Best Side-hustles for Nigerian Students

What’s the importance of side-hustles for Nigerian students? Being a Nigerian student in a public institution comes with a barrage of challenges; financial challenges being the most evident. You might argue that academic challenges are much more significant; nonetheless, you can only purchase academic tools and miscellaneous with money.

Thus, not having enough cash could badly affect one’s academic performance. It could lead to psychological issues such as depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, etc.

This article addresses these financial challenges by suggesting six excellent, profitable, and capital-friendly side-hustles for Nigerian students you could run in a school environment and make ends meet.

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Importance of Side Hustles for Nigerian Students

Nigerian public universities are unarguably cheaper than their private counterparts, but this does not mitigate the financial burden of students who attend these public institutions. These expenses are traceable to the crevices of handouts and textbooks one has to purchase as a Nigerian student.

Dues, foodstuff, clothing, and transport fares are also among the culprits that leave gaping holes in Nigerian students and their parents’ pockets. They often don’t have enough to purchase the handouts and textbooks, much less to get foodstuff and good clothes. Admittedly, all of these can be frustrating. Thus, the average Nigerian student has to do some menial jobs to relieve the financial burden off his parents, who more often than not have to cater for other children. The money earned from these jobs may not suffice the mind-boggling expenses that are breathing down Nigerian students’ necks. These side hustle ideas for Nigerian students would help you attain financial freedom subject to your input and hard work.

Starting a side hustle can be an arduous task due to lack of adequate capital, lack of clients or people to patronize, including focusing on your studies, etc. This is to be expected. Nonetheless, you can also monetize your hobbies to get a little capital. Enjoy the ride!

Read more: How to monetize your hobbies as a Nigerian

6 Best Side-Hustles for Nigerian Students

Selling fashion accessories

This is a very lucrative side hustle to start as a Nigerian student in a school environment because clothing is a basic need. You could either sell designer or second-hand wears. Now, you may be wondering whether you should sell female or male fashion accessories as a side hustle. You could combine the two, but that would be stressful. Female accessories are more lucrative because female folks always want to look good. More so, they could spend a fortune doing so. Guys, less often than not, give a hoot about their appearance.

If you’re thinking about capital, this may not be a problem as you can gain the trust of a retailer who may be willing to sell to you on credit, then you can offset the credit after making sales. Now, with the aid of social media, you can upload your stock on any of the social media platforms, and you would enjoy enough patronage. A quick piece of advice– never make the mistake of selling to people on credit because they are most likely not going to pay. If not, you are setting yourself up for failure in this side hustle.

Read also: Fashion accessories for every Nigerian lady

Catering

This is equally one of the best side-hustles for Nigerian students. It is a fantastic way to make money while tending to people’s stomach needs. The good thing is that you don’t need to open a shop for this. You can render this service within the confines of your home. You could make cakes, springrolls, samosas, etc., for birthday celebrations, wedding parties, get-together, send-forth ceremonies. The list is inexhaustible. People would pay you as long as you’re competent and professional with your services.

On the other hand, you could open an indomie or miyashi stall as a side hustle where you sell indomie and miyashi to students at night. You will enjoy enough patronage if you know your onions because Nigerian students purchase and consume things like this at night, especially when they go for night classes.

Dry Cleaning

This could be another side-hustle for Nigerian students. You could do this from your hostel or open a dry-cleaning store where people who hardly have the time to wash clothes could come to. Besides, this is very capital-friendly, in that you do not need to get too many equipment to get started. It would help if you had two or three big bowls, soap, starch, pegs (for holding clothes when you spread them), a pressing iron, and, of course, water. Now, power (electricity) might be a problem since light is hardly constant in Nigeria.

However, you could work your way around this by using the hours when the school put on its generator as a substitute for PHCN power. If you stay outside the school environment that the generator only serves, you could arrange with a friend or course-mates who does. You have to be careful about handling your clients’ clothes and avoiding theft incidents by other students. And if you’re thinking this side hustle is too demeaning for your person, remember there is dignity in labor.

Graphic design and video creation and editing

This is another side hustle one could start as a Nigerian student. The list would be empty without this skill which has liberated many Nigerian students from the clutches of financial worries. We are in a digital age; thus, one has to glide with the trends and opportunities that technology has bought our way. There is no skill one cannot learn online as a Nigerian student. There are a handful of tools one could learn graphic designing and video creation with. YouTube makes everything easier. You only need a smartphone, the internet, and a data connection.

If you are wondering what you could do with graphic design, video creation, and editing as side hustles being a Nigerian student. There is a lot to do, such as designing flyers for events, logos for brands, creating and editing videos for adverts, promotion, etc. This is a very lucrative and capital-friendly side hustle as well. This is a life skill that transcends the school environment. I mean that you could use this to set yourself up and make ends meet even after school. You have to become competent because this gives you the edge over many graphic designers and video creators, and editors out there.

Crypto and forex trading

This was undoubtedly going to make the list of side-hustles for Nigerian students. My personal bias would not allow me to omit these. All of these side hustles have been selected based on their profitability and emerging trends. The profitability in trading the financial markets, whether crypto or Forex, cannot be underestimated if you’re looking for a side-hustle for Nigerian students.

However, these side-hustles volatility (high and low reward) is almost equal to the profitability and can render you broke. Both afford you the freedom to be committed to your studies while giving great returns in return (pun intended) because you don’t need to devote so much energy and time to them. These are side hustles that you could run as a Nigerian student on your phone and from anywhere. Moreover, you don’t need millions to start; you can always start small. These also transcend the school environment.

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Freelancing

Freelancing is a side hustle path you should tread if you’re a Nigerian student. It is virtually one of the most common side-hustles for Nigerian students.

Why?

Because of the freedom it gives you to make money with comfort, and at your pace, even if you’re a student. With freelancing, you don’t have to bother your parents. You could live your best life as a Nigerian student with this side hustle.

Now, freelancing cuts across so many niches. You could be a freelancer in content writing, graphic design, copywriting, web design/web development, UI/UX, etc., on freelancing platforms such as Fiverr, Upwork, and Peopleperhour. You can generate a reasonable monthly income from freelancing as long as you put in effort to be good at what you do. If you think you need a laptop for this, you don’t. Your smartphone is enough to become a successful Nigerian freelancer.

Read also: 10 best high income freelancing skills for beginners

Conclusion

These ideas on side-hustles for Nigerian students are not exhaustive. All of these ideas require your maximum input to make them work. Even if you fail, you should pick up the pieces and try again.

Time management is critical in all of these, so you don’t make money at the detriment of your studies. If not, it would defeat the purpose of school. This cannot be ruled out. Never allow for distraction. You must manage your time effectively to do well in your studies as much as you do in any side-hustle you start. Bungle that myth that you have to be broke as a Nigerian student in the university or polytechnic before being seen as a student.

Why stay broke when you can start side-hustles as a Nigerian student in a school environment? There is no fulfillment in suffering. It is a sad reality that so many Nigerian students believe that. You can be a Nigerian student and live comfortably.

The good news is, whatever side hustle you choose, you can promote your services on whatsapp. And there’s a very detailed course ready to walk you through multiplying your income with whatsapp marketing. Send a message to get the course.

About Author

Samuel Ikperu: Samuel Ikperu is a passionate, enthusiastic but lazy writer and proofreader with interests that cut across politics, fashion, sports, lifestyle and health.

He hopes to move the world with his pen and writing nous.

He also has interests in music and poetry and networking marketing.