Each morning, when Nigerian men take to the streets in search of a living, it is for different reasons, some of which are quite unusual.
Though asking a person why he strives to earn a living seems like a simple question, many of those who spoke with our correspondent in a week-long survey, gave answers that ranged from the meaningful and touching to the most comical.
Such struggling is popularly referred to as ‘hustling’ and a good percentage of the married men who were asked the question said it was simply because of their immediate family; wives and children.
One such man, a taxi driver who gave his name simply as Rahman, said with two wives and six children as well as an economy that is “not smiling”, it would be a sin for him not to hustle.
“Bros, if I don’t hustle, my children may grow up not knowing me as their father. If you hear a woman calling you ‘olowo ori mi (in Yoruba language, meaning ‘the one who paid my bride-price’), it is because you can put food on the table.
“The day you cease to go out in the morning and bring money home in the evening, that praise-singing changes.
“This is the situation we have found ourselves. Every kobo you make as a responsible man, you must first think of your family.
“It is only when they are satisfied that you begin to remember that you have some extended family members somewhere,” Rahman, whose two children are in higher education, revealed.
Ugochukwu Eze, a businessman in Lagos, explained that men hustle for different reasons ranging from the need to love and satisfy one’s family to the need to retain some pride.
A frustrated unemployed graduate
According to Eze, it is difficult to find a rich or wealthy man who is not proud.
“Many rich men, even though they have enough, would continue to hustle because they want to retain their proud positions in the society.
“As you are now (referring to naij.com’s reporter), if you come across your friend and you realise that you have been more successful than him, there is this level of pride that suddenly overcomes you. That is one major reason men hustle.
“I’m an Igbo man. And I can tell you that most of my people work hard and hustle enough so that they can have enough to display in their villages at Christmas and other celebrations.
“Apart from this fact, I hustle to save for the rainy day. Most times, issues come when one is broke. So it is better to save,” he said.
When asked why he was hustling, Adewale Kunle, a commercial bus conductor operating from the Toll Gate area of Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway to Oshodi, said hustling was part of living.
“There is no way you can live, especially in Lagos, without hustling,” he said.
“I make between N2,500 and N3,000 daily. I give to my mum from it and spend the rest with my friends every evening,” Adewale said.
If Adewale spends his own money with friends, that is not the same with his boss, Yemi, who told our correspondent that a man hustles simply because of women.
“See, a man is nothing without a woman in this life. If you see any man pursuing money, it is just because of the love for women.
“Every man knows he would not earn respect from any woman without money. So no matter what people tell you, it all boils down to money,” he said adding that the worst calamity that can befall a man is to be hit by a financial crisis.
Dipo Muyiwa, a commercial motorcyclist said: “The world is a sweet place and to be comfortable, you must be able to make money and spend on what you want.
“If you don’t have money and you cannot work to have it, then you are doomed.”
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