Deborah Akinyosoye
Nigerian TikTok star, Habeeb Hamzat Adelaja, better known as Peller, has faced several backlash after a video of him interviewing dozens of job seekers for a ₦500,000 cameraman position went viral online.
In the video, which was shared on Thursday by X user @Teeniiola, several men and women were seen sitting and standing outside Backbox Studio in Lagos, all hoping to be picked for the role.
Many of them claimed to have master’s degrees, sparking outrage and disbelief among social media users.
“Peller and his 20 master’s degree holders applying for a cameraman job with 500k monthly pay. Omoh, even girls dey there too,” the post read.
Within hours, the clip attracted over 2.6 million views, thousands of shares and comments across X, Instagram and Facebook.
While some viewers found the scene amusing, others said it reflected the tough state of Nigeria’s job market.
A Facebook user, Fagbenro SmileLee, commented, “Imagine look at the way he’s talking to them especially the guy that corrected him. He dey use all of them in the video catch cruise and money dey enter for am like that. This life no balance indeed.”
Another user, Mandy Beauty Arena, said, “From university to working for Peller wey no go school. God abeg ooo.”
On X, @Irunnia_ wrote, “Omo these are people with degrees in different fields but look at. Take your fight against poverty seriously abeg o.”
@FolajewuNelson also reacted, “Which job will give you 500k as a master’s holder in Nigeria? I bet he did it just to get back at them that he’s not educated, now he’s employing them.”
Some users, however, defended the importance of education.
X user @mo_free_ng warned against dismissing academic achievement, using NVIDIA’s success as an example.
“Don’t let clowns like this demotivate you with stunts like this trying to prove that school na scam. In the real world, people use education as a launchpad,” he said.
The conversation took another turn when some users began making tribal and health-related comments.
Facebook user Heaven Gideon Echezonachukwu posted, “Normally na HIV Certificate dem dey use work for this kind person. Is difficult to see an Igbo man in this kind of see finish hinterview.”
Another user, Rita Onyinyechi Onyinyechi, added, “Did I just hear… they are carrying their HIVs :joy::joy::joy:.” These remarks were widely condemned by other users, who called them insensitive and unnecessary.
This is not the first time Peller has drawn public criticism. In 2024, he made headlines after announcing plans to employ a first-class graduate as his personal assistant. He later deleted the post following backlash online.
As of the time of filing this report, Peller has not responded to the new round of backlash trailing the viral cameraman job interview.