LONDON, United Kingdom — Nigerian content creator Elizabeth Amadou, known online as Jarvis, recounted her experience growing up with an absent father and a mother diagnosed with bipolar disorder during a Sunday church service address on September 6, 2026.
Speaking alongside her husband Peller at a Spark Nation service hosted by Pastor Tobi, Amadou detailed the financial strain, hunger, and family difficulties that marked her upbringing. Okay News reports that Amadou entered a household affected by severe mental health challenges while under the care of her grandparents.
During the address, Amadou stated: “My grandpa was sick and I came into a family through a mother that has bipolar disorder. Growing up with her has been very stressful and depressing because sometimes the disorder is crazy. Today she is nice and good and next minute she is violent, insulting us, you this stupid child, your father is mad.”
She further explained her family history and the absence of her father during her childhood. “I didn’t grow up with my father because my mother travelled out of the country and came back pregnant and gave birth to me. Growing up without a dad has not been good because my mum is not mentally okay,” Amadou said.
Credit was given to her grandparents for providing structure during her formative years. “I grew up with my grandma and grandpa. They did their best to raise me up and they are very learned and strict. The strictness made me who I am today,” she said.
Financial strain during her schooling led to missed fees and periods of food insecurity for her and her sister. “When everything was going down and there was no school fees, I don’t want to drop out from school or go through the wrong way to make money. You know peer group influence,” Amadou stated, adding: “I and my sister used to watch cooking food videos on TikTok just to salivate and at the end of the day we pray that God help us, cry and sleep because there is hunger.”
The difficulties prompted the siblings to begin TikTok livestreaming after an online contact informed them of the platform’s monetization features. “Someone messaged me on TikTok app and told me if i start going live on the app I can make money. The first time I had 200 videos and i was like whoa,” Amadou said.
She recalled their initial earnings from the platform before transitioning into full-time content creation. “So I started with my sister and we made like $5 at first and we were very happy because it was crazy. I was so shy but with my sister I did it. My family must not see us on social mdia because there will be problem. Along the line we started content,” she said, noting her primary objective was financial independence and family support. “I wanted to take care of my sister. I want to be able to provide a living for ourselves,” she said.
