There’s a joke making rounds online recently about side hustles, and it is a question asking Nigerian women why they are “hustling like a bro.” Almost every woman has a side hustle. The “soft life” aspirational posts we make online don’t disguise the truth.
How did we get here? How is an average Nigerian woman juggling a full-time job and surviving the ghetto of running a business or a freelancing gig as a side hustle? This doesn’t include being a wife, a mother, or an unpaid therapist to everybody in her circle, and somehow she’s expected to look peng every time. At this point, every Nigerian woman deserves to be paid for being a woman. against all odds.
The Truth About Side-Hustles
You open your WhatsApp, and your colleague, who is in HR, is posting content for her perfume business. The head of admin is running a thriving thrift business online. That corp member serving in your office is also a micro-influencer. You don’t even need to ask why.
Besides people having dreams and aspirations, public transport now feels like a luxury, and the price of food is outrageous and heartbreaking. The standard of living is somewhere we never thought we would get to. Nobody is doing only one thing anymore. In fact, in Nigeria today, admitting you have just one stream of income feels almost irresponsible.
Somehow, almost every Nigerian woman now lives a double life. Signing up for platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, and other freelancing sites, even when the game is rigged against us as Nigerians.
But the real question is, are Nigerian women taking on so much out of ambition, or are we simply adapting to economic chaos like the resilient queens we’ve been forced to become?
Because there’s a clear difference between “Kindly find attached” and “Your order is on the way.”
There was a time when side hustles was a believable idea motivational speakers sold to us. Social media glorified entrepreneurs with color-coordinated planners, aesthetically packaged products, and captions about “multiple streams of income.”
“Make your money work for you!” The narrative sounds empowering. Aspirational.
One woman. Two jobs. Sometimes three.
Women are making money, securing the bag and refusing dependence. Financial independence gives women options. It allows a woman to leave situations women would’ve endured years ago because they had no money of their own. Nigerian women have heard enough stories of our mothers trapped in unhappy marriages, begging for housekeeping money like school students asking for money for their school party. Women genuinely want more for themselves.
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Having a 9-5 and a side hustle is not just survival. It’s freedom.
The freedom to buy your needs and wants without waiting for a man. The freedom to spoil themselves without guilt. The freedom to send money home and still afford to splurge on skincare. The freedom to say “I’m not interested” and actually mean it because hunger is not directing your decision-making. Living in a country where inflation is aggressive and the government is nonchalant, having a side hustle is no longer optional for women.
Money gives dignity.
Improvisation Without a Script
Truthfully, what exactly is one salary doing in this economy?
Salaries disappear faster than meat at a wedding. One minute your account balance looks decent. Next minute you are buying units of electricity, filling your car tank at a ridiculous amount, your landlord sends a “gentle reminder,” and suddenly you’re calculating if you can survive on oats and rice till next payday.
We live in an era of a ₦33,000 minimum wage and a ₦150,000 salary range. Imagine how people are struggling in this economy on the same pay that raised families in the past. Even women with “good jobs” are struggling quietly. The babes earning ₦250k are still sharing apartments. The ones on ₦500k are supporting siblings, parents, and sometimes one ambitious boyfriend that always has a business idea. Everybody is carrying somebody. And the worst part is a side hustle doesn’t guarantee wealth.
It can be exhausting to carry an unspoken expectation to contribute financially in a relationship but somehow still be a dutiful wife and mother without a break. With a side hustle, your weekend rest is now history, even as a single woman.
So, they improvise.
Nigerian women have always known how to improvise. Our mothers did it too before the era of social media and aesthetics. They too had side hustles. They sold fabrics, took catering jobs every weekend, and ran small stalls from the living room while they were secretaries, teachers, and civil servants.
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Many Nigerian women are not chasing luxury. They’re chasing stability. There’s a difference. However, we celebrate the hustle culture so much that we ignore burnout. Everyone is “booked and busy.” Everyone is monetizing every hobby. If you know how to braid hair, start a business. If you make good jollof rice, open a food page. If you’re funny online, become a content creator.
Despite everything, women continue to create opportunities out of thin air. We keep reinventing ourselves. If a woman loses her job today, by next month she’s selling scented candles and promoting them with clean Canva designs like a pro.
Which makes me wonder if the economy were kinder, would everybody still want two or three jobs? If basic comfort was attainable with one decent income, would women still willingly sacrifice sleep, weekends, and peace of mind for extra cash?
Yes, some people would. There are naturally ambitious women who genuinely enjoy building businesses and multiplying income streams. But many others wouldn’t want to drown juggling a day job and a side hustle.
Because the uncomfortable truth hidden beneath all the “CEO babe” aesthetics online is survival. Not every woman wants to deal with pressure disguised as hard work. Some women actually want balance. They want enough money from one stable source to live comfortably, rest properly, travel occasionally, and buy a pack of juice without feeling like they have made a bad financial decision.
Until then, Nigerian women will keep being resilient and adapting beautifully to impossible conditions.
Although, it’s also a little heartbreaking. It’s impressive. It’s inspiring.
