‘How I make millions of naira from talking’

How did you start the talking business?It started informally when friends and family have occasions. It started when I went for a wedding ceremony organised by a friend and during the reception, the master of ceremony that was contracted to anchor the reception did not show up and so out of the blues, I was […]

How did you start the talking business?
It started informally when friends and family have occasions. It started when I went for a wedding ceremony organised by a friend and during the reception, the master of ceremony that was contracted to anchor the reception did not show up and so out of the blues, I was called upon to fill the vacuum and that was how it started. It continued gradually, sometimes, I would be called upon to come and do this and they will give me N3, 000; N5, 000 and so on but now it has become a very lucrative business for me.
Glory be to God, about 80-90percent of my income comes from talking. I talk and I write, I also teach students preparing for SSCE, while I run a private post-graduate class that prepares people for Certified National Accountants in Kaduna State. I am the director of studies at the centre.
Every profession has a challenge, what are the challenges of the talking profession?
There are lots of challenges because it has to do with dealing with people with different psyche and different understanding of things and especially knowing the fact that we deal with language. A master of ceremony (MC) is supposed to be someone who is vast in knowledge and language. You also need to know the setup of every gathering you are to master; you need to know whether they are elites or illiterate so that your presentation will meet the standard of the people.
Another challenge is that we ourselves seem not well coordinated as there is no one single body that regulates the activities of talkers, masters of ceremonies or toast masters. We don’t have such regulation in this part of the country. I have travelled to different parts of the country and I see that they do it. Sometimes I travel as far as Port Harcourt or Lagos to attend meetings. We are trying to see how such can be done in the North too. All in all, I will say there are no many challenges in the profession.
Is the talking profession lucrative?    
Yes, it is very lucrative, though people don’t know, they feel it’s just about talking but sometimes I work for just two to three hours and I collect over N2million. To be realistic, you can be called upon to do a program for one hour thirty minute and you will be given N250,000; N350,000; N500,000 or N700,000 depending on the personalities involved but I must thank God, it is a very good business. In fact, if you can get ten talking jobs in a year, it is okay to carry you beyond that year because it is okay to take care of all you have to do.
How does one become a good talker?    
You have to be good at the language, even if it is not your field you have to go to those who know it and learn. Secondly, you must have courage, you need to have confidence and you have to be very free and humble in all situations you find yourself. You also need to have a sense of creativity because sometimes you come to a place and the program is not well organised, it is left for you as a master of ceremony to use your own initiative to see that everything goes well. I also make use sure I exercise myself every day; it makes me agile, flexible and physically fit to do my job. Recently, I anchored an event for over 31 hours straight away and everyone was surprised I could stand the rigour.
You are known for using big vocabulary and rhymes; does it mean that your job makes you a friend to your dictionary?
Well, I think as a talker or master of ceremony, you have to imbibe the culture of reading, as such, you must read every day especially because the English language changes almost every day. For me, I try to learn words that are synonyms so that when I say one or two that are hard, I will as well say the ones that are easy so that everyone will understand and really pull crowd. Though, some may be ignorant of the first words but at the end of it all, they will get to understand that this is what this MC is saying, so you end up being the MC and at the same time teaching people what to do for instance, anytime I finish a programme, I tell the people about the activities and programmes of government that are good. For example, I may ask questions like ‘have you gone to register for voters’ card? If no, please do so, it is very important so that you can have opportunity to elect a leader of your choice.
It is a way of mobilizing the people. So also, if something bad is happening, like this era of insecurity, I encourage the people to be security conscious.
As a graduate of Office Technology and Management, why are you not practicing what you learnt?
In Nigeria, you make use of what is available. First, I started working and later on I got to understand that what is paying me is the talking job, so I decided to face it squarely alongside some extra-mural classes I run at the Sultan Bello Primary School as part of corporate social responsibility, I also sponsor some students in school.
When did you decide that it was the talking profession for you?
I decided to settle for this job in year 2010 when I was called upon to anchor a political programme in Abuja. After the event, I was asked, how much was my fee and I asked them how much do they want to pay me; they said N1million but that I am worth much more than that amount. I didn’t tell them how much I normally charge but at the end of the event, they told me that they will give me N1million, I rejected the N1million offered and I eventually went home with N2million. Though if I was to have mentioned my price, it would have been far less than what I was offered. So I thought and decided that if this job could be this lucrative, I would better stay on it. It is very lucrative if you can standardise and formalise it. Presently I have offices in Abuja, Kaduna and Lagos states.
What is your advice to unemployed youths out there?
My advice to them is to search within themselves to know and make use of the creativity and talent that God has bestowed upon them. You don’t just sit down and wait for white collar job to make it in life. Use what you have and it will yield positive results. I believe that there is something unique about every individual.