During an episode of the Teju Babyface Deep Dive podcast, hosted by comedian Teju Oyelakin, the 46-year-old actor shared his experience of relocating to the US based on promises of movie opportunities, only to be let down by the person who assured him of those gigs.
Joseph Benjamin said his predicament meant he needed to figure out a way to sustain himself, stressing that he turned to driving Uber and Lyft to make ends meet.
He said, “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.’ $1,500 was all I came to America with. How do I buy a ticket to go back to Nigeria?”
After he was left stranded in US, Benjamin said that he drove Uber, Lyft, and delivered Amazon packages to pay his bills because he has no solid financial support.
He said, “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.
“I carried a lot of Nigerians, my name on the Uber App was Joseph. The moment they get in or three minutes into the journey, they know I’m the one.”
“One woman even had to call her husband, and she ended up taking pictures with me. I even had some people say to me ‘Boss you will make it.”
KanyiDaily recalls that Joseph Benjamin’s first marriage crashed after eight years some years ago. The union was said to have produced two children.
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