How a hashtag #ThisIsMyHustle, paved way for young Nigerians to make good returns in business

ayodele johnson

March 22, 2019 12:29 AM

A small network of entrepreneurs beat their own expectations after a hashtag #ThisIsMyHustle, linked them with profitable connections -- more than they ever thought possible.

The owners of small businesses in Nigeria have enjoyed an increase in their sales since a viral marketing campaign #ThisIsMyHustle, began in March 2019. Some have enjoyed patronage for customers outside the country including North America. [Business Elites Africa]

The goal was to create a viral concept that can aid marketing of services. And it succeeded since it started on Twitter in the middle of March 2019. A 30-year-old man Sadiq Abubakar, from Abuja in the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, is the initiator.

He confirmed to the National Public Radio (NPR) that his objective was to let the world learn about hardworking, young Nigerian entrepreneurs contrary to what others may think.

"I said, 'Let's do a hashtag and let the world know what we do.

"Young Nigerians are very determined to succeed. What we hear about young Nigerian people is that we are lazy. But we are hardworking. We want to make it."

They are already making it in many tweets confirming improved sales in their businesses. Such as Sadiq Muhammed Kabir, 24, who is enjoying progress in international trade selling ginger root in Kaduna in the Northwest of Nigeria.

NPR shared about the young businessman who says his "life has never been the same. I got buyers around the world, like Canada, Dubai, even North America."

Farming is profitable

The testimony about the magical hashtag is a long list testifying to how effective viral marketing can be.

In Kabir's comment to NPR, he highlights that the youths in Nigeria find farming unattractive but he has benefited from it.

"Most young people in my country don't really see [farming] as something good.

"They forget that farming is very, very lucrative," he says.

Desperation for jobs

Sadiq Abubakar, who began the movement from his Twitter profile @The_Afrocentric, summed up that #ThisIsMyHustle, became a hit because so many youths are trying to rid their parents of the responsibility of caring for them financially.