Can someone who is in the know please enlighten me on how much IT professionals earn in NIgeria in various industries.
I am an IT professional with a bias for networking curently working in the UK.

Is it that bad in Nigeria?
Why then is the clamour for Nigerians to come home when they will be paid poorly at the and of the day? I really dont want to believe that.

It really depends on ur level of experience and professional degree status;basically ur ability to display ur level of experience is a key factor.
Entrylevel chaps take home around N70,000 - N120,000 a month depending on the company.
Experienced guys are much betta: as much as over N200,000 a month is the norm.

By the way, do u want to relocate to naija because u r being encouraged to do so, or because u WANT to?
If u compare rates wit UK,u will be disappointed,my friend.Or did u think dat renumeration will automatically rise since u r from abroad or wat?
dats weird

Not That I REALLY want to come, but i'm being encouraged to come by friends and relatives.
I am here with my wife and kids. So i need an honest, independent opinion before even thinking seriously about applying for any job in Nigeria

frenchman,

kpele

'

I will never advise you to come and take any job in naija, i am an IT professional i know what i am saying.

brein:

Frenchman!!!

Kpele ooo, eku Londonu, esi ku iseooo gbogbo ilee n' ko

well, i can not say for sure. but from what I heard the pay is usually good.still depend on savvy and your field.

Like I said, I dont REALLY want to come back cos though tax is high here, but opportunities are endless. I am being put under pressure by friends and relatives to consider taking a job back home, especially my parents who are in Nigeria.

frenchman:

Like I said, I don't REALLY want to come back because though tax is high here, but opportunities are endless. I am being put under pressure by friends and relatives to consider taking a job back home, especially my parents who are in Nigeria.

Dont be daunted by what people say, if you have got the right experience and expertise, you can sure make it real good here.
All I will advice is for you to look for the job from UK, strike the deal and if favourable, come alone to check out the job for like six months, if you find the job and environment encouraging, then you can consider bringing home your wife and kids.

I work in the IT industry and I can say that, time and chance is all that matters in life. It is not all that rosy in the UK too and you can confirm that.

Try Telecommunications or Oil and Gas firms or Management positions in the Banking or other sector, you would haave weighed you options before coming home.

Last and the main issue- "Man, follow your heart and not what people want for you."

All the best man.

Frenchman, Let me give you a practical example. My immediate boss is a certified IT guy and major in security. He was employed from USA, Texas. He is a Nigerian. He has live in USA for 28yrs. He came back to work in an oil and gas company. He earns $4k per month. With Toyota corola official car etc. After six month he bought a 2bed room flat in Lagos. He was doing fine in USA but owns no property, he jst spend six month in Nig and he is making it. So It depends on the company and their pay. If you can get a job in Telecom, Bank, oil and gas, ICT Consultancy, manufacturing companies then i can advice you to come back and stop waisting your time in UK. I hv seen a senior lecturer II, PHD in Geologist that spend 10yr in Norway working came back to Nigeria to work as Geologist Officer in Exxon Mobil. Oboy he is rich. He collects $1000 per day on the rig. So get a Good Job first before coming.

sholasys:

Frenchman, Let me give you a practical example. My immediate boss is a certified IT guy and major in security. He was employed from USA, Texas. He is a Nigerian. He has live in USA for 28yrs. He came back to work in an oil and gas company. He earns $4k per month. With Toyota corola official car etc. After six month he bought a 2bed room flat in Lagos. He was doing fine in USA but owns no property, he jst spend six month in Nig and he is making it. So It depends on the company and their pay. If you can get a job in Telecom, Bank, oil and gas, ICT Consultancy, manufacturing companies then i can advice you to come back and stop waisting your time in UK. I hv seen a senior lecturer II, PHD in Geologist that spend 10yr in Norway working came back to Nigeria to work as Geologist Officer in Exxon Mobil. Oboy he is rich. He collects $1000 per day on the rig. So get a Good Job first before coming.

I second sholasys strongly.

home sweet home. guys get real. god is in naija for real

Nigeria ain't that bad. I for one won't work anywhere else permanently outside nigeria, although I work outside naija for 2-3 weeks and return. The truth like some other posters have rightly said it depends on which company you are coming to work for, your years of experience, qualifications and how much you can sell yourself. For example the IT manager for finance system applications where I work (a well known multinational oil & gas coy) earns about 120,000USD plus numerous benefits car fully maintained by coy, full medicals for himself and family, life insurance, telephone unlimited calls, pension fully contributed by the coy, gratuity, stock option for exceptional performance (dependent on appraisal though), he'll get a housing grant after 5 yrs and several other stuff. So I guess it ain't that bad, just choose the right ones and negotiate well, u'll get an unbelievable deal trust me. Bros nigeria sweet o but ur coming home should be strictly because u want to though. All the best in ur decisions.

osculate:

Nigeria ain't that bad. I for one won't work anywhere else permanently outside nigeria, although I work outside naija for 2-3 weeks and return. The truth like some other posters have rightly said it depends on which company you are coming to work for, your years of experience, qualifications and how much you can sell yourself. For example the IT manager for finance system applications where I work (a well known multinational oil & gas coy) earns about 120,000USD plus numerous benefits car fully maintained by coy, full medicals for himself and family, life insurance, telephone unlimited calls, pension fully contributed by the coy, gratuity, stock option for exceptional performance (dependent on appraisal though), he'll get a housing grant after 5 years and several other stuff. So I guess it ain't that bad, just choose the right ones and negotiate well, u'll get an unbelievable deal trust me. Bros nigeria sweet o but your coming home should be strictly because u want to though. All the best in your decisions.

i second you man.

I believe in facts and wot many people have been saying is that Nigeria is getting better. Though i live in the states and i do go home like twice a year and i can testify to the changes.
Though there may be some exaggerations but i've heard news of people coming home to work and earning like 9k to 10k dollars a month. If that is true, you cant beat it, no matter the inflation rate in nigeria. At the end of the day, u'll have more money saved up over there than abroad.

but i've heard news of people coming home to work and earning like 9k to 10k dollars a month.

Maybe offshore jobs in the oil industry?  10k dollars a month is a million a month.  Hmm.

Nigeria is not that bad it just depends on where and who you work for besides we are better at paying foreigners than ourselves all i would advice is for you to do your due diligence before coming over

Nigeria is not as bad as people think comm'on. My guys in british american tobacco who are senior managers (these are guys in their early 30's) go home with like 1,050k thats the least every month after you have deducted taxes and pension contribution and they still have all the normal benefits of car, telephone, medical and all those . This is for a fact cos I worked with BAT and these are my guys that we still drink together regularly, naija no dey that bad now. Its not that its easy to get like that but there are some guys with some unbelievably drop dead good deals.

@seun
Maybe offshore jobs in the oil industry?  10k dollars a month is a million a month.  Hmm.

I find it hard to believe at first myself, i did mention that there may be some exaggerations. However, i got a confirmtaion from a colleague of mine that works for a mill company in naija (wont mention the name). His direct boss was hired from New York and he is being paid 1.5m/month. Believe it or not but to some extent i tend to believe it becuase if you look at it from the angle that the expatriates that were given these jobs in the past will have to be enticed with smth for them to stay.

Great contributions people. Though I did not create this thread, I appreciate the feedback.

I guess the main problem is the number of jobs for potential applicants, especially those
without experience and connections, that needs to be addressed.

But I am really pleased to hear this positive feedback

London, i consider as Rest In Peace!! You will earn your Income and you will pay your bills. The system has been organised in such a way that their money does not leave their country. it stays in to circulate round.

Nigeria, i consider as Struggle to Victory!!! You can make 1 million overnite and spend it on intangibles within 2 weeks.

Now to the salaries. Pls note that i speak as one who has done Contracts in UK & am presently a Project Consultant in Nigeria. I started managing Projects in 2001, been doing IT Service Mgt since 1999 and Business Analysis since 2005, & an employer of labour, so, trust me i know what am talking about.

Unfortunately we do not have a Uniform salary structure for IT professionals in Nigeria. Working for Service providers commands the least renumeration but that where you garner the experience. The boys earn little but the bosses earn fat.

Telcos; Banks; Oil & Gas pay "Armed Robber" Salaries. For how long that is sustainable, time will tell.

Brain Gain beneficiaries collect whatever they claim the earn from abroad even though some of them never worked beyond User Support but you find them strolling around Abuja in places like NITDA; NIGOMSAT; GALAXY BACKBONE; NeGST & so on & so forth, all Motion & No Movement.

If you can speak Phonetics as if you had Hot Dodo in your mouth, Tony Elumelu of UBA will employ immediately. He's smitten/overawed by 'Been To's'

If you work for Foreign IT coys with offices in 9ja, like Cisco; Oracle; HP etc, you will earn $$$$$ but you go work well well. (No free Lunch)

Your area of specialiation, Networking is a Dime a Dozen, so you would not command much over here. Boys have Networking exp even in Uni now so its no big deal.

As an employer am not looking for entry level pple, i pick thoe ones form NYSC easily, am looking for Team leaders, people with exp and proven application of lnowledge and leadership qualities.

At the end of the day, the decision is solely yours. Take 3 months off and come and test the waters and determine whether its an enviroment you can thrive in. If not stay put in England & Rest In Peace!!!!

I think it all depends  on your capabilities as an IT professional and where you get a job in naija, most times when you live n work out of the country you might be more favorable, n you gotta sell yourself high above their expectation. i think you should give it a try for like 1-6 months, if its not for you then move back. wouldn't hurt to try it out. just don't move your family yet.

A recent study of the most expensive cities for expatriates by the consulting firm Mercer found that Lagos ranked 30th, making it only slightly less costly than New York but considerably more expensive than Los Angeles, Miami and Washington. Even European cities like Stockholm and Barcelona, Spain, were found to be more affordable - and in Lagos the high prices are that much more eye-popping because the average Nigerian survives on less than $2 a day. Evidence of vast amounts of money floating around the "islands" - two small pieces of land poking into the Atlantic that anchor the city's economic activity and are home to banks, consulates and oil and telecommunications companies - is everywhere. Dinner for two at an average restaurant costs more than $200. A cocktail costs more than $15. A box of cereal costs $12 at a supermarket. Hotel rooms under $400 are difficult to find. In the aisles of glistening new malls, expatriates and wealthy Nigerians often buy $10,000 watches and $5,000 cellphones. New BMWs, Mercedes-Benzes and Bentleys plod through grinding traffic, bumping over rocks and weaving around potholes. Multimillion-dollar yachts speed up and down the creek separating the two islands. (The creek was recently determined to be too shallow for the biggest yachts, so a dredging project has been started to deepen the waterway.) Apartment rents on the islands start at $3,000 a month, but rents of $6,000 to $7,000 a month are common here, and renters are required to pay two or three years of rent in advance.

But high prices do not always mean high quality. The city was built to accommodate fewer than 100,000 residents, but it is now home to an estimated 14 million or more, according to the state government. So no matter what your station in life is, it is impossible to avoid the city's traffic or its lack of reliable water and electricity. Most homes and businesses on the islands run on diesel-powered generators nearly 24 hours a day, resulting in thousands of dollars in energy bills.Tayo Emden, 33, a British-educated Ghanaian who has lived in Lagos for five years as a director for a telecommunications company, said the costs were just too high to stay. "After living in London with colleagues, we thought Lagos would be nice and cushy, but we're having second thoughts," Ms. Emden said. "You used to get a lot of bang for your buck, but that's not the case anymore." Several efforts have been made to create economic hubs away from the islands to reduce traffic and lessen the burden, but none have been successful. So at least three million commuters fight their way through hours of traffic to the islands every day. Many leave before 5 a.m. to beat the traffic, and many do not return home until after 10 p.m. Moreover, most Lagosians do not enjoy the privileges of the city's new wealth, and perhaps no economic division cuts deeper than housing. On the islands, plots of 645 square feet sell for millions of dollars, and houses built on the plots are subdivided and rented out to wealthy Nigerians or expatriates whose companies do not bargain down.

"Living in Lagos is tough, that's the bottom line," said Bola Sobande, the general manager of the popular Palms shopping mall. "But Nigerians are survivors. We survive against all odds. Until something else comes up, we'll just hang in there." More than 70 percent of the city's residents live in informal housing, crammed into slums with no electricity or water, according to Felix Morka, the executive director of the Social and Economic Rights Action Center, a local economic rights group. "Only the superrich can compete in this market," Mr. Morka said. "Most people are looking for a small plot of land where they can build a shack, or to rent space in what are known as 'I See You, You See Me' buildings with no facilities at all. That's what people can afford. "The oil companies can afford to rent out huge complexes for all their staff," Mr. Morka said, "so why would a landlord want to rent out to the Nigerian teacher who barely is even assured of a salary at the end of the month?" Because of widespread corruption, the vast amounts of money coming in rarely trickle down in Nigeria. Still, more and more people stream into the city every day, drawn by the prospect of wealth absent from most of the rest of Nigeria. "People are moving to Lagos because you can find work, you don't need to know anybody or have anything," said Francisco Abosede, the state minister for public planning. Early on a Sunday morning, as the rich and famous begin to stumble out of clubs and into the hazy light, they are quickly surrounded by dozens of young boys acting as informal parking attendants or hawking chewing gum, mints and phone cards. The boys are paid little mind, but if they are lucky, a small bill may be handed to them from behind the narrow slitof a tinted window of a departing BMW.

What does this cut and paste job have to do with IT salary? Please indicate the page you copied it from, thanks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/13/world/africa/13lagos.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Opulence%20and%20Chaos%20Meet%20in%20an%20African%20Boomtown&st=cse&oref=slogin

I concur. it will have to depend on your specialization and your experience. I would imagine someone with several years of application development, or a specifically a Java Tech Lead/Architect, with solid experience in the US should not have too much of a hard time finding a job in Naija. Of course there has to be companies that are developing enterprise level applications. Jobs that require these skills are plentiful here, and they pay very well.

some facts you guys missing:

1. what happens if you loose your JOB? will govt pay you back your salary till you get new one?

2. are you guarantee to get your pension paid every month when you retire?

3. what happened if you stuck by disease or accident; where is medical system to take care of you?

4. what about quality of life; just simply life; travel from Lagos -> Ibadan without needing to read psalm 121.

@ poster
It depends on what industry you work wif. I am an I.T professional, work in Nigeria and the pay is pretty o.k. at least o.k enough to go on vacation to the U.K every year. Years of experience and industry matters alot. Also Nigeria is still very fertile thats why alot of folks want to come back. If i got a job in the U.K right now, am not sure i would not take it unless it is extremely good, also most folks that want to come back dont want to come back to get jobs, they want to come back to start their own buisness, if its I.T related my advice is if you are a professional and you have some form of services to give any of this industries springing up then hurry back home. If not then you would have to get a job as a specialist. Also run away from this service companies that engage in contract staffs, the likes of computer warehouse and the rest, you will only be exploited. lemme know what other info u need.