Its not easy as a Developer in Nigeria.
Why is there so much hatred and anger towards Nigerian developers? I’m probably biased as a developer myself, but the developers don’t have it easy. Its easy to say they should just not accept jobs that pay less than they think they are worth, but Nigeria is hard. And there is hunger out there. Not counting a few developers like the Andela devs and those working with a handful other companies out there that pay well, developers can’t really afford to be picky.
Growing up, I can count the crazy projects I and my partner then, built just to survive. We built a platform that is still being used by the Cross River State government to this day, to manage commercial transport drivers and assign them unique IDs. Guess our compensation for that job? ₦30,000 ($31).
Guess how much we were payed to build calabarpages.com [web, android and ios versions]? (₦60,000 [$62]). For a job that took 2 people almost 2months to complete. And all the data input and support. with an extensive admin dashboard.
Developers can’t be picky, as life is just too hard out there. Sometimes we accept jobs with the hope that the company would get larger and eventually pay you better for future support.
How would these devs still be able to keep their composure and hold back their urgency? They would definitely always be in a hurry to finish up the job so they can take on new ones just to survive. And as you can guess, this would definitely lead to a degraded service.
This life is hard. More so as a Nigerian dev where everyone even expects you to put in 6 months to work on their startup pro bono, and then complain when you’re so burnt out and angry at your self. And these clients won’t even help matters. Even with the low budgets, they would constantly keep changing requirements.
When paying a developer in Nigeria, I think it is fair to think from their shoes. Would the amount your are paying be a suitable salary for the duration of the project, and an extra month after that project for them to source new jobs?
Personally, I started being a happier developer when I stopped building for clients and started building for myself and for remote clients. This gave me the leeway to be more picky and fall in love with my craft once again. And now, even my older Nigerian clients treat me better whenever I decide to work with them. Eg, I’m in the process of launching a technology hub/coworking space which was completely funded by an old client who I constantly had issues with in the past.
By being more picky, I was able to get more respect from the clients, and since I feel less burnt out on a constant basis, I can provide more value and probably come across as more respectful.
That being said, I’m able to be more picky, because I have an income stream from my remote jobs and my startups. Most Nigerian developers don’t have that luxury.
