Naija Vox Pop: What Will You Do With 2 Million Naira?

In Lagos, things are no longer the same o! Tricycles (keke) and motorcycles (bikes) have disappeared from major roads. Many residents have become ‘marathon-walkers’. (Kenya is in trouble now; we will clear all those marathon competitions soon.)

Eez not an easy somtin, my dear! Some policies were introduced and Nigerians have that ‘woiz all diz na?’ look. So, we thought we could jazz things up by asking some random questions perhaps to ease some of the stress. The question with the weirdest answers was “what will you do with N2 million?”.

Reader discretion is advised! Lol! While we got many ‘reasonable’ answers, these ones knocked the wind out of our chest:

1.Perfume: When Aunty Shadiyat answered with “perfume”, we thought she didn’t hear us well. We repeated the question and she looked at us unblinking “Perfume na… the designer ones”. Hmmm… Okay… Good luck to you and your unique ‘smell-binge’.

2. Herbalist: Wait, what? Why are Nigerians like dis sef?! You want to buy a human being?! Saheed, a spare part dealer, must have been planning this for a while because he had a well-thought-out idea. He would buy a herbalist that can help him make money for as long as he lived. Erm…. should we tell him?

3. Toilets: We won’t lie, when we first heard this, we assumed that it was part of the *coughs*. However, Rachael actually had a solid idea, she just had a funny way of stating it. She wanted to go into the business of installing toilets. She thinks it would fetch a lot. Good luck to you, Mama!

Davido wearing the custom-made N4.6 million Cartier glasses

4.Sunglasses: Ehn…. Ehn…. Sandra is a 200-level student in a popular University in Nigeria and she would use the money to buy the custom-made Cartier sunglasses that popular Nigerian singer, Davido was once spotted with. Our only answer to this is “Chisos is Lord!” PS: It actually costs 4.6 million so, the money is not enough.

5.Babe: Aaaaaaaawn…. Ibukun is the Yoruba demon the world craves. He would give the money to his girlfriend of 5 years.  Apparently, she is in dire need of it for an emergency. That’s wow! Girlfriend, we don’t know who you are since he wouldn’t even give us your first name but you have both hit jackpot with each other! And we hope you solve the emergency. Pele.

Some of the participants of the YEDP

6. An amazing Idea: Rukayat Mustapha, a 27-year-old mother of two small children would use it for her fish farming business.

Okay, we said ‘5’, but this was the issue that got us thinking about the vox pop in the first place. Fifty-one young Nigerians like Rukayat will pitch their business ideas at the MTN Foundation Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme, (YEDP) on February 11 and 12, 2020 in Ikoyi, Lagos, to access a N2 million facility each. The Foundation has made 100 million Naira available. So far the business plans are viable, the participant will receive the stipulated business facility. Now, that’s something that we are looking forward to.

Rukayat learnt fish farming during her mandatory year with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Her husband helps out when possible. “I’m trying and coping”, she explained one evening as she tried to put her one-year-old child to bed. You could hear the fighting spirit in her voice. According to her, winning the YEDP loan would empower her and give her more independence in Ondo State where she lives with her family.

Whether it’s custom-made fashion accessories or a business idea that can change a community, let’s keep grinding. Who knows, one of these days we can get the opportunity to do exactly what we want!