Actor, Joseph Benjamin, has revealed that he had to do taxi business to survive, after he became stranded in the United States of America.
While appearing on the latest episode of a podcast hosted by comedian Teju Babyface, the 46-year-old Nollywood star said he relocated from Nigeria to the U.S. after someone promised him movie gigs in America, but the person later disappointed him.
“I got to America on a promise that I had some gigs waiting for me. So I thought I was going to have a soft landing there. I packed up everything from Nigeria, bought a one-way ticket, and came to America. I was put in a well-furnished house and all of that. Then two days later, the person who I was supposed to book a deal with said to me, ‘Those our financiers have pulled out. They have an issue.’ So, I said, what do I do? He was like, ‘From next month on, you will have to start paying rent in this house.’ The amount of the one-month rent was equivalent to a one-year rent in Nigeria. I’m like, ‘I’m not earning any money, so what do I do?’ I don’t know what to do. So, shot into that life, I had to figure out what to do. I had nowhere to go. Nothing to turn to.
“My phone was buzzing, like, ‘When are you coming back to Nigeria? We have this gig for you.’ Teju, $1,500, was all I came to America with. How do I buy a ticket to go back to Nigeria?
“My life pattern then was so disorganised in the sense that I didn’t have a proper saving culture. With all the money I was making in Nigeria, my life was a mess. I sold my cars and gave out like 90 percent of all my belongings in Nigeria. I was like, I’m going to America to live a good life and all of that stuff. How do I buy a ticket to go back to Nigeria? Lord, what do I do? And God said to me that ‘Welcome to the life that I arranged for you. I needed to break you away from your comfort zone so that I can build you.’
“I was like, ‘No, no, no …’ He was like, ‘Yes, welcome to it. So, here you are, now a way to earn a living. How do you move forward?’ Then, sometimes I will be in my room crying. I’m like, ‘Lord, where do I go from here?’ And for some reason, every month I get to pay the rent. I got connected to my church. And then someone gave me a car. I’m like, what do I do with the car? And they said Uber. I was driving for Uber and Lyft to pay my bills.”
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