IF YOU EARN LESS THAN 100k YOU ARE THE PROBLEM

[Prince patrick]

Many people might get offended from this topic. But it's the truth. This economy cannot carry 50k salary, high cost of transportation alone will finish the money and you will be left with peanut, so how do you survive? We are in 2026 and your smart phone is your company, people make 200k from tiktok, editing, selling thrift on Whatsapp. If you still earn 70k it's your fault for refusing to grow. Pride is killing many, Graduate will not do cleaning job, will not learn barbing, will not sell market but will stay hungry and be asking for 2k because of certificate. The economy left low income behind, 100k in 2020 is now 40k value. If your income has not increased, you have really deprived yourself from earning more. Stop managing poverty, you can't build that future you dreamt of with low income, you need to upgrade your skills, expand your source of income, if you earn less than 100k today it's a choice, not a condition.

[VivaMan]

(OP) I think this topic is a very interactive topic that should be posted and deliberated at politics and society board.

[Charles-Tim]

It is a very good topic, but the content is not enough. It would have been better if Prince patrick added more things to it like the business that can help, but he only briefed it. But it is a very good topic.

Also it is true that the topic supposed to be on the Naija Politics and Society board. It is very clear that the topic is about what is happening in our society in Nigeria.

₦100000 in 2020 is less than ₦40000 of now. I think it should be around ₦27000 naira now.

Another good area now is also AI. People are using AI contents to make money now. You can use it to construct songs and also use it to make videos. You may not believe that there was a time AI song top on Spotify and reach the number 1 position. But in anything you are doing, make yours unique and convincing.

There are many earning opportunities, but what I noticed is that some people can not just understand. Even if you tell some people about it, you may notice that they do not do it, while some may do it and not make it like some people. But it is always worth trying something new. That is how people become rich in life.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

Pride is killing many, Graduate will not do cleaning job, will not learn barbing, will not sell market but will stay hungry and be asking for 2k because of certificate.

Which cleaning job are you doing as a graduate? Man, there are some things you are supposed to take into consideration when discussing a matter like this. So, someone will spend his or her precious time for 4 or 5 years academic work at the University, then graduate to come and do cleaning job? Please make it make sense to me. Is not as if the cleaning job is going to pay you the least ₦50k, except maybe it's all these big companies like Total E&P that hired you for such position, that's when the salary could be big.

That's not an option, pray you don't even find yourself in that situation because that's when you will understand how it feels.

Learning a skill or starting a business is good.

This economy cannot carry 50k salary, high cost of transportation alone will finish the money and you will be left with peanut

And yet, you brought up "cleaning" As an option?

Stop managing poverty, you can't build that future you dreamt of with low income,

So, how can cleaning and Barbie help you?

[Curious T]

Everybody always talks about "there are things you can do to make money", but never states those things or how you can go about them. You people still have not understood the kind of country you live in. You think it's not mentally draining to spend 5 years studying for a course so you can graduate with good grades, only to come out and hear that you need to spend another 2-3 years learning a skill so you can just make ends meet. Mind you, this is after one year of NYSC.

There is no easy money anywhere, and one thing I would never agree with is that Nigerians are lazy. People are working, but they can't make any money. Taxi drivers spend most of their money on fuel, police and agberos. Even people making 200,000 in this country are still suffering because of how expensive things are, and you are here talking about how people are not working.

Instead of us coming together as a people and demanding better government so that the cost of living will be low and make it easier to do business, you people are always advising people to work hard. How hard can you work? 5 years ago, a 50k salary was nothing.  Today, even 200k is still nothing, and the solution is to work harder, so what will happen when a 400k salary becomes nothing? How much more skill should we be expected to learn? I think you people are not ready for a better country. When we are, we will demand that our leaders start taking us seriously instead of sharing the resources among themselves.

How can we be a country? All we know as the solution to our problem is to tell people to learn skills and work hard. Who would be responsible for teaching our kids properly is everybody runs away from the low paying jobs? Look at how badly doctors and nurses are treated and paid. Who would take care of us if they start looking for businesses and well paying jobs, or focusing on making money from TikTok?
This is to show that the advice of starting a business or looking for tech skills is not sustainable. It shows that we are far from reality. Because aside from the fact that you need money, you do not have to start a business or learn a skill properly; not everybody would be able to go into them.

Finally, have you ever looked for a barber and you did not see one? Have you ever looked for a person to buy thrift clothes from and did not see one? Have you ever looked for a plumber and did not see one? The answer to all these questions is NO. This is because there are already a lot of people doing them, despite the fact that they don't make much from these things because of how bad the economy is. They only make enough to live hand to mouth. 

[Frankolala]

Internet have made life easy for our youths because you can be a freelancer, or a writer. Skit is giving money now and there's no need to fold your hands doing nothing. I know of someone who couldn't meet up with his transportation, he left the job and started doing something else. It doesn't make sense for a graduate to be a security only if the salary is from 100k.

[SDS11]

Many people might get offended from this topic. But it's the truth. This economy cannot carry 50k salary, high cost of transportation alone will finish the money and you will be left with peanut, so how do you survive? We are in 2026 and your smart phone is your company, people make 200k from tiktok, editing, selling thrift on Whatsapp. If you still earn 70k it's your fault for refusing to grow. Pride is killing many, Graduate will not do cleaning job, will not learn barbing, will not sell market but will stay hungry and be asking for 2k because of certificate. The economy left low income behind, 100k in 2020 is now 40k value. If your income has not increased, you have really deprived yourself from earning more. Stop managing poverty, you can't build that future you dreamt of with low income, you need to upgrade your skills, expand your source of income, if you earn less than 100k today it's a choice, not a condition.

I get your point and to some extent you are right. 50k cannot sustain anyone in this economy, transportation alone will consume it. And yes, phone have become a business tool for many people in 2026. But i think saying if you earn less than 100k it's your fault is too harsh. Not everyone has the same opportunity, connection, mental strength or environment . Some people are trying to upskill but things are just not working out yet. unemployment and system failure are still contributing factors. I agree that we need to upgrade our skills, hustle online and not let pride holds us back. No job is too small if it's put food on our table, but let's not use this to shame  people who are earning low. The reality is that the cost 0f living is high, so we must find a way to increase our income. But not everyone earning low is by choice, some it's due to circumstances.

[Pope01]

Earning below 100k in Nigeria is not a choice for many graduate, where's the job? We all fighting for a better Nigeria so when post like this about blaming the citizens I just get annoyed. I understand the op very well, I agree with the point concerning citizens not working to meet the standard yet putting all the blame on Nigerians is not the best way to go about this issue. This just reminded me of an example; data is expensive, yes we know, so because I can afford it doesn't mean I should'nt complain about it. Let's go with the skills talked about, All these skills can't afford 100k within the space of one week for many citizens, At least TikTok is helping and the internet, no be lie sha not everyone is accesbile to TikTok.

No point comparing the Nigeria economy with other countries when the system is already bad, who still pays 50k ? Oh some private sector does because they also don't earn enough from their business.

[PhilosopherKing]

Yeah man, there are plenty of skills and things that person can do now as a side job to get more income. Those same tiktok and other social media platforms that guys waste alot of money on for subscription and time on can be monetized if guys are prepared to sit down and make research on how. This is a digital world where person can learn things so easily with free online course scattered all around the Internet looking for those to access it. Even apart from tiktok, there are other things that guys can do without stressing about shop rent, revenue and other bills that shop owners get to deal with. But laziness will make someone get so comfortable with that one thing that they are doing.

Years back #100k was reasonable, but right now it is just peanut that cannot take care of half your expenses. And the way it is there is no guarantee that it will get any better. We could even be seeing thing getting more worse that is why it is good that person take it upon themselves to change things. Quit wishing for a solution, because even the government yoy think will help you don't give a single fuck about you, all they are trying to do is to take care of theirselfs and family members.

[Bigjoe33]

Earning below 100k in Nigeria is not a choice for many graduate, where's the job? We all fighting for a better Nigeria so when post like this about blaming the citizens I just get annoyed. I understand the op very well, I agree with the point concerning citizens not working to meet the standard yet putting all the blame on Nigerians is not the best way

Oops! Not that exactly. I think the OP is more concerned on the fact that even when we know that there is no job in the country and the government isn't doing well, that some citizens still sits idle without going out to look for things to do and better there lives. The OP is more concerned on people going to sort themselves out and not depend on government work that may not some at all.

@Charles -Tim mentioned other skills one can learn to change our financial situation, and we should go and grab them, because our money is now nothing because of inflation. Out country is no longer a place where you would sit and relax, waiting for Jobs. I think it's a challenge for guys to get up and get going. We must find out hands doing something. Money must be made..

[Silikiem]

Many people might get offended from this topic. But it's the truth. This economy cannot carry 50k salary, high cost of transportation alone will finish the money and you will be left with peanut, so how do you survive? We are in 2026 and your smart phone is your company, people make 200k from tiktok, editing, selling thrift on Whatsapp. If you still earn 70k it's your fault for refusing to grow. Pride is killing many, Graduate will not do cleaning job, will not learn barbing, will not sell market but will stay hungry and be asking for 2k because of certificate. The economy left low income behind, 100k in 2020 is now 40k value. If your income has not increased, you have really deprived yourself from earning more. Stop managing poverty, you can't build that future you dreamt of with low income, you need to upgrade your skills, expand your source of income, if you earn less than 100k today it's a choice, not a condition.

But do you think that if our so called politicians, government and leaders have actually taken the issue of employment serious and creating job opportunities especially for graduates, will it be possible for a graduate to go about looking for a cleaning job to do after spending years in high institutions studying a particular discipline and graduated very well. The amount of wealth in this country is enough to serve everyone in Nigeria even those without a job but our so called leaders are using it to enrich themselves and their families alone. I feel sad seeing graduates looking for a cleaning job to do. The Government have failed to provide employment opportunities for the people, if not there wouldn’t be any need for all this kind of conversation regarding graduates.

[ArabBTC]

This topic is a clear reality of today’s Nigeria, things have really fallen apart, money has completely lost value, people are finding it extremely difficult to survive, i even feel for anyone that wants to survive with white collar jobs this days in Nigeria because how will you cope with the high economic meltdown, except for those in the healthcare that manages to earn slightly better or those that have opportunities probably because of their godfathers to be employed in oil sector, apart from such people the rest are actually suffering.

Even a 200k salary is not enough to feed and take care of you and your family in today Nigeria, let alone a 100k salary, before mid of the month you must have spent that entire salary and even borrowed, of which once they pay you the next month you will start to service debts, how much will you spend on transportation to work and other places, how much would you use for feeding, what about clothing, so you see depending on salary is really unreasonable in Nigeria currently, except such a person wants to suffer.

If you want to defeat this current Nigeria economic hardship, you either struggle to do more than one job or save up with your little income to start up a business, even if it is a P.O.S business to support your income, don’t despise any additional source of income no matter how small, like me some years back i opened a small panting company were i gathered painters in form of a network, and used them anytime am called for painting, i was making additional income from it and used it to support my salary, but trying to survive just on your salary in Nigeria is actually suicidal.

[Majestic-milf]

 You bin start your topic well and e bin dey make sense untill you add where pride go hook some people to the point say them no go fit pick up cleaner job and now I dey ask how such a job fit sustain you..mind you, I no dey look down on any means of living but nah how you start the topic make me follow you like this.
 We all know say the economy dey show us shege and our leaders no dey help matters but as we dey age wey technology don stand strong, nah for us to take advantage of the smartphones we get and instead of person to dey burn data dey watch reels wey no go pay, nah to use am dey cash out dey take support the physical jobs wey dey do rather than to fold hand dey sidan look.
 

[Tonimez]

Pride is killing many, Graduate will not do cleaning job, will not learn barbing, will not sell market but will stay hungry and be asking for 2k because of certificate.

This economy cannot carry 50k salary, high cost of transportation alone will finish the money and you will be left with peanut

And yet, you brought up "cleaning" As an option?

Stop managing poverty, you can't build that future you dreamt of with low income,

So, how can cleaning and Barbie help you?

The OP has a good concept but I don't know if behind his thoughts he is thinking in the direction of Hardwork above smart work which is the only justification for listing barbing and cleaning in that list for graduates. The Nigerian situation is of a particular concern because back in 2018/2019 I remember people still survived on #19800 stipends paid by the federal government even though they were left with no savings. Nowadays, noodles alone is taking up almost 20k. If you consider cleaning jobs for a graduate, I don't think you can see any cleaning job that will pay you 100k except you will travel out for the cleaning job.

A graduate should have a wider interest to channel his energy on. Ai contents are making waves now and also almost every discipline has a remote job you can find in the online space.

I will also say that there's no real lazy Nigerian, it's the economy and opportunities that make people appear to be lazy. Some people that have seen opportunities hide them away from people who need it or make the condition too difficult for others to learn.

[Yablee0]

Internet have made life easy for our youths because you can be a freelancer, or a writer. Skit is giving money now and there's no need to fold your hands doing nothing. I know of someone who couldn't meet up with his transportation, he left the job and started doing something else. It doesn't make sense for a graduate to be a security only if the salary is from 100k.

Indeed the internet has created numerous opportunities that our so called government couldn't creat for the past years. People now live good life with the help of Facebook earnings through some useful content, through TikTok, YouTube etc. More people in our society has now taken advantage of the system and most of them has built fortune with it. However, I know its not all that have the idea or brain in all of these Internet stuffs but with the way things are going in this our country, I think it is worth paying attention to because even if you wait till eternity for the government to do what they're supposed to do, it will still be a total waste of time.

So instead of us mostly graduate, to be waiting all year's, waiting for that white collar job that is no where to be find, it's better we take advantage of the digital world that can give you a good life. People are learning skills online every day. As a matter fact, there are just too much to achieve on the internet if you pay more time to it .

[Opiate32]

It is not fair to say everyone earning below this amount is refusing to grow, truly with the current state of the country it is advisable that you keep learning, improve on any skill of your choice so that you can get better opportunities. It is not everyone that has the opportunity or even the freedom to take financial risk. A lot of people are working day in day out, raising their families and doing everything they can, yet what they earn at the end of every month still can not keep up with the cost of living.
We should also consider that if everyone decides to leave this small pay jobs for a better opportunity, who then are we going to leave the job for? We still need teachers, cleaners,  drivers and  their work doesn’t become u unimportant because the economy doesn’t reward them properly.
If you are saying it’s the persons problem for earning small amount, then at what point do we stop telling everyone to find another source of income and ask why the salary they get from their main work is not enough to live on?

[Africolo]

Many people might get offended from this topic. But it's the truth. This economy cannot carry 50k salary, high cost of transportation alone will finish the money and you will be left with peanut, so how do you survive? We are in 2026 and your smart phone is your company, people make 200k from tiktok, editing, selling thrift on Whatsapp. If you still earn 70k it's your fault for refusing to grow. Pride is killing many, Graduate will not do cleaning job, will not learn barbing, will not sell market but will stay hungry and be asking for 2k because of certificate. The economy left low income behind, 100k in 2020 is now 40k value. If your income has not increased, you have really deprived yourself from earning more. Stop managing poverty, you can't build that future you dreamt of with low income, you need to upgrade your skills, expand your source of income, if you earn less than 100k today it's a choice, not a condition.

I think this is a very good topic because it will enlighten others and help them to get a skill in case they don't have one, no one should wait for the government to create employment opportunities before they can actually engage themselves in doing something to survive, besides Nigeria has gone beyond mere having a certificate before one can get a Job, it requires the skills and the problems you can solve with your hands and ideas now not necessarily a certificate.

Even some salary earners that are receiving the 200k monthly can barely survive because the prices of food is very high in the market and the money doesn't have much value compared to the way it was 10 years ago. We just have to diversify and be creative in other to survive in this country. It can only be a lazy Youth that will see the level of hardship in the country and not find a skill and learn so he can be using that skill to survive.

[Female King]

Many people might get offended from this topic. But it's the truth. This economy cannot carry 50k salary, high cost of transportation alone will finish the money and you will be left with peanut, so how do you survive? We are in 2026 and your smart phone is your company, people make 200k from tiktok, editing, selling thrift on Whatsapp. If you still earn 70k it's your fault for refusing to grow. Pride is killing many, Graduate will not do cleaning job, will not learn barbing, will not sell market but will stay hungry and be asking for 2k because of certificate. The economy left low income behind, 100k in 2020 is now 40k value. If your income has not increased, you have really deprived yourself from earning more. Stop managing poverty, you can't build that future you dreamt of with low income, you need to upgrade your skills, expand your source of income, if you earn less than 100k today it's a choice, not a condition.

Actually most of the graduate in Nigeria now are regretting why they wasted their time and money studying when there is not employment opportunities for them, the time spent in school should have been what they would have use to grow some business because it actually feel shamefully seeing a graduate to be doing some cleaning jobs where they will get paid pinnut, to survive well in Nigeria now you need to earn high and also have many sources of income, but as a graduate instead of just folding hands waiting for a better paying job it's better to start up with something even if the amount might be low in time coming it might go high.

[Giwagi56]

Many people might get offended from this topic. But it's the truth. This economy cannot carry 50k salary, high cost of transportation alone will finish the money and you will be left with peanut, so how do you survive? We are in 2026 and your smart phone is your company, people make 200k from tiktok, editing, selling thrift on Whatsapp. If you still earn 70k it's your fault for refusing to grow. Pride is killing many, Graduate will not do cleaning job, will not learn barbing, will not sell market but will stay hungry and be asking for 2k because of certificate. The economy left low income behind, 100k in 2020 is now 40k value. If your income has not increased, you have really deprived yourself from earning more. Stop managing poverty, you can't build that future you dreamt of with low income, you need to upgrade your skills, expand your source of income, if you earn less than 100k today it's a choice, not a condition.

I agree with you with everything you said, everything you said is about how a person should know how to live in this 2026, we are the world where if you did not grow up and do like others you will remain where you are, but we should not also forget that not everyone will make it through those things you mentioned like Tiktok and other online stuff, you can make money from it does not mean that another person will also earn from it, there are many things that we can to live a good life, the reason why i said that it is not everybody that will make it through what you said is because not all of us can do what people are doing and get followers and engagement, everyone has the way to make it in life.

[Proty]

I believe that it is possible for those that isn't comfortable with their financial situation to do something about it by either learning a skill , trade, or finding a new job in order to be able to increase their income. There are certainly people that are not growing financially because they have not done anything or put any effort to improve their financial situation, especially some graduates that because of ego they may not want to learn a skill or even do any minor job to raise their pays. I think it is best for someone that is earning below #100k to start a business or learn a good skill that will be fetching them extra money.