The 25th comes. The 30th comes. The 5th of the next month comes. No alert. Your landlord is calling. Your subscription has expired. Your garri is finished. But the company says "salary will be paid next week." Then next week. Then "by Friday latest." Friday becomes Monday. Salary delay is a Nigerian employment tradition. It teaches you humility. It teaches you savings—if you have any. It teaches you to borrow from colleagues who are also waiting. The collective anxiety is palpable. The office becomes a support group for the financially abandoned. And the excuses! "The client hasn't paid." "The CEO is traveling." "The bank network is down." The lies are creative, but the hunger is real. How often does your salary get delayed? And what's your survival strategy during the waiting period?
