My Uber Driver Has a PhD in Yoruba Studies and I'm the One Paying School Fees

My Uber driver today started talking about the difference between tonal inflection in Oyo and Lagos Yoruba. Like, actually teaching me. The man has a PhD. He said he submitted his thesis in 2021 and has been driving full time since 2022 because "academic jobs are not there." I sat in that car feeling like I should be the one apologising for something.

Meanwhile, I have a colleague in my US startup who has a bachelor's in communications and makes $140k a year. So technically, the correlation between education and income is not just weak in Nigeria. It's negative. The more degrees you collect here, the more Uber trips you drive. The numbers do not lie.

I tipped him ₦5,000 on a ₦3,800 ride and he looked at me like I had insulted his ancestors. Maybe I did. What do you even say to a man who knows more about Yoruba linguistics than everyone in my family combined, but cannot afford fuel next week?