Is it Easy to be Successful as a Writer in Nigeria?

Writing is considered a profession in most part of the world and is one of the things that little children grow up to learn to do.

It is a skill that is considered crucial in the educational institutions, which shows how important it is to every life irrespective of age and nationality.

The early form of writing is characterized by different things when compared to the modern way of writing. Today, we have electronics that aim to improve writing through technology, which has become very common in the past few years.

From Apple's iPad to Samsung Galaxy Tab, these gadgets have helped improve the way of communication through writing by introducing proprietary softwares and peripherals (such as stylus) that make it comfortable to note anything down without hassle.

Indeed, technology has greatly changed how we write and how we pen our ideas down.

Writing, as a profession, has become a booming business where a lot of money can be earned just by taking note on various topics and selling it to the highest bidder.

We have different types of writer, such as "creative writer" and "technical writer", that does the job in providing reliable information to the public in written form. These set of writer can also be regarded as content creator, since they're creating value through writing.

Being a writer is a dignifying job, but what does it mean to average Nigerians?

While there are writers in Nigeria (such as myself) that took writing as a profession, it is gradually becoming hard to come across a Nigerian that completely embrace writing as a mean to survive.

In this part of the world, writing to live is no longer what it used to be. There are various drawbacks that made it hard as a Nigerian to earn a decent living as a writer offline and online.

Some of these drawbacks have a lot to do with having proper education and tools required to make success.

Also, there are restrictions in place in most international firms and organizations that made it hard to have good-paying clients outside the country.

I'll really like to dive into these problems and highlight them one by one, but before I do that, there is one important thing I'll like to say.

Nigeria, the heartbeat of Africa, is one of the top countries in Africa that has the highest ratio of literacy.  The data released by GlobalData shows that 77.62% of Nigerians are literate as at 2021.

This means an average Nigerian can read and write.
This means an average Nigerian is educated.

Writing is a skill for educated folks, hence the reason why it can be taken as a profession. However, there are requirements you need to meet before you can be considered a professional writer.

And do have this in mind, the more professional you are the more money you'll earn.

Now, let me take us through some of the limitations that make it really hard to be successful as a writer in Nigeria.

Reasons why it is hard to be successful as a Nigerian writer:

Proper Education

Like I said earlier, having good education is important. You must have extensive knowledge on the topic you want to cover, and that means learning about it. The ability to write articles about various subjects in clarity and in detailed manner comes from proper learning.

Although Nigeria literacy rate is high, its educational facilities and institutions are not up to standard compared to others around the world. There is also the language barrier—most of its citizens speak in their mother's tongue.

These all affect the proper use of word to convey a message in its true form, thereby affecting how a writer tailored his writing. A Nigerian that does not have proper education will find it difficult to make a living through writing.

Ability to Research

While having the knowledge about the topic you want to write about is crucial, sometimes, you may need more than you know to be able to accurately pass your message across in your writings. No man know everything.

The need for doing a research is unavoidable, especially when you need to present facts and figures to back up your claim. The internet made this easy to do - a quick look into Google Search is enough to provide you the information you seek.

However, over the years, I've learnt that most Nigerian writers are poor researchers. They hardly make references in their articles, which can negatively impact how professionals rate their work for pay.

You must be able to prove what you write, and this can only be done by providing references in your articles. This helps improve the trustworthy score of the content, turning your article into a reliable source for others.

Pitching Online Platform to Showcase Work

Most Nigerian freelance writers did not set-up online platform, such as personal website, where they can attend to clients, showcase their skills, and monetize their work, like most foreign writers do.

Having a personal or a portfolio website can help you get more clients to work for, and to also showcase your best work as a bait to attract more.

Pitching a web platform and setting it all up cost little these days - this can sometimes distinguish an amateur from a professional. To become a source of information, you must have a platform where all other sources lead to.

It may take time to set things up, but the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages, which most Nigerian writers don't think about.

Other reasons that impact success:

1. Lack of constant electricity: You need electricity to power your smartphone, laptop, and other gadgets that you use in creating content.

2. Inability to afford tools that can help: For instance, Grammarly is a requisite tool for writers, but not everyone can afford it.

3. Limited payment option: Getting paid by foreign clients can be breathtaking since there are only few payment gateway that let you receive money outside Nigeria.

While these all affect Nigerians that chose writing as their profession, there are still some that are doing fine. It takes courage and determination to work in this career path and to earn something decent from it.

In conclusion, it is not easy to be successful as a writer in Nigeria because of various limitations, some of which I have discussed. However, if you are confident in yourself about it, and you have passion for it, go for it.