Landing one of the highest paying jobs in Nigeria is no small feat. It requires an extensive level of experience, high academic qualification (in some cases), and high professional qualification. The average Nigerian seem to be employed in organizations where they get little pay compared to the lesser percentage in the labour force that gets bumper pay.
The highest paying jobs span across different industries and sectors of the economy. Some require more consistent inter-personal relationship than others and will therefore require an academic qualification that caters to that need. Others require high technological know-how and consequently experience in the ever-changing technological advancement of this world.
In this article, we will take a look at the highest-paying jobs that are available in Nigeria. Since there are numerous high paying jobs in the same sectors of the economy, we will touch on different sectors and the jobs that pay best in these sectors.
Highest Paying Jobs in Health Care
Surgeons
Surgeons are physicians that perform surgeries – medical or dental procedures that involve the use of operative instruments and manuals to open up parts of the human anatomy for investigative or treatment purpose to improve body functions.
There are different kinds of surgeons based on their specialization. Surgeons are generally the highest-paid healthcare professionals due to the nature of their job. They require a high level of expertise and experience as well as extensive years of study.
The highest-earning surgeons are heart transplant surgeons, they earn an average of 1,480,000 NGN as salary. The next high earning surgeons are Orthopaedic surgeons with an average salary of 1,460,000 NGN. Next comes the Cardiothoracic surgeons with an average salary of 1,410,000 NGN. Plastic Reconstructive Surgeons earn an average of 1,380,000 NGN while Neurology surgeons earn 1,350,000 NGN as salary.
Anaesthesiologists
An anesthesiologist is a physician that administers anaesthetics – medication that removes pain sensation from patients when they are undergoing surgery. The role of anaesthesiologists goes beyond prepping patients for surgery, they are important in emergency situations and help in pain management.
The average salary of an anesthesiologist in Nigeria is 1,030,000 NGN, making it one of the highest-paid jobs in Nigeria.
Cardiovascular Specialist
Cardiovascular specialists are not very common among Nigerians, we mostly call them cardiologists. However, cardiologists are just one of the many cardiovascular specialists that exist. Other cardiovascular specialists include Interventional Cardiologists, Cardiac Surgeons, Vascular Medicine Cardiologists, Electrophysiologists, Cardio-oncologists, and many more. Their area of specialization is the heart, its functionality and diseases treatment and management.
As one of the highest-paid jobs in Nigeria’s healthcare system, they earn 1,240,000 NGN as salary.
Clinical Psychologist
Clinical Psychologists earn about 1,040,000 NGN monthly and that makes them one of the highest-paid jobs in Nigeria.
As you must have deduced, clinical psychologists are physicians that mental health professionals that are trained to diagnose and treat mental disorders, emotional and behavioural illnesses without the use of medications.
To become a clinical psychologist, you must have had extensive training in the use of psychological techniques for the treatment of mental illnesses.
Orthodontist
Orthodontists are oral health professionals that have similar training to dentists. They diagnose and treat gums, tongue, teeth, and mouth conditions – just as dentists do. However, they also diagnose and treat teeth and jaw misalignments.
The average monthly salary of an orthodontist is 1,010,000 NGN.
Highest Paying Jobs in Law
Judge
The Office of the Chief Justice is the highest echelon of justice in Nigeria. The Chief Justice and other Judges, usual twenty-one in number, are the official judges of the supreme court, the highest court of law in Nigeria. They are appointed by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and as such are paid a bumper monthly salary of 1,010,000 NGN.
Other judges, such as Administrative Law Judges earn about 907,000 NGN as a monthly salary. This humongous salary package makes being a judge one of the highest paid jobs in Nigeria.
Crown Prosecution Service Lawyer
This type of lawyer is primarily burdened with the responsibility of putting police evidence to examination. They decide if a criminal case should be taken to court or not; and if they decide it should, they prepare the case for court and handle the prosecution process. They are usually under the employ of the government and they earn a huge sum of 857,000 NGN monthly, making it one of the highest-paid jobs in Law.
General Counsel
A General Counsel is a lawyer that advises, manages, and oversees all legal matters concerning its organization. Legal matters a General Counsel deals with include but is not limited to, providing guidance on personnel law and policies, real estate transactions, laws concerning students, insurance matters, and many more, depending on the peculiarity of the organization he/she works for.
The average salary of a General Counsel is about 806,000 NGN; one of the highest-paid jobs you can get in Nigeria as a legal adviser
Litigation Attorney
Litigation attorneys are peculiar to civil lawsuits. They are the lawyers that represent their clients either as defendants or plaintiffs in a magistrate or high court of jurisdiction. Litigation attorneys handle civil lawsuits from the investigative phase through the pleadings, pre-trial, trial, settlement, and even appeal if the need for it arises.
A litigation lawyer must have undergone tertiary education in law, training in law school and passed his/her Nigerian Bar Association examination.
How much is earned depends on the experience of the lawyer and the nature of the case? However, on average, a litigation lawyer is one the highest paid jobs in Nigeria as they earn 756,000 NGN.
Legal Services Director
Legal services are always in demand by big organizations and the government. Smaller companies may have the need for just one lawyer as their legal adviser or counsel, bigger companies need more. They usually have a team of legal practitioners to handle legal matters. The head of this legal team is the Legal Services Director.
The director oversees all legal matters as they may affect the organization he represents and makes sure his team is always ready to combat any legal issue that may emerge. He is responsible for signing off on legal documents, interpreting such documents, and represent the organization both internally and externally.
Depending on the size of the organization he/she represents, a legal service director is one of the highest-paid job holders in Nigeria with a monthly payment of about 731,000 NGN.
Highest Paid Jobs in Finance and Accounting
Finance Director
A finance director is one of the senior executives of any company. The office of the finance director is concerned with helping a company have good financial standing at different points of the fiscal year as stipulated by the company policy.
A finance director must have at least a Master’s Degree in Business Administration or any financial related discipline as the office will oversee the budget and monetary plans of every department in the organization and make sure the cumulative income and expenditure puts the company in a healthy financial state.
All of these responsibilities, the experience and skill required to meet them, and manage the staff in the finance department makes the job a difficult one, and consequently, a high paid job with an earning of 701,000 NGN.
Finance Manager
A Finance Manager works in the finance department, just like a Finance Director. His responsibilities are similar to that of the Director. He may have the same educational qualification as the Director but not the same years of experience.
The Finance Manager handles all budgets for every department before passing it on to the director to append his signature and approval.
A Finance Manager earns an average of 665,000 NGN monthly.
Investment Advisor
Sometimes called Investment Managers, Asset Managers, Money Managers, Investment Advisers, as the name implies gives advice on investment opportunities to individuals and companies.
An investment adviser gives counsel on what profitable venture, usually stocks, bonds, exchange-traded funds, or mutual funds, individuals and companies should invest in. he also manages some companies’ and individuals’ assets by investing for them and returning their investment proceeds after a certain time, for a fee.
Since investment can be a risky venture, investment advisors deal with many clients on a daily basis, and that makes it a profitable venture. It is one of the highest-paid jobs in Nigeria as investment advisors earn about 635,000 NGN.
Risk Management Director
Every business venture has a level of risk and uncertainty attached to it. To checkmate these risks and their effects is the responsibility of a risk manager. The risk manager is a part of the management and is a subordinate to the Risk Management Director.
The Risk Management Director serves as a liaison for the company to the legal team, insurance companies, and individuals. He must have extensive knowledge in assets and liabilities, risk management, and insurance policies.
The susceptibility of businesses running at losses due to poor risk management makes the role of a risk management director an important one, hence, its status as one of the highest-paid jobs in Nigeria. A Risk Management Directors earns about 570,000 NGN.
Economist
The economist is one of the highest-paid professionals in the finance and accounting sector of the economy. They study and analyze financial statements, sales records and many other economic tools to understand consumer attitudes, and how they impact the financial returns of an organization. They work for the government and also for private companies and organizations.
Their role is so important that their findings influence economic policies. This makes their job one of the highest-paid.
Economists earn about 554,000 NGN.
Highest Paid Jobs in Information Technology
Chief Information Officer
The CIO is an executive member of an organization that is responsible for usability, implementation, and management of computers and other technological devices that influence the productivity of that organization.
Information Technology is constantly on the rise and ever dynamic. Therefore, the Chief Information Officer must keep tabs on the changes that are happening in the Information Technology world to keep his organization as productive as the competition.
The demand for CIOs has increased tremendously due to the widespread of technology and its adoption by many businesses. These businesses need personnel to help them analyse big data, manage their digital information, build a website, monitor their internet traffic, and maintain their presence digitally.
A Chief Information Officer is one of the highest earners in IT with 554,000 NGN.
Online Banking Manager
An Online Banking Manager earns about 529,000 NGN monthly and this sum makes it one of the highest-paid jobs in Nigeria.
Due to the widespread of digital power, many financial institutions have pronounced online presence where they offer their services. Customers need not visit their physical address before they get value.
One of the officers that make this possible is the Online Bank Manager. Like the physical office Bank Managers, they manage the personnel that process the demands of customers online and ensure seamless operations throughout the day.
An Online Bank Manager is responsible for the smooth running of every department of the online Bank from administrative to operational services.
IT Project Manager
Organizations now have daily need for different information technology needs and to get these needs installed, a project manager oversees the process.
An IT Project Manager is responsible for the organizing, planning, budgeting and execution of the organization’s specific information technology needs. He is also responsible for the maintenance of the successfully installed IT devices; software and hardware.
Due to its high demand, IT Project Managers earn about 504,000 NGN; one of the highest paid jobs in Nigeria.
Enterprise Infrastructure Manager
An enterprise infrastructure manager is responsible for the management and coordination of all IT infrastructure projects as needed by companies or individuals. He is responsible for the planning of building and installation of IT infrastructure, smooth running of the devices that make up the infrastructure so it doesn’t impede productivity.
He is also responsible for the personnel that work to ensure the maintenance of the infrastructure.
Enterprise Infrastructure managers earn about 489,000 NGN as one of the highest-paid jobs in Nigeria.
Director of Application Development
Application Development Director is responsible for the planning, coordination, and supervision of the design and development of applications. He also ensures the implementation of the organization’s application to ensure its compatibility on mobile and PC operating systems.
Many websites now have mobile applications to serve certain transactional or other service-demanding purposes. These applications are built to ease the customers’ access to services or products offered by the organizations.
An Application Development Director earns about 479,000 NGN, making it one of the highest-paid jobs in Nigeria.
Conclusion
There are many high paid jobs in Nigeria, it only requires a knowledgeable and well-directed search to get the ones that are available in your line of discipline as it is impossible to cover all the sectors of the economy in just one article.
To get to the level where you begin to earn as much you can see in this list, you need to get the required level of academic qualification that each role needs, as well as a good level of experience.