Nigeria is presently undergoing political upheaval, one inspired by a long nightmare of dealing with fiendish men of the national security, and apparently, by a government that has long forgotten she is supposed to be on duty every day.
The concrete, physical reality of inequality in Nigeria has pushed the country to the brink of a precipice. Cases ranging from social injustice, uneven distribution of commonwealth, and total disconnection from the government have admitted us into a corridor of terrifying uncertainties, and it goes very deep.
As we face a crossroads as a nation, not knowing where exactly we will be heading in the coming weeks, it becomes essential to think about how the Nigerian youths can still thrive economically. Doing it digitally comes to mind.
The need to think about thriving digitally wasn’t borne out of mere love for the digital economy. What we see in refugee camps worldwide today should teach us all a lesson: most countries are tired of taking refugees. And by all means, we must protect Nigerians from ending up as one.
One way to do that is to ensure that our skilled youths find a way to put their skills to use even if our streets become unbearable, growing by leaps and bounds financially.
With or without the current brutality though, the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic in the global socio-economic activities has changed how things are done. Findings are showing that these changes will remain with us for a very long time. And we must not allow ourselves to be left behind.
In recent days here are the things the Nigerian youths can focus on to spend their time productively and still earn money while working from home.
Teaching, physically and digitally
If this instability continues — and we hope not — one of the worst-hit will be our education system.
Schools will be shut down and children, as well as adults, will be home with little opportunity at education. The demand for teachers will rise, and whosoever is capable of teaching can take the job up and earn a living in exchange for their services.
Similarly, Nigerian youths with computers and broadband internet can also set up their online classes on the Internet.
Currently, MOOCs are making $114 million per year worldwide. And global demands for online classes are increasing, according to On24.
For anyone that has what it takes to be a teacher on the Internet, there are online course sites they can check out to create their course and set it up anyhow they want.
While some of these platforms may be costly to set up in the first place, the revenue you can make from them can be mesmerizing. Some of them also offer free hosting.
Podcasting
The world is shifting in favor of podcasting as Acast reports that 76% of UK listeners have acted on a podcast ad.
Worldwide, the business of podcasts is thriving. And for Nigerians, there is no better time to start than now.
Quite a number of Nigerians have a thing for spoken words, a lot more has activism in them, and the need to speak up has never been this much. But the lure of making money while you do what you love is even more enthusing. Whether activism or pure display of adeptness at spoken words; if you can earn while you speak, there is no need to delay.
Podcast platforms cannot be shut down by the government unless they shut the entire internet down and neither can they monitor podcast platforms the way they manage radio stations.
If you are not sure of where to start or presently do not have money to start, the following podcast hosting sites have free hosting options you can use to launch your career.
Affiliate marketing
If you are good at writing or have a deep knowledge of anything that you can write an excellent review on them, then you need not confuse yourself any further.
From Adam Enfroy to Jon Morrow to Abdullahi Muhammed, a lot of bloggers are making money blogging from affiliate marketing. You can earn anything between $0 to $1,000,000 and you read that right.
If you are starting a blog with the wrong mindset, that is, thinking you can make it overnight, you are doomed to fail.
Whether affiliate marketing/blogging works or not is out of the way. With the number of successful affiliate marketing bloggers that exist in the world today, that debate has been laid to rest forever.
But for youths who are tremendously ambitious, who cannot be stopped either by lack of resources, or by pandemic, or by national crisis, a blinding light awaits at the order side of the tunnel.
If you aren’t sure of how to go about this, you can read this definitive guide on how to start a boog an make money from it.
Conclusion
Nigeria as a country is presently at the face of a storm, a state of anarchy that will drive our socio-economic arc into God knows where.
We can only hope and pray we don’t get to Syria as it is today. But while we await stability, there is no better time for serious-minded youths to start something that may change the course of their lives.
So whether you are a young fellow full to the brim with energies or even a stay at home mum, you can now work from home and make a living or even get rich if you focus your energy on doing the right thing.
May our country be reborn into a great nation and not be destroyed by this turbulence.
Author: Ali Faagba
