Should You Consider Self Employment?

Self employment meaning: It refers to being one’s own employer – your own boss – rather than relying on someone else to employ you to work for him in his own business. There has been an increasing call for entrepreneurship in the country, given what many people prefer to call the deplorable state of the labour market.


If you happen to be out of work, you are probably asking yourself whether you should consider your own business or continue waiting for the right job to come your way. The information presented here should help you in making the right decision.

The Employment Situation

It will be right to say Nigeria currently has a terrible unemployment situation in need of solution. There are hundreds of thousands young people in the country who are either under-employed or completely unemployed.

On top of this, higher institutions of learning churn out graduates into the labour market every year. The sad thing here is that the system of education in Nigeria places less emphasis on self employment, but more on preparing people for jobs which do not seem readily available.

Those lucky enough to have a job also have their own problems to deal with. Many have to make do with meagre salaries. It is also not uncommon to hear of workers being owed salaries for several months by employers, including government.

Many workers were not even paid their salaries during the last end-of-the-year festive period. Employees, especially those in private, non-unionized establishments, are often reluctant to protest for better treatment to demand for better treatment for fear of being given the sack.

The unemployment situation in Nigeria often leads to those looking for work being advised to become self-employed. There are benefits for self employed, but capital is usually an issue. Imagine a fresh, unemployed graduate being asked for collateral security to access loans, where will he get that from? Little wonder then that many of such sometimes end up riding commercial motorcycles (okadas), which could put them in harm’s way.

Small business owners are also having it rough with irregular power supply and high taxation, amongst other issues. Some of these businesses are often forced to pack up due to the challenges of doing business in Nigeria.

Culled from nigeriawebsuccess.com.