything. I think it was just God’s grace.

My basic salary remained ₦40k, but my monthly incentives increased to ₦30k, bringing my salary to ₦70k/month. In March 2024, my basic salary was increased to ₦50k, bringing my total salary to ₦80k – ₦90k, depending on monthly bonuses and incentives. 

There are no targets in my new role. My job description involves evaluating loan applications and reviewing customers’ information to confirm they sent the accurate requirements. It sounds simple, but it isn’t. Nigerians are funny people. They’ll comfortably send fake information just to get loans. 

I’m screaming. What were some of the things you spent on?

I mostly saved my salary for school. By July 2023, I’d saved about ₦300k, but I gave my mum ₦200k out of it to rent a house. It repaired our relationship.

How so?

I met my mum crying at home one day, and I found out that her husband had beaten her. It wasn’t the first time I’d noticed she had struggles in her marriage, and even though we barely talked, I’d told her to leave the marriage.

When I met her crying that day, I brought up the topic of leaving again and offered to contribute money to help her find a new place. I think she didn’t expect that. A month later, we got a new apartment and moved in with my young siblings. After that, we had a serious discussion about our issues and made sure things were okay between us. We couldn’t afford to keep fighting when we now had only each other. I still have my dad, but our communication is quite rare.

I’m glad you worked things out with your mum

I am, too. We understand each other better now. My expenses have slightly increased because I contribute to the home’s expenses, but I try to save at least ₦30k monthly. My savings have grown again to about ₦380k, and I’m planning to use it to pursue admission.

Have you made any attempts towards that?

I’ve been trying since December 2023. I’m trying to work out a part-time program, but I’ve been stuck at the JAMB regularisation stage. I was admitted into a polytechnic and needed to register on the JAMB portal. However, the person who created the profile forgot to link my correct email address to the registration number before paying. 

This means I only got a JAMB-generated email, which I have no access to and no way to complete the process. I’ve tried to change it, but it’s been an extremely long back-and-forth. I’ve spent ₦60k on the whole admission process, but it looks like I’ll have to abandon it and try again next year.

I hope it’s resolved soon. You seem intent on getting into school

To be honest, it’s the degree I’m pursuing. I’ve tried applying to other jobs, but they ask for a BSc or HND certificate. I need school to get better career opportunities.

However, if I were to attend university to study what I’d like, it’d be law. I’m outspoken, and I’d like to help people who don’t have a voice. But studying law would mean quitting my job since I can’t take the course part-time. Where would I get the money from? 

I’m pursuing mass communication now. Maybe if I graduate and there’s still time, I can study law. I also plan to take a short auditing course someday.

How would you describe your relationship with money?

I’m always on a budget. I’m extra careful about what I spend money on and how I spend it because any mistake means hanging on by a thread till salary enters again. I don’t think I’ve ever made a bad financial decision.

What would you say has influenced your thinking around money?

My family’s situation. I was pampered before my parents’ final separation. I had no business thinking about money. But when I started fending for myself after their separation, I realised that money isn’t easy to make, and I needed to be careful with how I spend it. Managing money became all I could focus on.

Sometimes, I wake up and cry when I remember my financial situation. I’m not 20 yet, but I already have so much to shoulder. I’m going through life without a safety net, which means I have to create my own. So, I must consciously save and save because I don’t know what can hit me in the future. My mum doesn’t make much as a caterer, so I can’t depend on her. I’m always stressed about money, and I think I’m even at risk of developing high blood pressure.

I can’t help wondering if my life would’ve turned out easier if my parents had made different decisions. My siblings will also go through this when they get to my age because their father is not around too. I just hope I can be financially there for them when the time comes. 

Rooting for you. What do your typical monthly expenses look like?

I don’t spend on data or airtime because I get ₦500 airtime daily at my job, and I have enough left over at the end of the day to use for data and calls.

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

A new phone. My phone has been damaged for a while now, and I had to choose between fixing it and buying a new one. I settled on fixing it since I couldn’t afford a new one, which cost me ₦25k.

How much do you need to earn to worry less about money?

I feel like, the more you earn, the more your responsibility increases. But I think ₦200k/month would significantly reduce my stress levels.

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

4. I’m surviving despite the fact that I don’t have a certificate, but I don’t like having to think extra hard about how to avoid going broke while still providing for my family. It’s a lot.

Find all the past Naira Life stories here.