Since last year, the road construction along Sapele Road has turned what used to be a manageable commute into a daily test of patience. For the workers who pass through that stretch every morning, getting to work on time has become a whole job on its own before the actual job even begins.
We caught up with *Osato, a hotel auditor who does this every single day, to talk about the commute, the 24-hour shifts, the HOD that makes everything harder, and the bigger thing she is trusting God for.
Let’s start easy — how did you end up in hotel auditing? Was this the plan or did life just land you here?
Most of the jobs I’ve done were customer oriented. Waitress, sales representative — I’ve done them all. It was actually in those jobs that I realized I don’t like talking to people and I hate small talk. So when I saw the auditing job opening at a hotel around Sapele Road. So I thought, what could go wrong? That’s quite the shift from customer facing roles.
For someone with no idea what an auditor actually does, break it down for us.
You are basically looking at transactions and sales, calculating and making sure nothing fishy is going on. You are checking stock at the outlets to ensure everything is balanced. In summary, your spidey senses are fully active to make sure nobody is cheating the company — staff and suppliers included.
So you’re watching everyone and everything. And you’re doing all of this from a hotel along Sapele Road — one of the most affected routes since the construction began. How do you even get to work on time with everything happening on that road?
I wake up at 6am and I’m on my feet immediately. I have to be at work by 7:45am because a minute late is a thousand naira fine. So waking up that early is the only way to beat the road and still make resumption time. There is no other option.
So you’re already stressed before you even clock in. Once you get to work, is the environment at least a relief or does that come with its own issues too?
No it’s not o. I have to deal with my HOD. She lacks empathy and does not care about your wellbeing at all. This place is very particular about discipline, any little mistake and your salary gets hit. And she loves to come for it. She enjoys looking for things to nitpick on just so she can surcharge you.
With the road, the shifts, and now the HOD — how do you keep your composure when everything around you is testing your patience?
I learned a long time ago that you cannot control what people do but you can control what you do. So when someone is stressing me I call it out directly. And if they continue misbehaving after that, discipline follows immediately.
Fair enough. With everything you just described, is there anything about this job that actually feels good? There has to be at least one thing keeping you going beyond the salary.
Nothing honestly. I’m just there. Well, my colleagues are fun to be with. When the HOD is not around the whole office becomes a different place entirely. But apart from that it is the salary keeping me. I’m trusting God for something big and when that comes I will disappear.
You mentioned trusting God for something big. What exactly is that, if you don’t mind sharing?
A remote job. The stress of commuting every day is not easy. Every day in this city is an adventure. If the driver is not drunk, the conductor is high. I cannot continue like this. People are working from the comfort of their homes and I would very much like to be one of them.
And while you wait for that — be honest, what is actually keeping you at this job right now?
Money. That is my motivation. It is not easy working for someone else. Sometimes I do the maths and I realize the pay is not doing justice to the work. When I am sitting there balancing accounts I can see clearly that we could be paid much more than this. But capitalism wins all the time.
Last one — when that big thing finally happens, what are you leaving behind and what are you taking with you?
I am leaving nothing and taking my sanity.
We are spotlighting the people of Benin City — the wins, the struggles, and what it really takes to show up every single day.
If you would like to be featured in our Hustle Files series, send us an email at ag********@***il.com
*Names have been changed for anonymity.
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