5 Years of Trying to Make Money Online in Nigeria — My Honest Story

Let me tell you something that most people would be too proud to admit.

Since 2021, I have been trying to make money online. Not casually — seriously. Every single day, searching, trying, failing, and trying again. Five years of my life spent chasing something that kept slipping away.

I tried everything you can imagine.

I tried listening to music and getting paid. Failed. I tried playing games to earn money. Failed. I filled out surveys for hours only to discover they were scams. I tried freelancing on every platform I could find. Rejected or ignored. I tried affiliate marketing. Nothing. I tried transcription and translation jobs. Dead ends. I tried platforms that promised to pay writers. Either they didn't accept Nigeria or they turned out to be fake.

I even rented out my LinkedIn account to someone who promised to pay me. They took my account and I never heard from them again. I lost the account and the money.

Every time I thought I had found something real, a wall appeared. Country restrictions. Payment barriers. Scammers. Platforms that looked legitimate but disappeared with people's money and time.

Do you know what it feels like to try something for five years and keep failing? It makes you question everything. It makes you wonder if the internet was built for everyone except Nigerians. It makes you feel small.

I am 19 years old. I live in a hostel surrounded by people who make money through illegal means. Every day I watch them spend freely while I struggle. People have told me to just do what they do. Take the shortcut. Nobody will know.

But I refused. Not because I am perfect. But because I know that money built on wrong foundations never lasts. I wanted something real. Something I could be proud of. Something that would still be paying me years from now.

So I kept going.

In the last few days I have built something I am genuinely proud of. A blog — David Updates — where I write about topics that matter to Nigerians. Technology, lifestyle, money, sports, culture. Real content for real people.

I applied for Google AdSense. They came back and said my content needs improvement. Most people would have quit at that point. But not me. Not after five years of not quitting.

I am going to fix it. I am going to keep posting. I am going to keep improving. And when that approval finally comes — and it will come — it will be the sweetest victory I have ever tasted.

If you are reading this and you are in a similar situation — still trying, still failing, still refusing to give up — I want you to know something.

You are not alone. And your breakthrough is closer than you think.

Keep going. 🙏