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.
What’s your earliest memory of money?
My dad passed away from a road accident when I was 11, and I remember my mum received the call at home. After the call ended, she told me, “Your father is dead,” then she rushed into her room to pack the ₦20k cash in the drawer, my dad’s gold necklace and the car documents.
She hid everything under the bed in the children’s room before she sat down and broke down into tears. It was so odd; I will never forget it.
I’m sorry about your dad. Did your mum explain why she did that?
I asked her a few months after my dad’s death, and she said, “Person wey dey cry dey see road.” Before allowing the grief to consume her, she made sure to secure the valuables my dad’s siblings would likely steal when they came around. That’s the kind of woman my mum was — always planning ahead.
The experience taught me that while money itself can be a safety net, planning for eventualities makes all the difference. True to my mum’s expectations, my dad’s siblings stylishly asked about the car during the funeral preparations, and my mum lied that she didn’t know where my dad kept it.
My mum sold that car and used the money to start a fabric business. Part of it also went into paying for her kids’ — me and my younger sibling — school fees that year. So, technically, the car was a safety net, but if my mum hadn’t planned properly, she’d have lost it.
I see. How did your dad’s passing impact the home’s finances?
My dad was the breadwinner, so my mum started a business to fill the gap. Thankfully, we lived in our own house. However, we had to make a few changes.
We went from getting new Easter, Christmas and New Year clothes to just getting Christmas’. My daily lunch allowance stopped, and I started taking home-cooked food to school. Then there were the school excursions I missed because my mum didn’t have money to pay. However, we didn’t starve or lack necessities.
I graduated from secondary school in 2012 but didn’t pass JAMB on the first try, so I decided to work instead.
What did you do?
I found a job teaching a primary one class mathematics, and the school paid me ₦8k/month.
After I received my salary, I gave it all to my mum, who returned ₦3k for me to hold. The school was within walking distance of our house, so my only expenses were airtime and snacks.
I was at the job for about 8 months and resigned to prepare for JAMB in 2013. Unfortunately, I failed again, so I went job-hunting. My next job was as a server and occasional dishwasher at a restaurant/bar, and I was paid ₦18k/month. But I only did that for three months. My mum didn’t like that I was around so many men and kept dreaming that I’d fall pregnant.
Tell me you have a Nigerian mother without telling me
I returned to the same school I had taught at before. The stingy headmistress didn’t even increase my salary; she still put me on ₦8k. I absolutely hated it.
I finally passed JAMB in 2014, but getting uni admission was another wahala. Although I passed post-UTME, my name didn’t appear on the admissions list. At that point, I was ready to forget about school, but my mum convinced me to try the polytechnic, so I did.
Between 2014 and 2016, during my OND programme, I had stints doing ushering and make-up gigs to augment my ₦10k/month allowance.
I use “make-up gigs” loosely because I’m sure I did rubbish on people’s faces. I just felt I could do it, and my schoolmates obviously thought so too. The make-up and ushering gigs brought me an extra ₦5k/week.
That’s ₦20k a month, plus your ₦10k allowance. Was that good money at the time?
Oh, it was. My polytechnic was in a small town, and almost everything was cheap. I used to buy two shawarmas for ₦500 at least once a week, and I still had enough to save.
I had two savings methods: the bank and ajo contributions. I contributed ₦5k weekly to the ajo, and any extra income I had after school expenses went to my bank account. I joined the ajo in late 2015 because I wanted to give my mum a lump sum to support her business the following year as a thank-you for all her sacrifices.
Ironically, my mum passed away in 2016, two weeks after I gave her the ₦120k I gathered.
Oh my. I’m so sorry
Thank you. It was a tough period for me. I wallowed in depression for a while until I remembered I was now primarily responsible for my younger sister, who was still in secondary school. I had to figure things out.
I reasoned that the surest way to make money was to learn handiwork. At least, if finding jobs ever proved difficult, I could rely on the work of my hands. So, I became a hairdresser’s apprentice. It cost me ₦60k to learn the business for three months.
At the same time, I was chasing my project supervisor in school to clear my project and complete my clearance. Also, I was still ushering on the weekends to get feeding money and care for my sister. It was a lot.
In 2017, I got an internship at a manufacturing company. My role was quality control assistant, and they paid me ₦40k/month. I worked there for a year and made extra income from doing people’s hair and makeup. I was also aggressively saving because I planned to return to school for my HND.
By the end of my internship, I’d saved almost ₦400k. It was more than enough for me to return to school.
Did you continue the hair and makeup gigs in school?
Yes, I did. In 2018, I bought a container kiosk for ₦120k and set up shop in front of a friend’s house, which was close to the main market. This helped expand my customer base to include more than just my classmates.
My income also increased; I often made up to ₦15k/week. I honestly spent more time in my shop than in class during my HND days. At this point, my money essentially went into paying my school fees, my ₦80k/year hostel rent, and sending money to my sister.
Speaking of my sister, she got into uni in 2018, and I paid part of her fees — our uncle paid most of it. Thankfully, she’s also a hustler and hardly asks for upkeep money.
When the lockdown happened in 2020, no one went out anymore, and I couldn’t get clients. I had savings but didn’t want to rely solely on them, so I started looking for other income opportunities.
What did you find?
Online courses were all the rage, so I took some on social media management and virtual assistance.
Around September 2020, I got a job managing an actress’ Instagram account; a friend referred me. The actress and I agreed on ₦70k, but she paid me ₦40k at the end of the month. Then, she started telling me stories about how she hadn’t gotten any acting gigs for months. I just quietly signed out of her page and left. If she had issues finding work, she shouldn’t have been employing people.
After that experience, I didn’t look for a job again. Instead, I paid a friend ₦35k to teach me how to fix eyelash extensions and acrylic nails. It cost another ₦80k to get the tools I needed to start. Parties had started to reopen, and I figured it’d be better for me to gather as many skills as possible. There’s no one way to make money. At least, even if someone didn’t need braids, they’d need good-looking nail sets.
True that
I finished my HND program in 2021 and sold my kiosk because I needed to move to another city for NYSC.
My PPA was at a government agency, which I barely showed up at. My own was to collect the ₦33k stipend and focus on my business.
At first, I offered my services from my apartment. I cleared my savings for a ₦250k/year room and parlour apartment, and converted the parlour to a mini studio. I bought a ring light and fan from a declutter page, and that’s all I needed to start. I didn’t get a lash bed until months later.
My neighbours used to call me “Beauty Empire” because I did everything from hairdressing to fixing acrylic nails. My rates were also quite cheap. I charged ₦3k for braids and ₦5k each for makeup and nails. Lash extensions cost anywhere from ₦5k to ₦10k, depending on the set. I made between ₦100k – ₦180k on most months, minus my NYSC stipend.
Not bad
The money wasn’t bad, but I was working myself to the bone. I could stand for five hours braiding hair and then bend for the next hour to fix someone’s nails. I would be sick but still book clients because I needed to make as much money as possible. Sometimes I wouldn’t eat.
It wasn’t until a health scare in 2022 that I learned to calm down. I was braiding someone’s hair when I fainted on them. I was hospitalised for a week, and the doctor said something about the cause being low blood sugar and pressure. In summary, I needed to rest and remember to eat.
Since 2022, I’ve focused only on lash extensions and acrylic nails. I still offer hairdressing services occasionally, but only to close friends.
What’s your income like these days?
I’ve since updated my rates, so around ₦700k/month on average.
Lash sets now cost between ₦12k – ₦38k depending on the type, and I get at least four clients daily. Nail sets cost between ₦20k – ₦50k, also depending on design and add-ons. I typically get at least two clients for those daily.
I also got a new studio space in 2024. The annual rent is ₦500k, but it cost me a total of ₦1.2m (rent inclusive) to set up the space. I’m still making gradual design improvements because I post my work a lot on social media. I believe the more aesthetically pleasing my space is, the more I can charge for my services. So, I’m basically investing in myself.
I feel you. Has the income growth come with any lifestyle changes?
Besides having more money to put back into my business, my lifestyle hasn’t changed much. Sometimes, I splurge on clothes and try out new restaurants, but I’m still a heavy saver. I don’t have many financial responsibilities, so at least 40% of my income goes into my savings.
My investment portfolio is currently worth ₦3m, divided equally between a money market account and a fintech savings app. I started using the money market account in January 2025 because I read about someone who gets up to ₦400k in monthly dividends. As soon as I learn everything I can about US stocks later this year, I plan to invest in them too. The only lifestyle change I want is to start making bastard money passively.
I rate it. What does your typical month in expenses look like?
What do you imagine the next few years will look like for you?
I’m considering ways to expand my business. I want to offer training sessions, but I’ll need a bigger space and employees to scale the way I want. I can’t do that just yet, so I’ll start by taking two or three students. I haven’t worked out the details yet, but I plan to start by May. People are already constantly asking for training opportunities on my social media pages.
Ultimately, I hope that within two years, I’ll have grown the business to the point where I don’t have to show up every day. If I have well-trained assistants, they can handle the day-to-day operations and attend to clients while I think about other business opportunities. Who knows? I could even open more studios in different locations and shock people who think lash technicians aren’t successful.
Wait. People think that?
I sometimes feel like that. An ex-friend used to send me job vacancies once she saw me post pictures of my work on WhatsApp. It was so weird. Like she thought I was jobless. I asked her why she kept sending them, and she was like, “I just want to see you win.”
I didn’t know I was losing. I just blocked her from seeing my status after a while.
Last year, a guy I was in a talking stage with said he wanted a “working woman”. He knew I was a lash tech, so I wondered where that came from. I think most Nigerians like to give impressions of class. Someone can be earning ₦120k, but they might think they’re better than me because they wear suits and work in fine offices. Me, I don’t care. I don’t even see myself working for anybody or hustling a 9-5. That can’t be me. I’m satisfied with what I do.
Is there anything you want right now but can’t afford?
A vacation to Ghana or Cote d’Ivoire. I just want to experience somewhere outside Nigeria. I can actually afford a trip right now, but I don’t want to dip into my savings. Maybe I’ll actively plan to set aside money over three months for a trip by the end of the year.
How would you rate your financial happiness on a scale of 1-10?
7. I’m pretty content with what I’ve achieved so far, and I’m on the right track to steady growth.
If you’re interested in talking about your Naira Life story, this is a good place to start.
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