Victor Ugochukwu Okonkwo @victorugochukwu

I'm usually a very quiet person, a calm person, and everyone around me knew this. But today, something happened in our WhatsApp group that completely changed the atmosphere. Someone posted that we had to pay an extra 3,000 Naira after we had already paid 5,000 Naira for the month's NEPA bills. Electricity bills shouldn’t consume our salaries, but it seemed like this latest charge was digging far deeper into our pockets than we had anticipated.

When I saw the message from our gatekeeper, it ignited a frustrated fire within me that I hadn’t experienced before. I quickly vented out my feelings and told him that we weren't going to pay anything more. I knew I sounded a little rough, but I didn’t intend to be rude. However, to my surprise, he responded with a very rude text that I did not take lightly.

After he responded very rudely to my text, I didn’t relent. I vented out all the errors he had been dismissing in the group chat and pointed out his nonchalant attitude. I highlighted how untrustworthy he had become, expressing my disappointment that he could just come in and drop a critical message, treating us as though we were fools easily just followed his instructions, no matter how ridiculous they were.

To my surprise, many members of the group rallied behind me, expressing their frustrations too. The atmosphere became charged with a sense of unity as we all voiced our discontent. Later this evening, he sent me a direct message, apologizing for his earlier response. But deep down, I felt that the right approach would have been for him to address the entire group.

So, I got a very bad haircut from one barber like that. I can’t tell exactly what was wrong with his hands, but he messed up my hair in a way that made me question if he was even trained. Discovering this fact, he tried to correct it but ended up making it even worse! He kept thumping on my head nervously, his hands shaking as he tried to fix the disaster he had created.

The chairs in the barbershop was under pressure, suffering under the weight of my anxiety as I watched chunks of hair fall around me.
After what felt like an eternity, he stepped back and proudly proclaimed, “The end of III world war"

I looked in the mirror and could barely recognize myself! It was as if my hair had been attacked by.. What's the name of that machine that they use to cut grass?

The other customers in the shop tried to control their laughter, but I saw right through their eyes and couldn’t help but join in. As I paid the barber and left, I vowed to never take my regular barber for granted again.

I branched along the market to buy a face cap that would cover my shame—my hair looked like it had just survived a crash. Well, I bought the cap, put it on, and started walking majestically. At least the side of my hair that showed was somewhat manageable, unlike my hairline at the forehead.

But then, unfortunately, as I was passing by a group of girls, I noticed a familiar face among them. She reached out to me for a handshake, and as she drew closer for a hug, she mistakenly knocked off my cap! The girls erupted into horrid laughter that left me in shock. But I still managed to comport myself.

It was my first time visiting a five-star hotel. I had always heard about all this big five-star hotels from distant friends or seen them in movies, but about two days ago, I finally had the chance to go with my friends to a particular hotel. They served some exquisite French dishes and various foreign foods that I had never encountered before since wey dey born me.

Out of curiosity, I decided to try the prawns. I later learned they were actually giant crayfish, but I am sure what to call them, the name is nowhere to be rembered in my head. I went for the giant prawns, thinking they would be thick and crispy and dry like the normal crayfish, but to my surprise, they were incredibly soft and fresh with a life changing taste.

They tasted just like fried fish, but even better, and I loved every single bite of them. The accompanying stew was fantastic, seasoned perfectly with just the right amount of salt and spices. It was my first experience tasting foreign foods, and I still can’t remember what it was called, but it left a lasting impression on me.

I just remembered it's name- SHRIMPS!
I had to pay some several notes of 1k but then my greedy friends who opted for more sumptuous meals have better explaining to do.

I have been very good friends from 100 level. That's my first year. Till now, we are still friends. But recently, I decided to elevate this friendship into something else. Because this girl always told me about her feelings about me and how she thinks she wanted to take it serious. But me, I'm a very intentional guy. Not to talk more of myself, but I'm intentional. I do not want any relationship that I cannot picture in a family setting. This girl, I do not trust her moves. I do not like the way she behaves. So I just have kept her in a platonic zone for a very long time. And I never wanted a relationship until she was very serious about it. So I decided that we would talk about it after meeting up.

On our first meet up, she was steadily on her phone chatting, chatting. And then there was this chat. A name of a man appeared. I wanted to take a peek and she hid the phone.

It was very upsetting. Normally, she's a very open friend to me, and I knew immediately that there was something up with the chat, so I demanded to see it. It wasn't me trying to be possessive or acting jealous; I didn’t mean to peek or invade her privacy. It was just the name that captivated me, and how she was constantly hiding the phone, moving it up and down, trying to shield the contents while she typed. That increased my interest.

I told her to show it to me if she had a clear conscience. Remember, I was supposed to talk about the relationship between us on this day. But after that incident, when she refused to show me the chat for about 20 minutes while she fiddled with her phone, deleting texts or whatever she was doing, it became hard to ignore the red flags.

Eventually, she decided to come and show me, but by then, I had already made up my mind. The thoughts of a relationship were completely canceled for me. I couldn't move forward with someone I couldn't trust, and that was it.

was all set to make my special Sunday rice. After rinsing my pot and was about to get started started, I opened the lid of the pot ready to pour in the rice in it when i saw a shocking thing in the pot. A wall gecko was sitting inside my pot.

I couldn't believe my eyes as I stood frozen in place for what felt like five whole minutes, just staring at the creature. My mind was swimming with several questions. How did this gecko get into my pot? Did it sneak in while the lid was kept aside while I was rinsing the pot?

I have heard stories about war geckos before. Some said they were poisonous, and I wondered if this could mean something spiritual. Was there a reason it chose to land in my pot?

On a second thought, it was Sunday and I couldn't let it ruin my Sunday. So, after a quick prayer to keep the bad vibes away, I carefully removed the gecko from the pot. With determination, I rinsed the pot again and again. I didn’t just rinse it, I scrubbed it hard with my iron sponge, making sure it was as clean and shiny as possible.

The pot was back on the stove in no time.
A promise of a good meal was made again as my pot heated. Didn't let just a little lizard interfere with my Sunday plans.

Living away from your parents can be very, very hard. So when I was returning back to where I stayed alone as an independent child, I didn't return with foodstuffs and all that. I was just trying to hustle off, you know, without time. I had not much time. I was actually purchasing food until about last week when I got a surprise review from one of my siblings.

As I emptied the contents of the bag, I met about 3-4 tubers of yam, no vex say I no remember the exact number, e get why. Nothing gladdened my days as much. Can you believe that throughout this year, I have not had yam? I am very serious about it, and many will doubt this, but this is the truth.

Immediately I saw these yams, I quickly went and refilled my gas cylinder, cut the yam into pieces, and cooked a very delicious yam and beans. That day was my birthday, I couldn't lie.
As I'm writing this now, it's just one tuber leftwhich I'll be slicing up for some fresh yam and oil tomorrow mor-mor

I remember writing in one of my stories that, no matter how small the hustle is, you should always put in your best effort and keep pushing forward.

Recently, I was invited to feature during my faculty week, and I was given the honor of capturing every perfect moment through pictures, to takd pictures of scenes that would be great for magazines and visually appealing to everyone.

When we negotiated the price, I didn't expect to make a significant amount of money. I had already set my mind on a particular amount that I thought was fair. However, to my surprise, I was paid before the event even took place.

Being paid in advance was not the surprise or the miracle.
Throughout the week, each day, I got paid to take private pictures asides from the regular group pictures. People who had wanted themselves alone or with a special selection of people had to pay from their pockets.
Guess what? I made more money from these private shoots than the money that I was paid from the faculty and I give all thanks to God.

I never knew that owning an iPhone could also earn someone extra cash until I took an interest in taking photos of people and monetizing it.

I had announced in the social group that I had some talent for snapping pictures with my iPhone. It was supposed to be just a casual thing; it wasn’t meant to be very serious. But then, I started getting messages from people saying they needed a photo shoot for their birthdays or just wanted new pictures to see my skills.

In just 2 days, about 8 of them from my class group booked me. That meant I made about 14,000 Naira in 2 days! There’s nothing as surprising as that, and I’m happier than ever. I’m even going for another photo shoot tomorrow to take pictures for some birthday girl.

People you should all believe in your hustle no matter how little it seem.