If you are preparing for the job market in Nigeria, your best options involve preparing to work in an industry that focuses on the projected future needs of the country. Even if your passion is knitting, or painting, or having fun at the Grande Vegas casino, you should make sure that you have a profession or trade that you can fall back on that will allow you to support yourself and your family.
Some of the most-frequently recommended jobs for those preparing to enter the Nigerian job market in the coming years include:
Petroleum Engineer
Engineering in general offers good job prospects but this is especially true in the petroleum industry. Petroleum engineers work to identify oil and gas, design and develop methods for extracting gas and oil deposits below the Earth’s surface and identify new ways to extract gas and oil from older wells. Nigeria is rich in these types of natural resources and the petroleum industry in Nigeria is a vibrant one.
To work as a petroleum engineer you must have a bachelor’s degree in engineering – opportunities are best for those with a degree in petroleum engineering but if your degree is in a related field, such as civil, mechanical or chemical engineering, there are job prospects in the industry.
There are multiple universities in Nigeria that offer petroleum engineering degree programs including the University of Lagos, the University of Ibadan, the Federal University of Petroleum resources in Effurun, Covenant University and Niger Delta University.
Translator
Nigeria’s foreign trade sector has grown tremendously over the last three decades and that has created a need for more translators. Nigerian companies are looking to broaden their reach beyond the African market while foreign investors are exploring how they can connect with local businesses and resources which puts potential recruits with language skills in a good position to take advantage of this need.
In addition to English, the languages most in demand among companies working globally include Spanish, French, Korean, Chinese, Arabic, Portuguese, German, Italian and Japanese.
There are university-level programs that specialize in translation and interpreting and there institutions that focus solely on translation but you can also get your foot in the door of the field if you are fluent in the language that you want to translate to/from and have a bachelors degree in any field. If you don’t have a degree in the language in question you might want to invest in a certificate program that teaches the fundamentals of translation.
Coursework in translation will cover subjects such as consecutive interpretation, sight translation and simultaneously interpretation and will prepare you to interpret orally and translate written materials.
eSports
Nigeria’s youth population – 42.5% of the country’s population is aged 14 and under – has made it the perfect center for the African esports industry. The sector is still young in Nigeria meaning that there is a lot of growth opportunity, especially for people ready to get in on the ground floor. eSports is being promoted by the government through the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development (MYSD) which has pledged its willingness to lend support. The private sector is also becoming involved as they organize competitions and sponsor local teams.
There are many types of jobs in the esports world. Besides playing the games you can get involved in organizational management, sports journalism, social media promotion, managing events, sales and partnerships and other aspects. Specific esports university programs have not yet been established in Nigeria but you can start exploring options for getting involved by getting a general degree in a field such as management, marketing or business and then learning about the esports industry so that you can apply your studies to the esports sector.
IN addition, the North America Scholastic Esports Federation (NASEF) is working with organizations around the world, including in Nigeria, to facilitate free tournaments, curriculum, expertise and programs to help scholastic esports grow. This type of hand-on learning can help you get in on the ground floor of the industry.
Finance and Banking
Despite COVID, Nigeria continues to be Africa’s financial center where the world’s largest financial firms conduct their African business. Key global business markets are beginning to recover from the pandemic and the financial sector foresees an increased demand for services in the coming years.
Specific jobs in the financial industry include that are expected to be in demand include account brokers, investment advisors, chartered accountants and financial analysts. Many businesses are also looking for account managers to oversee their accounts in the country.
You can study for a degree in finance, with options for bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees in business, economics, accounting and finance. Job options include work as a financial planner, chief financial officer, commercial banker, investment banker, insurance agent, accountant, hedge fund manager and venture capitalist advisor.
Nigerian universities offering finance and finance-related degrees include Babcock University, Bowen University and Landmark University.
Front End Web Developer
Nigeria has become a center for web development over the past few years and there’s a high demand for individuals with specialized software skills. A front-end web developer produces HTML, JavaScript and CSS for a website or web app to enable the site visitor to see and interact with the business directly. Developers need to constantly be aware of how the field is developing because the technology changes so quickly.
You don’t need to have a degree to be a web developer though a background in math and science can be helpful. You need to be creative and able to trouble-shoot, know languages such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript and the CSS frameworks so that you can communicate with programming languages.
There are many online programs that teach front end web development so you can access these programs on the Internet and learn the skills needed at your own pace.