The 27-year-old views money as carefree and doesn’t idolise money because he sees it as common.
I started handling money during my secondary school days. Firstly, I engaged in menial work and sold some stuff to just make money. I went to the farm to help people till their farmlands by making mounds for planting. It was indeed a hard one for me, but who cares? I needed the money. During my JS2, I started selling Zobo drinks because I’m in school. I will prepare the drink immediately after I get home from school and refrigerate it for the next day. I carried everything in my school bag as I trekked to school. It was also very hard, but I needed the money.
I first realised the importance of money when my mom was pregnant with my first brother and she couldn’t go to work due to some health issues. Everyone indirectly relied on me for upkeep. Then I realised the importance of having money. I would wake up early enough in the morning to go to the farm where I tilled people’s farmland just to get money for my mom and sisters to eat. It was fun for me because I felt like I was playing my role as their little father.
The first time I saw money and made money for myself was after my final exams at the university. I was referred to a writing job by my friend. I did register for the job, and God helped me get it. I earned my first salary from the company, and it was in dollars. In less than a few weeks, I earned up to $300. As someone who hasn’t seen such money before, I was excited and overwhelmed as well. I wish the work continued, but…
I’ve always taken quick actions just to get some money. During the COVID-19 pandemic, after I stayed at home for weeks without any hopes of going back to school, I invested the 10,000 naira given to me by my uncle. I used the money to make egg rolls, and it was going well. I had to use my mom’s cooking book practice, and before 3 days, I became an expert in eggroll making. The business gave me some money, though it wasn’t enough to sustain the whole family.
Things like these days are… Hmmm… life, they say, is a rollercoaster. I have been making efforts to make ends meet as a young political scientist. Indeed, I have come to realise that there are courses you take in school that will give you more access to opportunities than politics, but I wasn’t born to have such a mentality. Life recently has not been all that comfortable for me, as I am still looking for the right ways to make money in such a harsh economic environment. I am struggling with non-payment of salaries and my inability to save a little due to inflation.
When people ask if there was something I did just to make money, and thinking about it now makes me laugh out loud, I just say nothing. I see myself as a common man. I see value in everything I do just to get money. I would describe my relationship with money as carefree. I don’t idolise money because I see it as common. My experiences shaped me to think about money and believe that money is good.
Money vs. me: who is currently winning? Omorr, I no fit talk. I no get shishi currently. Hmmmm.., Nawa oooo, I no fit rate my financial happiness because I am not happy like this…
