Jumoke* (31) and Amara*(31) have been close friends since their NYSC days.
When Jumoke lost her job, and Amara offered to help, she jumped at it. But Amara’s suffocating conditions eventually became the wedge that drove them apart.
At the end, you’ll get to decide: Did Jumoke f– up?
This is Jumoke’s dilemma as told to Betty:
I met Amara at the NYSC camp when I was posted to Lagos in 2019. After camp, we joined efforts to look for affordable accommodation. We had to endure awful, smelly lodges and hostels together before we finally sorted out our accommodation. Going through that together made us very close and cemented our friendship.
Unfortunately, in 2025, I lost my job as a front desk officer. No matter what I did, I couldn’t find another one. Amara became my biggest support during that period. She listened to me rant after every rejected application and constantly sent me job openings.
In July 2025, she told me about an opening for a customer service rep at her company. The pay was decent, about ₦250k, but she warned me the online assessment would be difficult. Then she suggested a plan.
She’d help me take the assessment, but I’d have to give her a portion of my salary. I knew it was wrong, but I was tired of unemployment. My savings were running low, and I felt desperate, so I agreed. I figured she would only ask for a small cut, and the arrangement would be temporary. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Amara completed the assessment, I got the job, and I was ecstatic. Months of job hunting were finally over. When I asked Amara how much of my salary she’d be taking, she said ₦80K. I thought it was outrageous, but I agreed. I didn’t want to seem ungrateful after she’d helped me.
At first, there weren’t any problems, but after five months, the arrangement started to feel exploitative. She was taking such a big part of my salary while I was doing all the work.
I tried to negotiate for a better split, but she threatened to tell the company that I didn’t pass the assessment myself. If she did, I could lose the job.
I was so hurt. She knew how much I needed the job, yet she was willing to use that against me. After that, our relationship became strained. I distanced myself from her and focused on applying for other jobs so I could leave both the company and Amara’s arrangement behind.
Early this year, a mutual friend, Fejiro*, visited me. She was unemployed too, and while we were talking, she told me that Amara had reached out to her with the same offer she’d given me. She said Amara told her there was a customer service role paying ₦150k, and that she’d have to hand over ₦70k every month after being hired. The figure sounded suspiciously low, so I checked the listing myself. That’s when I discovered the role actually paid ₦250k. She’d lied to Fejiro to get more than half of her salary. I was livid.
At first, I wanted to mind my business. After all, I’d agreed to the same arrangement. But the more I thought about it, the angrier I became. I’d spent months paying Amara, and now she was trying to make even more money off someone else. So I told Fejiro everything. Understandably, Fejiro got upset, rejected Amara’s offer and told her off.
Amara then got upset with me. She accused me of sabotaging her and once again threatened to get me fired. I tried to explain that what she was doing was unfair, but she reminded me that she didn’t force me into the arrangement. Then she accused me of acting out of jealousy because she was about to make more money from Fejiro.
A few months later, I found another job and quit the one Amara helped me get into. The last time we spoke was when I sent her the final payment from my old salary. We haven’t spoken since. As far as I’m concerned, that friendship is over. The strange thing is that, despite everything, a part of me still misses her. I’ve also been thinking, did I fuck up by telling Fejiro about Amara’s scheme? Was I acting out of resentment? Should I have kept it to myself?
Sunken Ships: I Spent Years Chasing A Best Friend Who Never Chose Me
