In a recent interview with Teju Babyface, Nollywood actor Joseph Benjamin revealed how he sold all his belongings to relocate to the US for a fresh start and ended up as an Uber driver.
He spoke about how he left Nigeria thinking he would get high paying gigs and continue living life only to be hit with hardship a month later after he was unable to pay the bills.
"I got here off of a promise that there were some gigs outlined for me to come and do. So I thought I was going to have a soft landing getting in here. I packed everything from Nigeria and bought a one-way ticket and came here.
I was put in a house, a well furnished house and all of that stuff. Two days later, the person who I was supposed to work on that deal with then said to me, 'Those that are financing have pulled out. We have a little bit of an issue. Things are going to slow down'.
So he said, 'From next month, you're going to start paying the rent of this house.' So I said 'okay, I'm not earning any money, what do I do?' I had nowhere to go. Nothing to turn to. My phone was buzzing like, 'when are you coming back to Nigeria, we have this gig for you."
During that period, all he had was just $1500 and he asked himself, "How do I get a ticket to go back to Nigeria?" He continued, "My life prior to then was so disorganized in the sense that I didn't have a proper saving culture.
All the money I was making in Nigeria...my life was a mess. Here I am, I sold everything worth in Nigeria. I sold my car, gave out about 90% of all my belongings, my possessions in Nigeria."
He said he was so optimistic about traveling abroad that he had no idea that things would turn out the way they did.
He said he had to resort to being an Uber driver when there was no other option. He recounts how he drove many Nigerians who recognized him as a celebrity and would ask him for selfies.
"I've had a lot of experiences. There was one with one woman who called her husband and said, 'Do you know who my driver is? Joseph Benjamin' And she ended up taking a picture with me. She even called her husband. I spoke to her husband on the phone.
Some of them take pictures with me. I even had one who said to me, 'bros you go make am. Bros I love your life.' They get inspired by my life when I tell them about my journey so far.", He explained.
Video credit: Twitter @GistReel @jesuiskingdan1
He spoke about how he left Nigeria thinking he would get high paying gigs and continue living life only to be hit with hardship a month later after he was unable to pay the bills.
"I got here off of a promise that there were some gigs outlined for me to come and do. So I thought I was going to have a soft landing getting in here. I packed everything from Nigeria and bought a one-way ticket and came here.
I was put in a house, a well furnished house and all of that stuff. Two days later, the person who I was supposed to work on that deal with then said to me, 'Those that are financing have pulled out. We have a little bit of an issue. Things are going to slow down'.
So he said, 'From next month, you're going to start paying the rent of this house.' So I said 'okay, I'm not earning any money, what do I do?' I had nowhere to go. Nothing to turn to. My phone was buzzing like, 'when are you coming back to Nigeria, we have this gig for you."
During that period, all he had was just $1500 and he asked himself, "How do I get a ticket to go back to Nigeria?" He continued, "My life prior to then was so disorganized in the sense that I didn't have a proper saving culture.
All the money I was making in Nigeria...my life was a mess. Here I am, I sold everything worth in Nigeria. I sold my car, gave out about 90% of all my belongings, my possessions in Nigeria."
He said he was so optimistic about traveling abroad that he had no idea that things would turn out the way they did.
He said he had to resort to being an Uber driver when there was no other option. He recounts how he drove many Nigerians who recognized him as a celebrity and would ask him for selfies.
"I've had a lot of experiences. There was one with one woman who called her husband and said, 'Do you know who my driver is? Joseph Benjamin' And she ended up taking a picture with me. She even called her husband. I spoke to her husband on the phone.
Some of them take pictures with me. I even had one who said to me, 'bros you go make am. Bros I love your life.' They get inspired by my life when I tell them about my journey so far.", He explained.
Video credit: Twitter @GistReel @jesuiskingdan1