₦1,287 and a Stethoscope: The Night Dr. Fatima Fought Back
How a young Kano doctor turned burnout into a business empire — without ever leaving Nigeria.
SIDE HUSTLE
Amina Ogunde
10/9/20252 min read


Every empire has a night when it begins — hers started with a blackout and ₦1,287 in her account.
It was Friday, July 14th, 2022, when the rain over Kano came hard and dirty, hammering the tin roof of Dr. Fatima Danjuma’s small flat in Bompai. Her phone buzzed — Balance: ₦1,287. The generator had died, and the air reeked of frustration and fuel fumes. Six years of medicine, sleepless nights, and now she couldn’t even afford diesel.
But Fatima wasn’t going to japa. Half her colleagues were already in the UK, posting selfies in NHS scrubs. She wanted her victory here — in the same country that tried to grind her down.
Her rebellion started quietly: weekend locum shifts in a private clinic at Tarauni — ₦25,000 per night. Then patients began asking for follow-ups on WhatsApp. She turned it into business, signing up with Tremendoc, a telemedicine platform. Her living room became her second consulting room, and her phone, the new stethoscope. The first payout beat her hospital salary.
Still, the hospital corridors were getting emptier. Every week, another nurse resigned, another colleague sent a farewell message from Heathrow Airport. The wards were short-staffed, the equipment older than the interns using them. One night, after losing a patient for lack of oxygen, Fatima drove home and sat in her car for an hour — no tears, just resolve. If the system was broken, she’d build her own.
She teamed up with her friend, Nurse Chioma, and started HomeCare Naija, offering wound dressing, elderly care, and recovery support for private clients who wanted comfort and reliability. Two clients became ten. Within a year, she managed six nurses across Kano and Abuja, all doing part-time visits.
Then came Ubong — average height, calm voice, a quiet smile that hid the weariness of a man owed millions by the federal government. A contractor with stalled payments and restless ambition. They met at a wedding in Kaduna, and what began as conversation over jollof and red wine turned into partnership — first emotional, then professional.
He had what she lacked: structure, strategy, and an eye for opportunity. When Fatima launched her training programs for prestigious private schools, Ubong managed the logistics — bookings, invoicing, travel. When she expanded HomeCare Naija, he handled the contracts and client relations. He even rebranded her work, insisting she use her full name — Dr. Fatima Danjuma — on all materials.
The YouTube channel, The Friendly Doctor, was his idea too. He shot and edited the early videos himself, using a phone and a ring light built from scrap parts in his workshop. The channel exploded. Sponsors arrived. Within a year, Fatima’s side hustles had grown into a small empire — and Ubong ran it like a business.
Some nights, when the rain returned and the lights went out, he’d pour her tea by candlelight and tease, “One day, your signature will be worth more than the contracts I’m still chasing.”
Fatima would smile, her eyes steady in the glow. “Maybe,” she’d say softly, “but we’ll both sign our future this time.”
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