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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.

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