There is a question I think more Nigerians should ask themselves while life is still going well: If everything around me changed tomorrow, would I have enough skills, confidence and financial capacity to stand on my own?

That question came to mind while following the story surrounding Nollywood actor Akin Olaiya and the end of his marriage to Nafisat Feenah Hammed.

Celebrity marriages will always attract attention, especially in a society where weddings are often celebrated almost like national events. We see the beautiful pictures, the excitement, the congratulations and all the promises that come with a new beginning. Then, sometimes, before the excitement has even settled, we are confronted with another headline announcing that the marriage has ended.

Akin Olaiya announced the dissolution of his marriage to Nafisat in June 2026, less than a year after they got married in June 2025 in Ibadan. He shared his account of how the marriage deteriorated, while Nafisat later spoke publicly about the circumstances surrounding their separation and made allegations about her experience during the marriage. Because the two sides have presented different accounts, I don't think it is responsible to sit behind a phone and decide who is completely right or wrong in a deeply personal situation.

But I do think there is something valuable the rest of us can take away from the story.

And for me, that lesson is not really about divorce.

It is about preparation.

Nobody walks into a marriage expecting it to end.

Nobody starts a new job expecting to be fired.

Nobody builds a business expecting it to collapse.

Nobody wakes up in the morning imagining that the person they trusted yesterday might not be part of their tomorrow.

Yet life happens.

Plans change.

People change.

Circumstances change.

And sometimes, whether we are prepared or not, we are forced into a new chapter.

That is why I have started thinking about financial independence differently.

For many people, the phrase "financial independence" immediately creates an image of someone with millions in the bank, multiple businesses, properties, investments and a lifestyle most ordinary people can only admire from a distance.

But I don't think it has to start there.

Sometimes financial independence begins with something much simpler: knowing that you have a skill you can use to earn money for yourself.

That may not sound as glamorous as talking about investments or passive income, but I think it is one of the most important foundations.

If you know how to write, design, edit videos, teach, market products, manage social media, create content or solve a specific problem for someone, you have something valuable.

And if you can turn that ability into income, you have created an option for yourself.

That option matters.

It matters when your salary is no longer enough.

It matters when an unexpected bill arrives.

It matters when you lose a job.

It matters when a business doesn't work out.

It matters when a relationship changes.

It matters whenever life reminds you that certainty is not something any of us can completely control.

This is why I believe every adult should be thinking about building at least one income-producing skill that belongs to them.

Not because they should expect their marriage to fail.

Not because they should distrust their spouse.

Not because they should live their lives waiting for disaster.

But because being prepared is not the same thing as being afraid.

In fact, I think financial independence can make relationships healthier.

When two people have their own skills, ambitions and financial capacity, they can build together from a position of partnership rather than desperation. There is a difference between choosing someone because you genuinely want to build a life with them and needing someone because you have no idea how you would survive without them.

And this is where I think Nigerians need to start looking differently at the phones we carry everywhere.

For many of us, the smartphone has become an entertainment centre.

We wake up and check WhatsApp.

We scroll through TikTok.

We watch Instagram Reels.

We follow celebrity gossip.

We argue about football.

We watch other people build businesses.

We watch other people create music.

We watch other people make money.

Then we put the phone down and wonder why our own financial situation has not changed.

But what if we started using the same device to build instead of only consume?

That is where the conversation becomes interesting.

Your smartphone can be a classroom where you learn a skill.

It can be a workplace where you communicate with clients.

It can be a publishing platform where you build an audience.

It can be a marketing tool where you promote your services.

It can be a creative studio where you produce content.

And for some people, it can become the starting point of an online business.

I am not talking about the endless online promises that tell you to send money today and become a millionaire tomorrow. Nigerians have seen enough of those schemes.

I am talking about legitimate digital opportunities that require you to actually learn something, create something useful and provide value to somebody.

For example, if you are naturally good at writing, you could learn content writing, blogging or copywriting.

If you are good with visuals, you could learn graphic design.

If you enjoy videos, you could learn video editing.

If you understand social media, you could help small businesses manage their online presence.

If you have knowledge in a particular subject, you could turn that knowledge into an ebook, guide, course, template or another digital product.

If you understand how audiences behave online, you could explore affiliate marketing.

And if music has always been your passion, technology has made it easier than ever to begin experimenting with songwriting, beats and music creation.

That last part is particularly interesting to me because we live in a time when the distance between an idea and a finished creative project is becoming much smaller.

You may have written lyrics in your notebook for years without ever thinking you could actually turn them into music.

You may have melodies in your head.

You may love experimenting with sounds.

You may have always wanted to create a beat but assumed you needed expensive studio equipment before you could even begin.

Today, smartphone-friendly digital tools and AI-assisted music services are making experimentation much more accessible.

A service such as the Music Creation feature on Auxi Sherpa, for example, can give aspiring creators a way to explore music creation, songwriting and beat-making digitally.

That does not mean everyone who creates a song will become the next Davido, and I certainly don't believe technology can replace the creativity, discipline and years of work behind successful music careers.

But it can lower the barrier to entry.

And sometimes that is all someone needs to take the first step.

The bigger point, however, is not music.

The bigger point is ownership.

What are you creating that belongs to you?

What skill are you developing that nobody can simply take away?

What knowledge do you have that could become a product?

What problem can you solve for someone?

What can you build with the technology already sitting in your hand?

These questions become particularly important when we talk about financial independence because there is a temptation to think that earning more money is the entire answer.

I don't think it is.

You also need the ability to create value.

You need to know how to communicate.

You need to know how to market yourself.

You need to understand your audience.

You need to learn how to manage money.

You need to develop the discipline to keep going when your first attempt doesn't work.

And perhaps most importantly, you need to stop expecting the perfect opportunity to appear before you begin.

If I had to start from scratch with nothing more than a smartphone, I wouldn't begin by asking myself how quickly I could become rich.

I would ask myself, what problem can I learn to solve?

That question is far more useful.

Maybe you can help a small business owner create better social media content.

Maybe you can write articles.

Maybe you can edit short-form videos.

Maybe you can design flyers.

Maybe you can create digital invitations.

Maybe you can teach a subject online.

Maybe you can create music.

Maybe you can build a blog.

Maybe you can package your knowledge into a digital product.

The first goal isn't necessarily to make thousands of naira every day.

The first goal is to become useful.

Because once you become useful, you have something to offer.

Once you have something to offer, you can find people who need it.

And once people are willing to pay for what you offer, you have the foundation of a business.

That is why I don't like the way social media sometimes presents online business as though it is a lottery.

It isn't.

You don't simply download an app, press a button and wake up wealthy.

Real digital entrepreneurship still requires learning, testing, failing, improving, marketing and building trust.

But the exciting part is that you don't necessarily need a huge office or massive capital to begin experimenting.

You can start small.

You can learn from your phone.

You can create from your phone.

You can find your first customer online.

You can build your audience online.

You can sell a digital product online.

And you can gradually build something bigger from there.

That is the part of Akin Olaiya's story that makes me think beyond the celebrity headlines.

We can spend hours discussing the marriage, debating the allegations, choosing sides and waiting for the next update. But eventually, the internet will move on to another story.

We will still be here.

We will still have our bills.

We will still have our dreams.

We will still have our families.

We will still have our careers.

And we will still have to figure out what happens next in our own lives.

So perhaps the more useful question isn't simply, "What happened between Akin Olaiya and his estranged wife?"

Perhaps the question for the rest of us is, "What am I doing to make sure I can handle my own next chapter?"

That next chapter could be completely positive.

It could be a new marriage.

A new baby.

A promotion.

A successful business.

A new home.

A new creative career.

But sometimes the next chapter arrives because something we thought would last forever didn't.

Whatever the reason, I would rather meet that chapter prepared.

I want to have skills.

I want to have options.

I want to have something I have built.

I want to know that if one source of income disappears, I am not completely helpless.

And I think that is a mindset more Nigerians should begin developing.

Not because we should become pessimistic about relationships.

Not because we should assume everything will fail.

But because independence gives you choices.

And choices can give you confidence.

If you are currently dependent on one income, start learning another skill.

If you have a skill but have never monetised it, start exploring how.

If you have been thinking about an online business for years, stop waiting for everything to be perfect.

If you are creative, create.

If you can write, write.

If you can teach, teach.

If you can design, design.

If you can make music, experiment.

If you can solve a problem, find the people who have that problem.

You don't have to build a huge business this month.

You simply need to start building something that can become valuable over time.

Because when I think about financial independence, I don't think only about money sitting in a bank account.

I think about freedom.

I think about options.

I think about confidence.

I think about knowing that even if life suddenly takes me in a direction I didn't plan for, I still have something inside me that I can use to rebuild.

And perhaps that is the lesson I believe more Nigerians need to hear from stories like Akin Olaiya's.

We cannot control everything that happens to us.

We cannot control whether a relationship lasts forever.

We cannot control every economic challenge.

We cannot predict when circumstances will force us to start again.

But we can control what we build while things are still going well.

We can learn.

We can save.

We can create.

We can develop digital skills.

We can build an audience.

We can create products.

We can develop legitimate online income streams.

And most importantly, we can become people who know how to start again.

Because financial independence isn't simply about becoming rich.

For me, it is about making sure that if life ever asks me to begin again, I am not beginning with nothing.

I am beginning with experience.

I am beginning with skills.

I am beginning with knowledge.

I am beginning with courage.

And perhaps most importantly, I am beginning with the confidence that I can build again.

If you have an article, opinion piece, or news story you'd like published on Global News Arena, or you're ready to begin your journey toward building a profitable digital business from your phone, I'd love to hear from you. 

Send me an email.

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