On August 24, 2023, a TikTok user, Koffiseed, posted a video of a hawker in a bus park in Onitsha, Anambra.
In the video, the young hawker enthusiastically advertised a bottled water brand, Aquafina, to some seated passengers on a bus.
Among the things he said were, “Aquafina helps in digestion,”
“Aquafina is good for the body tissue,”
“It is tasteless and odorless.” At the end of the video, he called himself Doctor H2O, the doctor of water.
The video soon went viral, with many netizens amazed by his accent and his choice of words in persuading the passengers to patronise him.
Luckily for the hawker, the video got the attention of the water company Aquafina.
Then, on August 29, 2023, another video of the hawker, now popularly known as Doctor H2O, resurfaced on the internet.
This time, he was stepping out of a luxurious car with the Tiktok influencer, Koffiseed, to attend a meeting at the company’s headquarters in Lagos.
In the meeting, Doctor H2O met with Aquafina’s Management team and ambassadors, including Hilda Bacci, former Guinness world record holder; Kate Henshaw and Jemima Osunde, Nollywood actress.
Nigerians were happy for him, like TikTok user @OwolabiAdeola said, “Awwn, I envisaged this, so glad it’s happening.”
Another Tiktok user, @AsiimweBrenda412, said, “Beautiful story behind his success, congrats to him and good luck.”
A TikTok user, Fatima, said, “The happiness and joy i feel for him. God has brought him to the light,”
While Netizens thought that was all to Doctor H2O’s success story, Aquafina Water decided to surprise him.
A month later, on October 3, 2023, Aquafina Water posted a video of Nsima standing before a well-stocked shop in Anambra state on their official Instagram page.
Aquafina had given him a complete business setup worth millions of Naira, which included a well-stocked store, a generator, a deep freezer, a tricycle truck, and some cash reward.
The video was accompanied by the caption:
“You tagged us, and we heard you! Say Hello to the proud owner of a fully set up and stocked business, Dr H2O.
All done with love from your padi of Life, Aquafina.”
Before fame
Doctor H,2O or Wisdom Nsima, is a native of Akwa Ibom State. He said he began hawking in 2016 when his dad passed away. At the time, he was in the first year of Senior Secondary School (SS1).
“I started hawking four years ago when I was in SS1 to support my education after losing my father when I was in JS2. I did everything possible to send myself to school.” he recounted
Nsima had no training in Marketing but learnt the skill from watching other hawkers and listening to radio adverts.
The 21-year-old revealed that he draws inspiration from his mother, who taught him to be hardworking and optimistic about life.
For him, Aquafina has given him the chance to achieve his goal of becoming a successful entrepreneur.
