UNEMPLOYMENT Hard times, hard choices; Things graduates do to survive

By SUNDAY ANI (nichsunny@yahoo.com)

If the recent assertion by the Statistician-General, National Bureau of Statistics, Abuja, Dr Yemi Kale is anything to go by, then unemployment rate in Nigeria still stands at 23.9 percent; a figure he considers low when compared to other African countries like South Africa where the figure is well above 40 percent. Dr Kale had said in May that the federal government was creating jobs but admitted that the number of graduates being churned out every year from various institutions of higher learning was growing at a faster rate than employment generation.

The reality however, is that hundreds of thousands of Nigerian graduates don’t have jobs to do. From north to south; east to west, the story is the same. Many of these unemployed graduates have masters’ degree, which most of them acquired walking a tight rope with the belief that once they have their second degrees, they would have brighter chances of getting good jobs. But, that never happened; instead it became their greatest undoing as most employers of labour shun them because they have no cognate experience and they would demand higher salaries.

For an average unemployed Nigerian graduate, the society has relapsed into Hobbesian state, where life has become nasty, poor and brutish, with the fittest surviving. To ensure that life goes on, many of them have committed class suicide and taken up jobs considered way below their qualifications. They do all kinds of jobs to make ends meet.

Checks by Saturday Sun revealed that many of them have taken up such jobs as ‘Okada’ riding, tricycle operator, taxi drivers, commercial bus drivers, house cleaning and laundry services, generator repairs, restaurant operators, car wash, estate agency services, petty trading among others. The recent proscription of motorcycle operations on some major roads by the Lagos State government saw many graduates ‘Okada’ riders switch over to tricycle ridding. This has led to many willing hands idling around as there seems to be insufficient tricycle for the surging jobless graduates into the tricycle operation market. Many of them preferred to speak about their jobs but would not want their pictures published.

However, the few who agreed to have their pictures published shared their experiences with our reporter and they seemed to be harping on one thing. They want government at all levels to provide loans at a very minimal interest rate, so that they could also create jobs instead of everybody waiting to get government job.

Idowu Adeniyi

Idowu Adeniyi is a generator repairer. A native of Isale Osi, now Isale Oro in Ibadan South West, Oyo State, Adeniyi has first and second degrees in Philosophy and Sociology respectively and is currently running his PhD programme at the University of Ibadan.

Speaking about his odyssey in life, he said: “I studied philosophy in my first degree from the University of Ibadan in 2007 and my second degree in Sociology from the same university in 2011. I am currently doing my PhD in Industrial and Personnel Management at the same university, which I started in 2012. I am married to a practising lawyer who also has first and second degrees in law and is already warming up to go back for her PhD programmes as well. I have two children. I served in Lagos in 2008.”

He said he had never searched for job since he already acquired vocational skill and was practising even before he gained admission for his first degree. With this revelation, one is compelled to ask him why the craze for certificate acquisition up to a doctorate degree level, when all he wanted to do was to service and repair people’s generators.

Reacting to why he has decided to acquire a PhD and why he deviated from engineering, he said: “I was a science student while in secondary school and I wanted to study mechanical engineering. So, when I finished secondary school in 1994, I decided to get this vocational training, which is a practical aspect of engineering while waiting for admission into the university to read engineering. But because it took me so many years before I gained admission and because of wrong combination of O’ level subjects, I was offered philosophy and when it came, I didn’t have any choice but to grab it considering the number of years I had spent writing to pass JAMB exams. I just needed to study any course provided I went to the university and that was how my dream of studying mechanical engineering was dashed.

“I am also studying for my PhD because I want to go into lecturing afterwards. It gives me a great pleasure to impart knowledge on people; it has been my passion.”

Adeniyi who said he lost his dad when he was in primary school and who saw himself through the university with the proceeds from his handiwork, recounted how he performed the magic: “If not for this vocational skill, I wouldn’t have been able to go to school because I lost my dad when I was in primary school and my mum couldn’t have done that with her petty trading. I was a regular student throughout my first and second degrees. I used to leave for Ibadan on Monday morning and come back to Lagos on Thursday to attend to my customers. I always scheduled to attend to my customers’ needs on weekends. My customers would always exercise patience until I came around because of the level of my competency. Some could even wait for months because they would not want any quack to destabilize their generators. You know, there are a number of quacks who do not know the nitty-gritty of this job and my level of education also attracts customers to me because the way I present issues is different from others who never passed through the four walls of the university. So, I have been able to stand out among the crowd.  My education has made me exceptional from others.”

He has added the sale of generators to repairs. He has three workers who he said receive between N30, 000 to N40, 000 from him monthly as salaries. He has also grown his business to a point where technical schools now send its students to him for internship. “I have three employees at the moment and I pay them salary at the end of the month, although some are still apprentice. I pay them because I need to empower them to be able to take care of their transport and other needs. Students from technical school used to come for internship here. I pay my workers between N30, 000 and N40,000,” he said.

Although, Mr Adeniyi did not reveal his average monthly income for personal reasons, his ability to pay three persons between N30, 000 and N40, 000 every month, could give a rough estimate of the huge income he rakes in every month. “I don’t want to disclose what I make in a month for personal reasons but I want to say that I am contented with what I make,” he submitted.

Kennedy Nnaoma

Nnaoma who hails from Ibeku-Umuafayi in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State works for Mr Adeniyi. He also has a first degree in Sociology from the University of Port Harcourt in 2007 and a second degree in International Relations from the University of Ibadan in 2012.

Recounting his job hunt experience, he said: “I have been applying for job but I have not been lucky. Mr Adeniyi was my colleague in Ibadan and that’s how I came to know him. I decided to come and learn this work instead of staying idle at home.”

He admitted that at least, he could now keep body and soul together without much stress unlike when he was seated at home, doing nothing. He however urged government to make the environment conducive for the teeming unemployed graduates to be self-employed like providing soft loans and ensuring steady supply of electricity.

Abel Nnamani

Mr Nnamani from Ikem in Isi-Uzo Local Government Area of Enugu State graduated from the Enugu State University of Science and Technology in 2011, where he studied Business Administration. He said he joined tricycle riding popularly called ‘Keke’ several months after unsuccessful search for job.

He said: “I searched for job endlessly without success before I came to ride this tricycle. I joined this job through one of my friends called Rashidi, when I didn’t have a kobo. He gave me one of his tricycles and asked me to deliver N2000 daily to him, while I go home with whatever that remained of my daily earning. I did that for some time before I saved money to buy my own.”

For Mr Nnamani, the major problem militating against his business is fund. He revealed that if he could get fund to buy more Keke, he was okay with the job.

Speaking on what he wants the government to do in the present graduate unemployment predicament, he said: “The only thing government can do to help us is to make loans available for us to procure more tricycles. For instance, if I can get money to buy more keke, like five or 10; I won’t bother myself again looking for any job. I would even let other graduates know that there is hope in riding keke. They can’t continue waiting for government to provide job for them. Government should just provide soft loans for us to be able to establish this business properly. There are so many graduates idling around here because they can’t even find any keke to ride. The major problem we have in this first gate unit is that we don’t have enough keke. Passengers outnumber the available keke.”

Onah Theodore Uzoamaka

An indigene of Imilike in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State, the University of Jos English graduate has carved a niche for herself selling honey. Having graduated in 2007 and finished her National Youth Service Corps programme in 2008, Uzoamaka did not waste much time searching for job before she went back to the honey business she was doing before she gained admission into the university. Although she felt disappointed initially because her main aim of going back to school to get first degree after her National Certificate in Education (NCE) was to get a good job, she later realised that the business was even more lucrative than any paid employment, so she committed more energy into it.

Speaking to our reporter, she said: “I studied English language. I have used all I saved to look for job; doing photocopy and transportation but all in vain. In fact, in 2009 I was even duped of N40,000 trying to enlist into the Immigration.

“I have been doing the honey business even before I gained admission into the university. Before then, I had NCE and I felt that was why I couldn’t get job; so I proceeded to get my degree thinking that when I do that, I would be able to get a good job but it never happened. When I found out that there was no job anywhere, I decided to go deeper into the business by going back to my village to source for the highest quality of honey.”

She lamented that agents of government have not allowed her to even do the business freely as they constantly harass and intimidate her. “People are happy with me because I serve them the highest quality of honey, but I was surprised when some people came to destroy my shop claiming they were from the Amuwo Odofin Local Government Council. They destroyed the whole place and I had to start afresh. That has been the government’s contribution to my efforts at surviving on my own. A situation whereby an unemployed female graduate would be struggling to survive on her own and the same government that failed to provide job for her would come and destroy the same business, is to say the least; discouraging. I am demoralised completely and even the sales have gone down,” she complained.

Although, some graduates do some of these jobs pending when they would get paid employment, Uzoamaka does not have such plans. For her, it is honey business all the way. “I can’t tell you that I would use what I realise here to print CV, go to the internet to send application or transport myself to submit job application. No, I can’t do that again. It is not as if there are no jobs in Nigeria but if you don’t have connection, you can never get it. I have some of my colleagues who are gainfully employed because they are from certain part of this country. They were not better off than me in school but that is the situation. So, I can’t use the little cash I am surviving on to say I am running around looking for a non-existent job; I can’t do that. At least, I am getting my daily bread from here even though the bread may not be enough,” she submitted.

Mrs Kemi Adewale Kehinde

The Ijebu-Igbo in Ijebu-North Local Government Area of Ogun State-born Kemi is a petty trader. A graduate of Business Administration from the Madonna University, Okija in Anambra State, Kemi decided to establish a small business after several fruitless efforts to get a good job.  

“Since after my youth service, I have been applying until I got a job with a stock broking firm in Marina. But in 2008 when the stock market crashed, I lost the job because the firm could not pay us. Ever since then, I have been applying for job until 2010 when I decided to establish a small business where I sell women products like weave-on, perfume, body cream and things like that for women,” she said.

She also thinks she could remain in the business and forget about searching for job if she could get a soft loan with low interest rate. “So far, I thank God but my problem is that the location is not strategic and that has affected my growth in this business. It is not moving as expected; it is discouraging but I still hope that God will help me. If government can provide soft loan and I change to a better location, I won’t mind settling down permanently with the business. I think it is a good business if one finds a better location and sizeable cash to invest in it,” she assured.

Emmanuel Abonyi

A graduate of Mass Communication from the Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu, Emmanuel, from Opi in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, has decided to make ends meet by offering house cleaning and laundry services.

Having graduated since 2004, Emma has done all he could to get job but he has not been lucky. Although, he has ideas of businesses one could start with little capital like car wash, he cannot do that because he lacks even the little capital to do that.

“There are some works you can do with small capital such as car wash but I don’t even have that little capital to start it. So right now, I do house cleaning and laundry and other little jobs that come my way to survive. I am still hoping for a better job,” he said.

Commenting about the job, he said: “It has not been easy because in this part of the world, it is the harder the work; the less paid the worker gets. I am just doing it to survive and not that it is catering for my needs. It has not been easy because there is no encouragement. Sometimes, after working for people, they will not pay; you will have to struggle before you get the little pay and the job is not even regular. In a month, you may get like two or three jobs.”

Rowland Akande

The Ile Ologede in Ila Local Government Area of Osun State-born Rowland studied Accounting from the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma in Edo State. After a stint with an Indian company in Victoria Island, Lagos, he resigned in 2001 because the pay wasn’t good enough to sustain him. He later joined estate practice as an agent and ever since then, he has never looked back.

“I have been doing my best and I thank God for that. It is a good job but you have to be patient because you need to learn the job. During my learning period, I associated with licensed estate surveyors, lawyers and colleagues who are into estate practice. That was how I got to know the job very well. I have my clients and people have been giving me property to let and sell for them,” he informed.

Despite the challenges inherent in the job, Mr Rowland has made it clear that he would never look for any other job again as he would rather channel all his energy into the estate practice, which he said, was lucrative enough.

Speaking on the challenges and his position on job search, he said: “The major challenge is patience because you need to have a good knowledge. Documentation in this job is also very important; you must know all the necessary documents either for sale or for rent, particularly in the area of government property. You must also know how to search for a document to determine whether it is genuine.

“As for job search; well, I am above 40 and I have also reached a stage in this practice that if connections start coming in, it will come with handsome cash. I have established myself; I have a large client base and they bring other clients because of the trust, the integrity and the competence they find in me. For now, I am the Assistant General Secretary of the Estate Rent and Commission Agents Association of Nigeria (ERCAAN) in the Amuwo Odofin and we are recognised by the Lagos State government. So, with this, I wouldn’t want to just leave the job; I prefer to be an estate agent. That is what I use to feed my family; the sky is my limit. So, I am not keen about searching for any paid employment any longer. For now, I am a professional estate agent and I am enjoying my job.”

   

Things graduates do to survive

By SUNDAY ANI (nichsunny@yahoo.com)

If the recent assertion by the Statistician-General, National Bureau of Statistics, Abuja, Dr Yemi Kale is anything to go by, then unemployment rate in Nigeria still stands at 23.9 percent; a figure he considers low when compared to other African countries like South Africa where the figure is well above 40 percent. Dr Kale had said in May that the federal government was creating jobs but admitted that the number of graduates being churned out every year from various institutions of higher learning was growing at a faster rate than employment generation.

The reality however, is that hundreds of thousands of Nigerian graduates don’t have jobs to do. From north to south; east to west, the story is the same. Many of these unemployed graduates have masters’ degree, which most of them acquired walking a tight rope with the belief that once they have their second degrees, they would have brighter chances of getting good jobs. But, that never happened; instead it became their greatest undoing as most employers of labour shun them because they have no cognate experience and they would demand higher salaries.

For an average unemployed Nigerian graduate, the society has relapsed into Hobbesian state, where life has become nasty, poor and brutish, with the fittest surviving. To ensure that life goes on, many of them have committed class suicide and taken up jobs considered way below their qualifications. They do all kinds of jobs to make ends meet.

Checks by Saturday Sun revealed that many of them have taken up such jobs as ‘Okada’ riding, tricycle operator, taxi drivers, commercial bus drivers, house cleaning and laundry services, generator repairs, restaurant operators, car wash, estate agency services, petty trading among others. The recent proscription of motorcycle operations on some major roads by the Lagos State government saw many graduates ‘Okada’ riders switch over to tricycle ridding. This has led to many willing hands idling around as there seems to be insufficient tricycle for the surging jobless graduates into the tricycle operation market. Many of them preferred to speak about their jobs but would not want their pictures published.

However, the few who agreed to have their pictures published shared their experiences with our reporter and they seemed to be harping on one thing. They want government at all levels to provide loans at a very minimal interest rate, so that they could also create jobs instead of everybody waiting to get government job.

Idowu Adeniyi

Idowu Adeniyi is a generator repairer. A native of Isale Osi, now Isale Oro in Ibadan South West, Oyo State, Adeniyi has first and second degrees in Philosophy and Sociology respectively and is currently running his PhD programme at the University of Ibadan.

Speaking about his odyssey in life, he said: “I studied philosophy in my first degree from the University of Ibadan in 2007 and my second degree in Sociology from the same university in 2011. I am currently doing my PhD in Industrial and Personnel Management at the same university, which I started in 2012. I am married to a practising lawyer who also has first and second degrees in law and is already warming up to go back for her PhD programmes as well. I have two children. I served in Lagos in 2008.”

He said he had never searched for job since he already acquired vocational skill and was practising even before he gained admission for his first degree. With this revelation, one is compelled to ask him why the craze for certificate acquisition up to a doctorate degree level, when all he wanted to do was to service and repair people’s generators.

Reacting to why he has decided to acquire a PhD and why he deviated from engineering, he said: “I was a science student while in secondary school and I wanted to study mechanical engineering. So, when I finished secondary school in 1994, I decided to get this vocational training, which is a practical aspect of engineering while waiting for admission into the university to read engineering. But because it took me so many years before I gained admission and because of wrong combination of O’ level subjects, I was offered philosophy and when it came, I didn’t have any choice but to grab it considering the number of years I had spent writing to pass JAMB exams. I just needed to study any course provided I went to the university and that was how my dream of studying mechanical engineering was dashed.

“I am also studying for my PhD because I want to go into lecturing afterwards. It gives me a great pleasure to impart knowledge on people; it has been my passion.”

Adeniyi who said he lost his dad when he was in primary school and who saw himself through the university with the proceeds from his handiwork, recounted how he performed the magic: “If not for this vocational skill, I wouldn’t have been able to go to school because I lost my dad when I was in primary school and my mum couldn’t have done that with her petty trading. I was a regular student throughout my first and second degrees. I used to leave for Ibadan on Monday morning and come back to Lagos on Thursday to attend to my customers. I always scheduled to attend to my customers’ needs on weekends. My customers would always exercise patience until I came around because of the level of my competency. Some could even wait for months because they would not want any quack to destabilize their generators. You know, there are a number of quacks who do not know the nitty-gritty of this job and my level of education also attracts customers to me because the way I present issues is different from others who never passed through the four walls of the university. So, I have been able to stand out among the crowd.  My education has made me exceptional from others.”

He has added the sale of generators to repairs. He has three workers who he said receive between N30, 000 to N40, 000 from him monthly as salaries. He has also grown his business to a point where technical schools now send its students to him for internship. “I have three employees at the moment and I pay them salary at the end of the month, although some are still apprentice. I pay them because I need to empower them to be able to take care of their transport and other needs. Students from technical school used to come for internship here. I pay my workers between N30, 000 and N40,000,” he said.

Although, Mr Adeniyi did not reveal his average monthly income for personal reasons, his ability to pay three persons between N30, 000 and N40, 000 every month, could give a rough estimate of the huge income he rakes in every month. “I don’t want to disclose what I make in a month for personal reasons but I want to say that I am contented with what I make,” he submitted.

Kennedy Nnaoma

Nnaoma who hails from Ibeku-Umuafayi in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State works for Mr Adeniyi. He also has a first degree in Sociology from the University of Port Harcourt in 2007 and a second degree in International Relations from the University of Ibadan in 2012.

Recounting his job hunt experience, he said: “I have been applying for job but I have not been lucky. Mr Adeniyi was my colleague in Ibadan and that’s how I came to know him. I decided to come and learn this work instead of staying idle at home.”

He admitted that at least, he could now keep body and soul together without much stress unlike when he was seated at home, doing nothing. He however urged government to make the environment conducive for the teeming unemployed graduates to be self-employed like providing soft loans and ensuring steady supply of electricity.

Abel Nnamani

Mr Nnamani from Ikem in Isi-Uzo Local Government Area of Enugu State graduated from the Enugu State University of Science and Technology in 2011, where he studied Business Administration. He said he joined tricycle riding popularly called ‘Keke’ several months after unsuccessful search for job.

He said: “I searched for job endlessly without success before I came to ride this tricycle. I joined this job through one of my friends called Rashidi, when I didn’t have a kobo. He gave me one of his tricycles and asked me to deliver N2000 daily to him, while I go home with whatever that remained of my daily earning. I did that for some time before I saved money to buy my own.”

For Mr Nnamani, the major problem militating against his business is fund. He revealed that if he could get fund to buy more Keke, he was okay with the job.

Speaking on what he wants the government to do in the present graduate unemployment predicament, he said: “The only thing government can do to help us is to make loans available for us to procure more tricycles. For instance, if I can get money to buy more keke, like five or 10; I won’t bother myself again looking for any job. I would even let other graduates know that there is hope in riding keke. They can’t continue waiting for government to provide job for them. Government should just provide soft loans for us to be able to establish this business properly. There are so many graduates idling around here because they can’t even find any keke to ride. The major problem we have in this first gate unit is that we don’t have enough keke. Passengers outnumber the available keke.”

Onah Theodore Uzoamaka

An indigene of Imilike in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State, the University of Jos English graduate has carved a niche for herself selling honey. Having graduated in 2007 and finished her National Youth Service Corps programme in 2008, Uzoamaka did not waste much time searching for job before she went back to the honey business she was doing before she gained admission into the university. Although she felt disappointed initially because her main aim of going back to school to get first degree after her National Certificate in Education (NCE) was to get a good job, she later realised that the business was even more lucrative than any paid employment, so she committed more energy into it.

Speaking to our reporter, she said: “I studied English language. I have used all I saved to look for job; doing photocopy and transportation but all in vain. In fact, in 2009 I was even duped of N40,000 trying to enlist into the Immigration.

“I have been doing the honey business even before I gained admission into the university. Before then, I had NCE and I felt that was why I couldn’t get job; so I proceeded to get my degree thinking that when I do that, I would be able to get a good job but it never happened. When I found out that there was no job anywhere, I decided to go deeper into the business by going back to my village to source for the highest quality of honey.”

She lamented that agents of government have not allowed her to even do the business freely as they constantly harass and intimidate her. “People are happy with me because I serve them the highest quality of honey, but I was surprised when some people came to destroy my shop claiming they were from the Amuwo Odofin Local Government Council. They destroyed the whole place and I had to start afresh. That has been the government’s contribution to my efforts at surviving on my own. A situation whereby an unemployed female graduate would be struggling to survive on her own and the same government that failed to provide job for her would come and destroy the same business, is to say the least; discouraging. I am demoralised completely and even the sales have gone down,” she complained.

Although, some graduates do some of these jobs pending when they would get paid employment, Uzoamaka does not have such plans. For her, it is honey business all the way. “I can’t tell you that I would use what I realise here to print CV, go to the internet to send application or transport myself to submit job application. No, I can’t do that again. It is not as if there are no jobs in Nigeria but if you don’t have connection, you can never get it. I have some of my colleagues who are gainfully employed because they are from certain part of this country. They were not better off than me in school but that is the situation. So, I can’t use the little cash I am surviving on to say I am running around looking for a non-existent job; I can’t do that. At least, I am getting my daily bread from here even though the bread may not be enough,” she submitted.

Mrs Kemi Adewale Kehinde

The Ijebu-Igbo in Ijebu-North Local Government Area of Ogun State-born Kemi is a petty trader. A graduate of Business Administration from the Madonna University, Okija in Anambra State, Kemi decided to establish a small business after several fruitless efforts to get a good job.  

“Since after my youth service, I have been applying until I got a job with a stock broking firm in Marina. But in 2008 when the stock market crashed, I lost the job because the firm could not pay us. Ever since then, I have been applying for job until 2010 when I decided to establish a small business where I sell women products like weave-on, perfume, body cream and things like that for women,” she said.

She also thinks she could remain in the business and forget about searching for job if she could get a soft loan with low interest rate. “So far, I thank God but my problem is that the location is not strategic and that has affected my growth in this business. It is not moving as expected; it is discouraging but I still hope that God will help me. If government can provide soft loan and I change to a better location, I won’t mind settling down permanently with the business. I think it is a good business if one finds a better location and sizeable cash to invest in it,” she assured.

Emmanuel Abonyi

A graduate of Mass Communication from the Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu, Emmanuel, from Opi in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, has decided to make ends meet by offering house cleaning and laundry services.

Having graduated since 2004, Emma has done all he could to get job but he has not been lucky. Although, he has ideas of businesses one could start with little capital like car wash, he cannot do that because he lacks even the little capital to do that.

“There are some works you can do with small capital such as car wash but I don’t even have that little capital to start it. So right now, I do house cleaning and laundry and other little jobs that come my way to survive. I am still hoping for a better job,” he said.

Commenting about the job, he said: “It has not been easy because in this part of the world, it is the harder the work; the less paid the worker gets. I am just doing it to survive and not that it is catering for my needs. It has not been easy because there is no encouragement. Sometimes, after working for people, they will not pay; you will have to struggle before you get the little pay and the job is not even regular. In a month, you may get like two or three jobs.”

Rowland Akande

The Ile Ologede in Ila Local Government Area of Osun State-born Rowland studied Accounting from the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma in Edo State. After a stint with an Indian company in Victoria Island, Lagos, he resigned in 2001 because the pay wasn’t good enough to sustain him. He later joined estate practice as an agent and ever since then, he has never looked back.

“I have been doing my best and I thank God for that. It is a good job but you have to be patient because you need to learn the job. During my learning period, I associated with licensed estate surveyors, lawyers and colleagues who are into estate practice. That was how I got to know the job very well. I have my clients and people have been giving me property to let and sell for them,” he informed.

Despite the challenges inherent in the job, Mr Rowland has made it clear that he would never look for any other job again as he would rather channel all his energy into the estate practice, which he said, was lucrative enough.

Speaking on the challenges and his position on job search, he said: “The major challenge is patience because you need to have a good knowledge. Documentation in this job is also very important; you must know all the necessary documents either for sale or for rent, particularly in the area of government property. You must also know how to search for a document to determine whether it is genuine.

“As for job search; well, I am above 40 and I have also reached a stage in this practice that if connections start coming in, it will come with handsome cash. I have established myself; I have a large client base and they bring other clients because of the trust, the integrity and the competence they find in me. For now, I am the Assistant General Secretary of the Estate Rent and Commission Agents Association of Nigeria (ERCAAN) in the Amuwo Odofin and we are recognised by the Lagos State government. So, with this, I wouldn’t want to just leave the job; I prefer to be an estate agent. That is what I use to feed my family; the sky is my limit. So, I am not keen about searching for any paid employment any longer. For now, I am a professional estate agent and I am enjoying my job.”