Before the glitz and glamour, some of our Nigerian celebrities had some crazy jobs most of us wouldn’t be caught pants down doing.
From Mercy Johnson who worked as a maid to John Okafor ‘Mr Ibu’ who was a butcher, hairdresser and firewood seller, below are 10 Nigerian celebrities with crazy jobs before stardom:
Nollywood actor, model, and voice over artiste Joseph Benjamin was once a bus conductor, bakery worker, security guard and shoe seller before he found fame.
He was once reported saying, “I’ve moved from being a bus conductor, security guard, waiter, worked in a Bakery, sold shoes at Balogun; then moved into IT before acting.”
Remember his popular song, ‘Plantain Boy’? Well, that was actually a true story about the singer’s struggles before hitting fame.
In 2000, while Don Jazzy was in London. His uncle had invited him to play the drums for the local church. He also gained employment at McDonalds and as a security guard.
According to him, he was embarrassed when nobody laughed but him.
Patoranking while collecting his Headies Next Rated award in 2014 revealed he was a former bricklayer and rat poison seller.
In an Instagram post sometime ago, the mum of one said, “Uni life waz so hard for me, handouts I could not afford I beg frm hand to hand jst to eat! Den wil be jeans @ alaba market if d jeanz is longer Dan me I will cut it to my size n I will say iz rugged jeans! I will ask frdz for favour b4 they help they will ask me to do somtin for dem eg clean their room, help with course work jst to hav 2000 nair gosh.”
Peter once worked as a supermarket attendant and Paul did some electrical repair for pay. Now, the story is much different; as they have shows outside the country and own houses abroad.
8. Banky W – Salesboy
Before the fame, money, expensive cars and house, Mercy Johnson was once a housemaid. According to her, “When I recall my humble beginning, I give thanks to God. When I remember how we moved into an uncompleted building and had to take cover whenever it rained because of the condition of the house; how my brother did a menial job as a bricklayer to earn a living and i a housemaid those days when we rolled over a stick to cover the windows up till the point when I started acting and raised money to cover the roof.”
10. John Okafor – Firewood seller, Hair dresser, Butcher
You could call him a Jack of all trade. From being a master firewood seller to hair dressing and working at an abattoir, John Okafor popularly known as Mr Ibu never had it easy.
According to him, growing up was hard and he had to do several odd jobs to feed his family.