Lagos is Nigeria’s commercial capital and its biggest job market: banking, telecoms, oil and gas services, consulting, tech, media, manufacturing and the vast informal economy behind them all. Competition for good jobs is fierce, and most of them are still found through people.

Where to look

  • Your network. More Lagos jobs are filled by referral than by advertisement. Tell everyone you know what you are looking for.
  • LinkedIn, which most Lagos employers and recruiters use, and Nigerian job boards such as Jobberman and MyJobMag.
  • Graduate trainee programmes at the banks, the large consultancies and the multinationals, which recruit in yearly rounds.
  • Recruitment agencies, for experienced hires. A legitimate agency is paid by the employer, not by you.
  • Your NYSC placement. Many companies keep the corps members who impress them. See NYSC.

What you will be asked for

  • Your CV, usually with a passport photograph only if they ask.
  • Your certificates, originals for sight.
  • Your NYSC discharge certificate, exemption certificate or exclusion letter, if you are a Nigerian graduate.
  • Your NIN, BVN and an account in your own name for salary.
  • Guarantors, often - one or two people of standing who vouch for you in writing.
  • A medical, sometimes, paid for by the employer.

How pay works

A Nigerian salary is usually quoted as an annual gross figure split into basic, housing, transport and other allowances. The split matters: your pension is calculated on basic, housing and transport, and the National Housing Fund on basic alone, so two offers with the same gross can leave different amounts in your account.

From your gross your employer deducts PAYE income tax, which goes to the LIRS if you live in Lagos, your pension contribution and, often, NHF. Ask for the net figure and the split before you accept.

Graduate entry pay in Lagos runs from roughly ₦150,000 to ₦450,000 a month gross, with banks, consultancies and the large multinationals at the top and many small firms well below.

Income tax and the LIRS

Before you accept

  • Get the offer in writing, with the salary split, the leave, the notice period and the probation terms.
  • Ask about health insurance, which most good employers provide through an HMO.
  • Do the commute at rush hour. A job on the Island and a home on the Mainland is a different job.

Your rights as an employee

Danger

Never pay to get a job. Not for an application form, an interview, a test, training, a medical, a uniform or “processing”. Offers that ask - especially ones using the names of oil companies, banks or government agencies - are scams. See scams in Lagos.

If you are not Nigerian

You need a job before you need a permit. Your employer applies for an expatriate quota position and sponsors your residence; you then hold a CERPAC. See moving to Lagos.