I am a mom of three and an entrepreneur. I first started a business in my undergraduate years. It’s been a while. Initially, around 2022, I was into selling drinks before I ventured into real estate. I’ve come a long way as a small business owner. I have laid my hand on a couple of businesses that didn’t turn out well.
When we look at the Nigerian situation, no matter the degree you have, if you don’t go into business, it’s like a waste of time. Looking at the situation of the country now, everybody needs to get something done. Everyone needs to get something done to make a living. So, going into business shouldn’t be something to contemplate. It’s a must for every Nigerian. That was my drive.
Before 2022, I ran my business remotely from my house. In 2021, I had my last baby and I was having postpartum depression, which was taking a toll on me. I discovered that I was often alone in the house and had nobody to discuss with. So, I raised capital to open a small store where I could sell wholesale. That led me to open my shop around February 2022.
In less than one month, I had to close the place because my aim of opening it to at least get people to relate with and help me overcome depression wasn’t achieved. Just a week into the opening, some law enforcement officers came, saying they were from the local government tax office. This was in Ikorodu. I said I don’t know about this and I just opened my shop just last weekend. They should give me time so I can at least get my feet together and make the payments. And they were like, oh, they are giving me two days. If I don’t make my payment in two days, they are going to close the place. I pleaded that they give me some time, even if it’s a month or something.
Within those two days, they came back and said, “If you don’t want to lock this place up, we are going to.” I was trying to heal, and they were creating another problem for me. At some point, a lady came to tell me that if I’d done normal, the boss would not have attempted to lock it. She said if I tipped him, he would give me some time to make the payment. She said that’s the only way she can help me. I don’t like tipping. I like making my payments. The money I know I am going to pay, why not just make the payment if I have it instead of tipping (cutting corners)?
The week after, I locked the place up and sold the drinks to a friend. I lost the money I used to rent it. It was a serious thing. My shop rent, then, with agent’s fee, was over ₦200,000. The rent expired because the owner refused to refund my money. I wasn’t able to give the place to someone because it was against the agreement I signed with them.
I have other things I want to do, but since then, I have not been able to put myself together to open another shop because of the issue of arrest from local government and law enforcement agents.
As narrated by: Habibat Ogundipe (Ikorodu, Lagos).
This snippet is published as part of the series, The Art of Taxing Poverty.
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