How Youtube Made a Nigerian Student a Millionaire

This story and interview was originally published on thenerveafrica.com

How Youtube Made a Nigerian Student a Millionaire

Taiwo Abiri a Nigerian graduate of Economics is in his 30s, who makes millions running an automobile repair centre, below are excerpts from the article:

Taiwo’s first engine oil change for a car was done following steps he had learnt on Youtube. To him, the video streaming platform played a critical role in shaping his dream for the future. Years of watching such videos and reading a lot of books about how automobiles work had piqued his interest in car repairs and he never went for the MBA his parents wanted for him. Two of his friends studied with him ahead of their application and they both did well; one went to France, the other to the United States but Taiwo chose to stay back in Nigeria and learn how to repair cars. His friends are doing well now, but Taiwo is not doing badly either; last year he made a revenue of N25 million ($126,000) at his makeshift shop. He moved to a bigger place towards the end of last year and he said he was just getting started. “I haven’t even done up to half of what I have in my business plan,” Taiwo told me.

“I wanted to go to a technical school in the U.S. to learn about car repairs but I couldn’t because my parents were not supportive. I did not want to go for my NYSC. The school had already taken me but the money was a lot. I couldn’t pay. They just wanted me to do an MBA. My Dad said being a mechanic was bad of a university graduate,” Taiwo Abiri recounted.

With the much needed parental support not coming, financing was going to be a big challenge. Taiwo knew he had to find a way to fund his way through his automobile repairs training and so he got a job at a real estate firm after the one-year compulsory service to the nation under the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). He had just one thing in his mind; work for a year and save enough to learn how to repair cars and start his own car repair business.

Although he started his own car repair business with friends and families as clients, Motomi, Taiwo boasts of several corporate clients today. Motomi repairs cars for Century Energy, Four Points By Sheraton, Falcon Gas, AA Rescue, Structon Construction Company, Computer Warehouse Group, among others.

Taiwo showed the kind of enthusiasm I have never seen a mechanic shown as he discussed part of his future plans. “I can’t tell you all,” he said smiling. “But we will soon start our express service. Clients can invite us and expect us to get to them in record time to fix their vehicles; whether their cars broke up on the highway or the fault happened while they were at home.”

The Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria Economics graduate had a Business Development Officer on his team last year but she left at the end of the year. He said he was looking to hire a replacement as he expands his reach and hope to get more corporate clients on board. He also plans to start Motomi Express 24/7 to ensure clients are served round the clock.

At the moment, he works on 8 to 10 cars daily but hopes to increase this as his business grows.

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