Growing up in Nigeria, people’s demeaning disposition to learning a skill (handiwork) is very clear. Folks often underrate it because they either believe it’s too tedious or it translates to dirty work.
Unfortunately, they fail to see the glaring benefit of having hand work – it is a cash farm. Statistics even show that most hand workers make more money than salary earners.
So, while you’re eagerly waiting to get your salary at the end of the month, a hand worker might have raked in twice your salary within the week.
But then comes the question; what are the most profitable handworks in Nigeria? Let’s go!
1. Fashion designing
The fashion industry is big and has continued to grow over time. If you’re skilled enough, you’ll have customers begging you to make the latest designs for them. I remember my friend dumping a very lucrative salary work to go full-time into fashion designing, and he’s never regretted his decision since then.
Looks like dirty work, right? Well, wait until you know just how much you can make from designing one furniture. Now multiply that amount by the number of furniture you can make in a month and you can tell why many carpenters are ballers by the night.
3. Hairdressing/barbing
Making 500 – 1000 from barbing each person doesn’t seem like a lot and that’s why people underrate this work. But a good barber will cut the hair of an average of 20 people every day. Same goes for hairdressers. So, next time you see anybody in this line, give them the respect they deserve.
With the increased use of smartphone over the past few years, comes a new market in the phone repair niche. If you can learn and master how to fix phones and laptops, you’ll definitely be making so much money from this.
5. Auto Mechanic
Auto mechanics are one of the most underrated handworks in Nigeria. You’ll be surprised by the amount mechanics make from each repair. These mechanics may look pretty dirty in their work overall, but it’s definitely worth it, if you look at their paycheck.
With electrical engineering ranking high as one of the most studied courses in Nigeria, you can tell that it’ll be a very lucrative skill. There’s no limit to the aspects of these skills you can learn, same way there’s no limit to the money you can earn.
7. Tiler
This skill is not as saturated as other vocational skills, so there are high chances of making more money in it. A contract of tiling a story building can change your financial status. If you’d love a skill that generates you steady income, you may want to consider this area.
By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
