Veteran Nigerian broadcaster and television host Frank Edoho has pulled back the curtain on the financial realities of his early years on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, revealing that for the first two years of hosting one of Nigeria’s most beloved television programmes, his monthly salary sat at around ₦100,000 to ₦160,000  a figure that stood in sharp contrast to the polished, affluent image he was expected to project on screen.

Edoho made the disclosure while speaking at a seminar, with a video of his remarks subsequently posted on his Instagram page on Tuesday. The celebrated presenter, who hosted the Nigerian edition of the iconic quiz show for 13 years from its launch in 2004, told attendees that despite the modest pay, he was required to turn up to every recording impeccably dressed in suits and carry himself as though money were no object. “I had to wear a suit as if I owned all the money,” he said, drawing laughter from those present while highlighting the gap between public perception and private reality that many in the entertainment industry quietly navigate.

The turning point in his financial fortunes, Edoho revealed, came with the arrival of telecommunications giant MTN Nigeria as a major sponsor of the programme. Emboldened by the influx of corporate investment into the show, he decided to approach the production company’s owner directly and table a new salary figure  one significantly higher than what he had been earning.

His own expectations were modest, but the response from his employer was swift and generous. Once he named his figure, he was told he would receive three months of back pay at the new rate, a development he accepted without hesitation.

While Edoho declined to state the exact figure he negotiated, he made clear that the impact on his professional life was transformative. Beyond the improved salary, opportunities multiplied rapidly in the years that followed.

Event hosting engagements came flooding in, and he found himself travelling frequently and operating at the highest levels of Nigeria’s entertainment and corporate event circuits.

“The rewards came in. I was hosting events all over the place. I was flying and doing all kinds of things,” he said.

The broadcaster, who first came to national prominence through the show and has since become one of the most recognisable voices and faces in Nigerian broadcasting, also used the occasion to offer advice to young people navigating the pressures of early career life. Drawing on his own experience of personal ups and downs during a period when he maintained a calm and composed television persona, he urged his audience to learn the art of compartmentalisation  setting personal struggles aside and channelling energy into long-term goals. “Like they said, it’s just the same microcosm of you facing trouble in your business,” he said. “Learn how to compartmentalise and just push it aside, concentrate your eyes on the prize.”

His candid revelation quickly generated substantial reactions online, with many Nigerians reflecting on the relative purchasing power of ₦100,000 in the mid-2000s compared to today. At the time the show launched, that monthly figure converted to roughly $700 to $800 at the exchange rate of approximately ₦130 to the dollar  a reminder of how dramatically Nigeria’s economic landscape has shifted in the two decades since Edoho first took his place behind the iconic podium.