Glory, Glory, you got a job and escaped the terror that is roaming the streets of the Nigerian Labour market, CV and a half-assed cover letter in tow.
But what was that?
Getting the job was only the beginning of the horrors and actually having to live through the job was way worse?
We asked 4 Nigerians their worst experiences working for Nigerian companies and their responses. Oh boy :
Olatunji – May or may not have been a slave.
When I was fresh out of secondary school, I was very eager to work, don’t ask me why, activity was just sweeting my body. So I found a job or well, let’s call it a job at one of the schools close to home.
My PTSD won’t let me get too into it, but let me just say I was a teacher who was collecting a ₦ 5,000 monthly salary in 2013 all to get to work at 7:15 AM and leave at past 5 PM when parents had come to collect their wards.
See, I swept classes, I mopped floors, I cleaned windows and my boss – the headmistress made a point of reminding me I was duty boud to carry these out.
One time, my boss made me go to her mother’s house to spray sniper (without any protective gear!) and soak her curtains. Another time, she asked her husband (who stuck around the school to help) to give me an envelope containing my ₦ 5,000 salary. Only it was incomplete.
Apparently, he had taken ‘a loan’ from me and didn’t feel the need to tell me until I spoke to his wife about it.
See, remembering this is getting me upset. Please respect my privacy during this tough period.
Ngozika – more or less worked in a secondary school.
I worked in one of the really big companies in Nigeria. Trust me, you know the name. When I first started work there, I was excited. I mean this was a great opportunity for me to learn and earn some money at the same time. Abi isn’t that what regular jobs are supposed to so? Hmm, brethren…
You know how when your parents wanted you to act right when you were younger, they’d treat your sibling a little better? Yeah, imagine that kind of setting in the workplace. The superiors acted like they were Vice-Principals in a secondary school and the junior staff were JSS3 students.
There was a ton of backbiting. There were very, very strict start times, if you defaulted by even a minute you could be penalised.
If the bosses felt like it, you’d work overtime. I’m saying from 9 AM- 9 PM without any prior information and without any extra pay. It was hell, I’m so happy I left.
Ebuka – just wanted his bank to do better.
I worked at one of those banks, and I won’t name any names but they just sacked a ton of people in the new year, so you already know.
Weekends? What are those. They’d make us do ATM duty and pay us ₦3,000 daily for taking our entire weekend away. Essentially making us work 7 days a week.
I’ve heard of the myth of a 9 – 5, but in that bank? Mba, no. 7 till mama calls, and this is no joke. My mom used to call all the time asking where I was. Worse still was that there was no promotion structure. You could start as a bank teller and work there for 5 years until they got tired and hired someone else for even cheaper, and the whole cycle would begin again. I’m so grateful I can work as an entrepreneur now.
Toba still needs his coins.
Lagos State where is my NYSC money? For my service year, I worked in a ministry of the government and I’ll be honest, I barely did anything. I can’t even complain. But if that’s why Lagos State thinks they won’t pay me my money, please tell them to sack like half of their workers oh. Somebody please @ambode, it’s his tight shirt I’ll hold for this money.
