Looking at the glamorous lifestyles celebrities live, who would have
thought that they once had menial jobs just to get by! That backstory is
usually unknown and untold. Here NET chronicles ten Nigerian celebrities
and the weird jobs they did before fame came along.
1. Mr Ibu was a butcher and a hair stylist
John Okafor wasn’t always a comic that made
everybody laugh. At a point in his life he sold firewood to make a
living. Later on, he doubled his hustle- becoming a butcher and a hair
stylist.
2. Joseph Benjamin was a bus conductor
The dashing actor and model once worked hung on a bus and shouted ‘Ojuelegba, Ojuelegba!’ He said during an interview ‘I moved from being a bus conductor, to being a security guard, a waiter, worked in a Bakery, sold shoes at Balogun and then moved into IT before I began my career as an actor.’
3. Harrysong was a fish seller
The singer and songwriter told NET TV that he once sold fish with his grandmother in the village.
4. Timaya was a ‘plantain boy’
Inetimi Odom was once a plantain seller- as he told in his song ‘Plantain Boy’.
5. Sanyeri was a shoe cobbler
The Yoruba comic once said in an interview that he once a shoe cobbler,
who used the proceeds from his hustle to attend drama auditions.
6. Small Doctor was an okadaman
The singer was once a motorcyclist (okadaman) and told NET that since
he had his big break, he’s only ridden a motorcycle once. Oh and he
also dabbled into a little pilfering. But he was caught and beaten up.
He never stole again.
7. Tonto Dike used to beg for food in uni
In spite of her family’s wealth, the Nollywood actress claimed she was
once a beggar. According to her, university life was so hard for her
that she used to beg from colleagues and strangers just to feed.
8. Banky W was a sales boy
To raise money for studio time as a college student in the United State, Mr W was a sales boy at a departmental store.
9. Patoranking used to sell rat poison
As Patoranking took home the award for Next Rated at the 2014
Headies, he revealed that only a couple of years prior; he was selling
rat poison on the highways of Lagos.
10. Mercy Johnson was a housemaid
Before becoming a successful movie star, Mercy Johnson had a difficult
background- she was a housemaid whose family lived in an uncompleted
building.