No village people story will prepare you for these grace to grass stories.
What did you hear about village people? If nothing, prepare to be well-informed of their meticulousness by the end of this read. Nigeria is full of hustlers hoping for a big break – what we like to call grass to grace stories. In fact, these stories bring the beautiful people of this country together.
But, what about the grace to grass stories? Never heard of those or did you say impossible? Allow me to introduce these three Nigerians who came full circle. They zoomed from grass to grace but parked at grass again. Get a chair please. Hmm, this shock can choke!
Patrick, 27
MMM ruined me. You’re probably familiar with all that happened back in 2016 when it crashed. Like a lot of people, I lost a huge sum of money and went into debt. I thought I was smart in the beginning but greed got us all. I started with 25k in March to test it. I immediately started cashing out and taking more and more risks.
As the end of the year was approaching, I decided to put all my gains and saving in for on almighty cash out. The plan was to buy land and save what was left. And with the way MMM operated then, I was expecting about a million naira from the 30% interest and 10% from each of my downlines.
When it crashed few weeks before Christmas, I thought I would run mad. My stupid guider was even giving me fake reassurance that it was because of massive withdrawals. That everything would be back to normal in January. Whether he was lying to me or also trying not to run mad, I’ll never know. All I know is my 700k was never recovered. Omo!!! my heart dey pain me all over again as I’m remembering.
Wilde, 25
For me it was a fall from the grace of friendship and a great opportunity. About a year after I graduated from university, my friend put in a good word for me in her company and I was shortlisted for a content manager job that paid 250k. I was already doing freelance writing while in school so I had experience in a way.
I was sent tasks in three different stages and completing it took a week of commitment. After the tests, I was offered employment. My identification, bank account and every other thing was set up.i can still remember the joy I felt when I got that employment offer. Making that much money so soon after graduating was a dream come true. I don’t know what came over me the next day.
I guess I was a little overwhelmed with the pressure of executing my first official task; would you believe I resigned the very next day? To make matters worse, my friend and I had a fall out following that which I regret just as much as fumbling the opportunity she got me. She was a really good friend who stuck her neck out for me and I haven’t gotten a job with that kind of pay ever since.
Cecelia, 23
Looking back I’d say I was trying to protect myself before he broke me. The relationship was too good to be true. I had gone through a horrible breakup few months before I met this guy. Like it felt I was with a sugar daddy but without the age difference. I got credit alerts on a steady, gifts delivery and good sex, He was actually the first guy I had phone sex with. I woke up one day and analyzed the whole thing. I felt if it was too good to be true then it probably was. I ghosted him and didn’t date for a while. When I tried the love thing again, the breakfast I was served was hot. One night I decided to check his Instagram, well you can guess what I saw… Married.
#PeopleTalk is a submissions segment for everyday people to talk straight about the twists and turns of everyday life. This edition features the grace to grass stories of three Nigerians.
