The BusinessDay CEO Magazine October Edition
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<strong>The</strong> <strong>BusinessDay</strong> <strong>CEO</strong>, Oct 2017 | 29<br />
What was your motivation to move back to Nigeria, after<br />
living in the US?<br />
Being Nigerian, I didn't realise the hustle I had in me until I<br />
moved back to Nigeria. I went to school in Chicago and I<br />
remember preparing to come back to Lagos, and asking<br />
myself what is going to be my hustle? In America, I never<br />
thought about money because most of your basic needs are<br />
met. If you really wanted to, you could go a whole month and<br />
not spend 50 dollars. My rent, food and transportation costs<br />
were already paid for in advance. My American friends would<br />
always wonder why I was so focused on figuring out my move<br />
back home. My mind set had shifted as I prepared for my<br />
move back to Nigeria, I always knew that in Nigeria, there is a<br />
need to have multiple streams of income. I remember<br />
looking up rechargeable fans on Ali Baba to see the viability<br />
of selling them back home.<br />
I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur, but I don't think<br />
I was in the right space when I came back, to take on<br />
entrepreneurship. I didn't want to be an entrepreneur just to<br />
say I have an income. Don't get me wrong, I love money, I<br />
need money but I don't believe in doing things just to make<br />
money. I also knew that I wanted to make sure that I did<br />
something I was truly passionate about so I left the<br />
rechargeable fan idea alone.<br />
I started working as a presenter and before that I got a job<br />
with an NGO for about a year. I find that a lot of NGOs in<br />
Nigeria focus more on giving hand-outs as opposed to<br />
giving beneficiary tools to create sustainable income.