Poor Economy: More Nigerians Abandon Paid Jobs for Petty Businesses

Gone are the days when Nigerians would do anything to secure paid employment. The poor state of the economy has opened their eyes.

Many employees are now abandoning their low-paying jobs as the wages no longer meet their needs.

“Resign and start your own business” has become a buzzword, and many Nigerians are embracing the trend.

Massive resignations are now commonplace. Many people who recently resigned have complained that paid employment no longer makes sense, especially when companies increase prices but cut wages.

Speaking to Economy&Lifestyle, Mr. Adejumobi Oluwatobiloba, who recently resigned as a sales representative at a beverage company in Lagos, said he immediately started a logistics business, which he is now comfortably running at his own pace.

He said, “I was a sales representative in an organization. It was terrible the way they treated us after increasing the price of their products. We demanded an increase in our salaries. Instead of yielding to our demand, the management slashed our salaries and started paying us half of what we used to earn.

“The money we were paid before hardly covered our bills, let alone now that it has been reduced to half. So, I immediately knew it was time to start my own thing and seized the opportunity.

“Now, I have invested my savings in a bus which I am using to run a logistics business. It wasn’t easy at first, but because I was determined, I succeeded.

“There is nothing like being your own boss. You decide when to and when not to go to work, and get enough rest and peace of mind. I am happy I made such a decision.”

Mrs. Ogba Helen, a foodstuffs seller, said, “If I had known selling foodstuffs was more lucrative than teaching, I would have left the profession a long time ago.

“I was a teacher for 10 years. The private secondary school I last taught at showed me hell. I was given three classes and taught from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. I was paid N40,000 despite all the stress, there was no incentive or an iota of respect.

“I had to quit the job and set up a container shop where I am selling foodstuffs. I started early this year and it has not been bad at all.

“In a month, the minimum profit I make is N80,000. I prefer this to screaming from morning to night without any appreciation at all.

“Many qualified teachers are leaving the profession for other meaningful jobs, especially those in private schools, because of low salary and lack of respect in a very tedious job.”

For Mrs. Sandra Michael, who had to quit her job in a bank, “People outside think if you are working in a bank you have arrived. When I got the banking job as a cashier, I was on top of the world. I used to walk as if I were working in the Central Bank. My salary was less than N70,000 per month.

“As the prices of things increased daily, I realized that the peanut I earned could not sustain myself and my family. The little I saved, my husband added to it. I left the almighty banking job.

“Then I started a Point of Sale (PoS) payment business after acquiring some training from workshops. I also included selling home electrical appliances and phone accessories in the business.

“I now have two shops in the space of two years. If I knew that being self-employed was this profitable, I would have started a long time ago.”

Confirming the increase in self-employment in the country, the National Bureau of Statistics’ latest Nigeria Labour Force report showed that many working-age citizens are self-employed.

NBS said, “In the third quarter of 2023 (Q3’23), 87.3 percent of employed Nigerians were primarily self-employed, with the remaining 12.7 percent being primarily engaged as employees.

“Disaggregation by sex, 90.5 percent of women were engaged as self-employed, while 84.2 percent of men were self-employed.

“80.3 percent of employed people in urban areas were self-employed; this is lower when compared with 94.5 percent of employed people in rural areas.”