I made N3,000 hawking water in 20 minutes — White Naija Girl (Photos)

Popularly known as White Naija Girl, Ibukun Afolabi, from Hungary tells Punch why she decided to hawk sachet water on the streets of Lagos…

Read excerpt:

Can you give a brief background of yourself?
My husband gave me a Nigerian (Yoruba) name, ‘Ibukun,’ which means ‘blessing.’ I am originally from Hungary. I live in the United Kingdom at the moment. In 2008, I came to the UK, where I met my husband, Gbenga Afolabi of MagnumN3. I studied Business and Management. I also hold degrees in German and French languages. When I first came to the UK, I could not speak English, so I had to start learning it from the beginning.
In 2012, I decided to start ­a blog, the whitenaijagirl.com, soon after I got married. Initially, I wanted to write a book, but my husband advised me to start a blog instead so I could reach more people. I started to write about my experiences as a ‘Nigerian’ wife. Soon, many people — men and women – in relationships with Nigerians started to contact me, asking different questions. The blog became quite successful. Finally, I visited Nigeria in the middle of October last year. I stayed for a month. It was during that period that the video of me selling sachet water was shot.

Tell us about your Nigerian family?
I met my husband in 2011, and we got married in 2012. We have two children, a boy and a girl. My husband is from Osogbo in Osun State. My children have been there. They live in Nigeria at the moment. They have been in Nigeria since October with my mother-in-law, their grandmother, because I want to ensure my children know where they are from and for them to have a rich mind. Currently they are getting some education from their grandmother. My four-year-old son attends school in Lagos and speaks Yoruba fluently. My daughter is 19 months old and she has been in Nigeria for only a few months. But she is obviously still little and does not speak the language much. I want them to know about their culture.

How much did you make?
I even told my husband that we made so much money that I might just change my career from film-making to hawking sachet water. We sold all the sachet water in the container quickly, then people started buying the bottled water as well. I could not remember the exact total amount we made but I think it was between N2, 000 and N3,000 in approximately 20 minutes.