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Naira Life Vol 162

Naira Life Vol 162

Also: I snitched and cost my friend her job.

Toheeb Lanlehin
December 08, 2025

Volume 162

Good Morning,🌞

We'll kick off with Naira Life. It’s always a revealing experience getting stories out of people who seemingly found their way through sheer grit — someone like the guy in this week’s #NairaLife.

At 10, he was hawking sachet water. When he couldn’t afford school, he interned at a computer centre so he could at least leave with skills. Since then, it’s been one calculated move after another: testing business ideas, tweaking what works, dropping what doesn’t. Today, he runs a business that nets millions monthly. But what’s interesting isn’t just the money, it’s how consistently he’s manufactured his own luck.

Let’s take a look + other stories in this dispatch.

In this letter:

#NairaLife: This 26-Year-Old Was as Happy Earning ₦15k/Month as He Is Earning ₦5m/Month

The 26-year-old in this #NairaLife makes his own luck. He’s gone from a 10-year-old who hawked sachet water for money to running a thriving business netting millions of naira in monthly profit.

Interestingly, his financial happiness has remained unchanged through the years.

Read his #NairaLife

Sign up with the code OSIMHEN, and Roqqu will cover 50% of your transaction fees when you buy, sell, or swap on the app for the next 1 month!

Start here!

Love Currency: “He Tries His Best, but I Often Feel Financially Stressed”

Patience* (27) and David* (35) got married five months after they met in 2020.

For #LoveCurrency, Patience discusses her initial reluctance to marry a pastor, the impact of constant giving on their finances, and how she copes with it. Read the full story here

Na Me F—Up? I Snitched and Cost My Friend Her Job

Amanda* (21) and Happiness* (21) were long-term best friends until Happiness needed a job, and Amanda made sure she got hired at her workplace.

That proved to be a wrong move. Within months, Happiness began to cause trouble at work, leaving Amanda with a tough choice.

Read here

Ask Aunty M with Reni

I didn't grow up rich. But I’ve always been a smart kid, so I did well in primary and secondary school. I had a slight lapse in uni, yet l turned out fine. I’ve always been a lifelong learner and focused on my career. As a result, I have risen up the ranks rapidly in less than five years, getting promotions, raises, and a new role recently that comes with some perks. I consider myself a prudent person. For context, I have a spreadsheet where I plan my annual expenses and potential income with everything budgeted to a T. Once I notice my current income will only handle my expenses, I will try to get a new job or focus on freelance consulting gigs. To unwind, I try to take trips, but this happens once a quarter or every six months, depending on my work schedule, with returns from high-yield savings or money market funds handling this. The issue is my girlfriend wants to join me on these trips, which I don't mind. The perplexing part is that she expects me to pay for my trip and hers simultaneously. It doesn't hurt me financially to pay a part for her. I just think it's unfair that I'll pay the entire fee twice. I have mentioned how it's not feasible for me to keep doing this, but she gets moody. So I'm left with no choice but to oblige most times. Then again, the unintended consequence of me doing this is the resentment it might breed in the long term. I'm transparent about money and earnings with her. So how can I navigate this? - M, 27

Hey. I totally understand where you’re coming from, and this is a lot more common than you think! The fact that you’re already talking to your girlfriend about money is great, but it sounds like you need to go a little deeper so expectations are clear and tension doesn’t build up.

But before you have that conversation with her, you need to have one with yourself. Do you actually want to be the type of partner who covers her trips, or do you want her to contribute her share? Does providing feel good to you, or do you value a more equitable 50/50 split? You mentioned that it doesn’t hurt you financially, but it does hurt you emotionally…and that’s important. It means your values aren’t fully aligned with how this is playing out, which will only breed resentment over time. So get clear first: is it that you don’t mind paying, but don’t want it to be an expectation? Or that you’d be okay covering sometimes, but you’d like to see more gratitude?

Once you know where you stand, you can sit down with her for a real conversation. Frame it as wanting to build a partnership where both of you feel comfortable and respected, rather than as a complaint. You might say something like, “I love traveling with you, but I also want us to find a way to make trips feel fair for both of us. Here’s what feels sustainable for me. What feels fair to you?” That way, you’re setting boundaries without making it adversarial, and giving her a chance to share her perspective too.

The goal isn’t just about figuring out who pays, it’s about building a shared understanding of what partnership looks like for you both.

I hope this helps. Truly rooting for you.

Xoxo, Reni

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