Nigeria has turned survival into a full-time job.
People wake up exhausted and sleep exhausted. Not because they are chasing luxury, but because they are fighting to survive another day.
One salary is no longer enough. People now juggle two, three, even four income streams just to stay afloat. A worker closes from their official job and immediately starts another hustle at night.
Small business owners are struggling under high fuel costs, unstable electricity, expensive goods, and low customer purchasing power. Many businesses are barely surviving. Others are shutting down quietly.
Young graduates roam the streets with certificates but no jobs. Skilled people remain unemployed while the cost of living keeps rising every month.
What many call “hard work” today is actually economic pressure. Nigerians are overworked, underpaid, mentally drained, and constantly anxious about bills, feeding, transport, and rent.
The painful part is that this lifestyle is now being glorified online as “grinding” and “hustling” when many people are actually operating in survival mode.