Nigerians don鈥檛 just want to be paid; they want to be paid well. But earning a good salary is not a given. According to the 糖心原创 State of Income Report, three in four salary earners make less than 鈧200,000 a month, making a well-paying job something many people can鈥檛 afford to take for granted.
For those lucky enough to land one, a high-paying job can make up for long hours, a stressful work environment, difficult bosses, and everything else work throws at them. If the money is good, surely it鈥檚 worth putting up with hell鈥 right?
These Nigerians don鈥檛 think so. In this story, they share why they walked away from high-paying jobs, what they chose to do next, and whether leaving the money behind was worth it.
鈥淚 fell in love with my boss.鈥 鈥 Kayode*, 35, M.
I鈥檝e worked in investment since 2013. After my first role, I job-hopped for a few years before finally landing a senior risk analyst role in 2019 that paid me 鈧700k/month.
The work was boring, but I was good at it. However, my boss, Diana*, made things difficult for me.
I like strong women, and she was one of the toughest women I鈥檇 ever met, but she was still fair and kind when we deserved it. I didn鈥檛 even realise when I fell for her.
I鈥檓 not talking about a small crush either. I hadn鈥檛 liked someone in years, so my thing for her was intense. I thought about her all day and did everything I could to talk to her, even though I kept it professional. It got to a point where my best friend told me what I felt wasn鈥檛 normal.
I soon found out she was married, and the jealousy I felt was insane. Even though I knew my feelings weren鈥檛 normal, that didn鈥檛 make them any less real.
I became depressed, and my work started to suffer. This only made things harder because she started asking me if I was okay and if she could do anything to help. I even came close to paying for therapy.
After a year in the company, the impact of my crush was too much on my mental health, so I found another job paying only 鈧500k/month, and I pivoted. I stayed at that new job and was promoted recently, so I鈥檓 back to earning 鈧700k/month.
Looking back, what I felt for my boss wasn’t normal. It must have been spiritual.
鈥淚 chose sleeping over a career.鈥 鈥 Mide*, 26, F.
I finished NYSC in 2022 and, for months, I struggled to find any jobs worth my time or talent. I’d started to give up when my friend sent me a job offer for a talent acquisition officer at the beginning of 2023. The salary was 鈧650k/month.
I was a late applicant, so I didn’t think I’d get the job. Plus, who would pay an inexperienced entry-level hire 鈧650k? But to my surprise, I got the job.
At first, everything was great. I only had to go to the office two times a week, and my boss seemed chill compared to other Nigerian bosses. However, at least three people left in my first month. That should have been an indicator that something was wrong, but I just thought they鈥檇 gotten better opportunities.
I soon learnt what the problem was: no one was sleeping.
My hours were meant to be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but to complete the sheer amount of work we had, many of us would wake up at 7 a.m. and work for hours long after the sun went down. My job took over my life. I had to stop visiting friends because I used weekends to try and lessen my workload. Even my mum, who never lets me skip out on hard work, said the company wanted to kill me before my time.
My final straw was when I got malaria and asked my boss if I could take the day off, but he said, 鈥淎re you so sick that you can鈥檛 work when you come back from the hospital?鈥 I resigned the following weekend after just five months on the job.
Now, I run a thrift business, and it鈥檚 doing well. Ironically, I used the money I saved from my first job to start it, so I guess that means it all worked out.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 understand the job.鈥 鈥 Ifeanyi*, 55, M.
Before COVID, I sold cars, and I made really good money, above 鈧500k a month. But COVID affected my business, and it never fully recovered.
I wanted my family to keep living the life we were used to, but I never wanted to work in an office. My daughter introduced me to online jobs, but I didn’t understand most of them. The only one that made some sense to me was being a virtual assistant.
My daughter took a virtual assistant course for me, and I started applying for jobs with the certificate she got. A few months later, in 2023, I got my first job for a Kenyan who paid me the equivalent of 鈧1.2m a month. I told myself I would learn on the job.
Unfortunately, navigating a laptop was tougher than I thought. At least three times, I scheduled something for my boss on the wrong day, and my output slowed because I had to do extensive research to understand how to handle my tasks.
My boss was patient, especially since he was my agemate and understood why I struggled, but at a point, it was just undignified to stay there.
I quit six months after I started. I鈥檓 surprised I wasn鈥檛 even fired before then. Before I left, however, I recommended my daughter to him, and she now works there.
I鈥檓 still trying to get my business running, but I think I might pivot into farming.
鈥淣o one liked me.鈥 鈥 Yetunde*, 24, F.
Immediately after I graduated from uni about four years ago, my mum鈥檚 friend got me a position at her bank. I didn’t have a proper job title; I just worked as my mum鈥檚 friend鈥檚 assistant. They paid me 鈧300k/month, and the role came with free lunch. It might not seem like much, but I was 21, barely did anything all day, and I used that extra time to build my copywriting business.
It was great. I was always going out with my friends and paying for everyone. Copywriting was also paying me about 鈧70k a month, which was a nice extra.
However, there was one big problem at my office: All my coworkers were much older than me, and none of them liked me.
I don鈥檛 know if it was because I was young, or they were frustrated that I got the role via nepotism, or if my boss being really nice to me and then really hard on them was too much, but these grown men and women began to bully me.
They would laugh at me when I tried to make contributions during meetings, then insult my generation as Nigeria’s fools. I won鈥檛 lie, I enabled them by laughing along, but only because I wanted them to like me.
One day, when I went on my lunch break, a particularly nasty co-worker told me all I do is eat, and I should continue because I鈥檒l soon be even more obese. I鈥檝e always struggled with my weight, so that really got to me. Another time, I鈥檇 just done red braids, and my boss said it was fine, but my co-workers held a grudge against it. They would pull my braids and tauntingly call me a nepo baby.
I stayed for about a year and a half, and most of that was because I did NYSC there, but the moment I finished my service year, I told my mum鈥檚 friend I wouldn鈥檛 go back. She begged me, telling me I was good at my job, but enough was enough,
Luckily for me, at this time I was earning about 鈧200k a month from copywriting. It was less than my previous earnings, but I didn鈥檛 mind one bit. Now I鈥檝e scaled it up and earn in dollars.
鈥淚 chose my husband over my job, and I regret it.鈥 鈥擡zinne*, 44, F.
In 2000, I got a job as a receptionist at a new private school. Back then, my salary was 鈧7k a month, which was good money for me.
The Head of School (HOS) and I quickly became good friends. Our school was like a family, so a lot of us who started with her got raises and promotions very fast.
That was my case. I was good with children, so I was soon promoted to teacher, and later to head of the math department. It was great. By 2020, I was earning 鈧700k a month.
While I saw my growth as a good thing, my husband was disturbed by it. I got married a year before I became a receptionist, and at the time, I was only supposed to work until my husband got on his feet. After that, I鈥檇 quit. But I fell in love with being at that school.
Once I started earning 鈧700k, my husband and his family began hounding me to quit, saying my husband would take care of me. My daughter and colleagues begged me not to listen to them, but the pressure became too much, and I left my job after 20 years.
True to his word, my husband takes care of me, and I lack nothing, but I miss my job so much. I鈥檓 still friends with the HOS, and she has told me that whenever I want to come back, there鈥檚 always a place for me, but I don鈥檛 think I鈥檓 brave enough to go against my husband鈥檚 wishes.
鈥淢y boss was weird.鈥 鈥擬una*, 29, F.
In 2021, I got a job as an evaluation specialist for an NGO. It was 鈧500k/month with healthcare and other benefits.
I loved that job. The people were nice, the pay was good at the time, and I was good at what I did. We were comfortable with each other, but my boss was鈥 too comfortable.
During meetings, she would ask us what we did over the weekend; if we told her, she鈥檇 say, 鈥淭hat can’t be all. Give me details.鈥 In the end, she was prying into people’s personal information. She did this so intensely that she even discovered my co-worker was having sex problems with her man.
During meetings, she would share those personal details and expect people to laugh with her. One time, she used a colleague’s mother鈥檚 death as an example in a training session. The colleague broke down in tears, so she told him to go to her office, and she would comfort him after the training.
I thought I could endure it for my pay, especially because I had a good chance of being promoted, but one day, my fianc茅 came to pick me up, and my boss saw him. Every day after that, she鈥檇 ask about him.
I never said anything, and this pissed her off. She started being passive-aggressive, saying I was keeping things from her.
I endured that crazy woman for two years before I quit without any prospects. Since then, I haven’t found another job I think I鈥檇 love as much as that one, but my husband takes care of me, so I鈥檓 comfortable for now.
鈥淪omeone died from stress鈥 鈥 Albert*, 40, M.
I worked as a corporate lawyer for most of my life until 2024, when I quit because a colleague died of stress.
The job I quit was at an international company, and I鈥檇 worked there for 10 years. Since only a few of my co-workers were Nigerian, we often rented a workspace together. One of them was Remi*.
We all worked long hours, even during weekends, and never took breaks. During lunch, everyone ate quickly so we could get back to work. Clients could also be hostile, and our bosses demanded perfection. The fast-paced environment worked for me because I do well in spaces where I don鈥檛 have time to overthink, but for Remi, it was a death sentence.
He was a decade older than me, and we weren鈥檛 anything beyond work friends, but I really cared for him. He wanted to be an artist, but he was working in law because, when he was younger, that made sense. But he hoped to pursue his dream one day.
However, Remi had long-standing health challenges, and the stress of our job made them worse. Any time he had to go to the hospital, my boss would joke on Zoom calls that the work would soon kill him.
Unfortunately, it did. One day, in 2023, he didn鈥檛 come to the workstation, so I called his wife. She told me he鈥檇 been hospitalised because of high blood pressure. He was dead within the hour.
I鈥檝e never lost someone, not even my elderly parents, so this hit extra hard. During our meeting, my boss mentioned his passing once; we had a minute of silence, and that was it. It was as if Remi had never worked for our company.
It broke me. I stayed another year, but after that I couldn鈥檛 do it. He gave his life to his job, and for what?
After I resigned, my wife supported us for a year while I figured out what I wanted to do next. I eventually became a legal management consultant for another international company at 鈧600k/month, and I鈥檓 still there today.
I鈥檓 getting paid way less than the 鈧1.3m I earned at my previous company, but I鈥檓 much happier. I didn鈥檛 even realise the stress was getting to me too. I now spend more time with my family, but Remi is always at the back of my mind.
I considered picking up painting as a hobby in his honour, but I鈥檓 not artistic.
