By Franklin O.O
It is no news that the majority of Nigerians are having difficulty surviving this current All Progressive Congress (APC) regime, where the prices for staples to be purchased in a month cannot equate to the minimum wage. Organisations like Neolife, a nutrition company have seized this opportunity to suck desperate youths, brainwash and push them into the streets.
In 2025, youths have become more desperate than ever, compared to years before. Following societal trends and pressure, every young person is now seeing a dire need to make financial stability the top of their priority, not minding the process involved, but focused on the results. There’s this flying mantra that says, “No one cares about how you make money, just make money.” Education that formally tops the chain is now downplayed by many young people.
The goal of the nutrition company, NeoLife is to create and market high-quality whole food nutrition products that will contribute to a healthier and happier planet. Operating in more than 50 countries worldwide, NeoLife has been in operation for 60 years, having started in 1958. This company somehow has devised ways to cajole young people into marketing their products.
The company has a strategy according to victims that is used to convince you to drop out of school, work and anything that will give you a better life for the instant gratification it offers. Promises that are not feasible are made to people, and because of hardship, everyone is eager to evade poverty, thereby embracing the offer they bring, including sponsoring visitations and relocations to countries on other continents. People are coming up to narrate their experiences already and how they have been brainwashed by these people who come with a disguise of employment opportunities.
Taking it to X, some users have complained about how they have met desperate marketers of these products. Here’s what a X user had to say @KALADIMA1972: “Government needs to do something about these NEOLIFE / GNLD guys. They are destroying our youth. Walahi.” He went on to narrate his experience from 2 weeks ago, while he was outside a club around 11:00 p.m., and a girl in her early 20s approached them, looking tattered and hungry with dusty legs.
She said: “Bros, you’re looking good.” He responded with a thank you, and boom, she started advertising drugs. She said she had supplements ranging from 40k, etc. Out of curiosity, he asked why she was outside by this time of the day selling drugs, and she disclosed she had to sell and meet their target or else her sponsor would be angry and she needed to return to Abeokuta that night. He was startled and felt empathetic.
She is just one of hundreds of victims. As users stumbled on the post, some shared their experiences as victims and about victims.
According to Morris, a resident of Ilorin who spoke to BrandSpur Nigeria news desk today: “Around 2018, I got an invite from a friend, telling me she had a job for me. By then, I was a photographer, so she told me to come for a job interview at Cele Bus-stop, Lagos, that I would need to cover an event for her organisation. I got there as early as possible, and the next thing I saw was Neolife, and they started with a training/seminar. They started motivating, brainwashing, begging and even showed us lots of pictures and videos. They promised to take us to the capital of Dubai. They promised us food, shelter and money if we started. They were so good at convincing us to start the business even if we didn’t have money. So, I deposited N1,000 to balance N14,000. That is how I started paying little by little until I finally paid the whole 15000, and they welcomed me well, thinking I would start making money. I was given a black bag with supplements (tre en en), green in colour inside and with a manual. I was told about all the products inside, and I was told that I am a Distributor, but if I want to move to Manager, I will have to get more new members to register under my name or sell drugs to get more PV. The person who brought me to the business was called my UPLINE, while I am DOWNLINE or Distributor, and my upline taught me how to sell the drug and how to use the manual. We hit the streets of Lagos, and that was how I trekked from Cele to Berger in Mile-2, looking for people to buy my drugs. Luckily, I sold some, and I wanted to buy food from my drug money, but my Upline said I can’t touch the money. If I must eat or survive she will teach me how to survive. That was how we started begging people to buy us minerals. We will hide it from another person and beg them to buy us bread. If I wanted to transport back home, I would have to beg people in the bus to pay my transport fare from Oshodi-Apapa and that was how I was surviving.”
He spoke about how far he was willing to go, saying: “I was willing to go far since I was promised to go to the capital of Dubai. So, my target was the Senior Manager status, and not just the Manager. I planned to hit my target for the month because we were given monthly targets and everyone is to hit the target. I introduced my friends to the business and brought them along. After meetings on Monday, I will go sell drugs. The meeting days are Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are for seminar/training, while Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays are for selling of drugs from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Every day, even on Sundays after church, I will have to go sell drugs, but luckily I told my Upline I couldn’t do Sunday because I will have to do laundry and rest to continue again on Monday.
“What they told me was what they promised me, ‘If I start now, I will be rich if I bring one person, bring another person and continue selling my drug, until I start travelling to any country of my choice, buying cars and lead the life I envisage. I was ready, so I left my house every day as early as 6 in the morning to Oshodi to sell or go to Cele for training. I entered different streets and neighbourhoods just to sell my drugs. I got home one day and my parents were complaining about me coming back home late, but I paid them no attention. I even reported it to my Upline, she told the Supervisor, and he asked me to bring my bag to the next meeting. So I packed my bags, left my family and went to the meeting. After the meeting with my bags, that was how the supervisor introduced me to one guy whom I would be staying with. He directed that I be taken to where they were staying, and we got there around midnight because we went to sell drugs, and we still had to beg for transport as usual from Cele to Ikeja. On my arrival, there were about 7 boys in the room, and that day was a Saturday, so the next day was Sunday,” he added.
He had this to say about the structure of the meeting: The meeting is usually like this, when you join, you must make sure to bring or convince people to join the organisation. It is motivating and always crowded with young adults and youths who want to make money. I never missed any of the activities or training. I attended all, and even if I did not bring anybody to the meeting I will still attend to gyrate. We always gyrate, we have songs.”
Narrating how he left: I broke out through the help of a pastor that I told I left my family for this business and he encouraged me called my family paid for my transport back to apapa and warned me never to pick their or go back to the business that how I stop I never went back to the house I left my cloth the drug money everything in the house if the boys and I went back home from the church till date i can’t even remember the location again or the man but I will forever be grateful to my helper
He admonishes to flee from such organisations. He said: Please, run if you can run. Neolife is not a legitimate business, and they are using young students who have just finished SSCE to achieve their goals. RUN if you can,” he added.
