"So, you've been offered a job in Nigeria..."


A guide to knowing what you may or may not be in for
By Robbie Honerkamp
Note: I have lived and worked in Nigeria previously, and still do business there. Still, before acting on any advice in this article, please understand that every situation is different. Please use this guide to assist you... but remember that in the end, you have to use your head and your own common sense to determine if the job offer you have received is legitimate, and if so, if you actually want to take the job.
Despite the many warnings in this guide, I personally think Nigeria is a great place. There are certainly many potential dangers there to be concerned with, and Nigerian scam artists are very prolific. But if you use common sense and keep a skeptical mindset, you should be OK. How skeptical should you be? Read on....
The top question I'm asked about Nigeria is something like:
I've just gotten a job offer from a Nigerian company! Is it legitimate?
There's no way for me to accurately and definitively answer that question one way or another. There are, however, several ways to examine the offer to see if it seems legitimate or not...

  • Did you apply for the job? If you've gotten a job offer for a job you haven't applied for, alarm bells should go off in your head. In fact, if I were you, I'd consider the job offer to be fraudulent right away. There is no company in the world that is going to hire people they know nothing about. If you haven't applied for a job, then you're not going to get a job offer. Seriously- if this is the case, please stop reading here and delete the emailed job offer.
  • Do you have to pay money to someone for the job? If you have to pay money to the company to take the job, it's likely to be a fraud. Legitimate job offers shouldn't cost you anything. Think about how easy it would be for someone to offer you a job for a fee, then turn you down after you pay them (but they keep your money). If you're desperate for a job, you have better uses for your money than giving it to strangers for a job you might never see.
    Scammers freely use the names of legitimate Nigerian companies and government ministries. Just because you have a job offer from Shell Oil or the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation doesn't mean that it's really a legitimate offer from either of these companies. Doing some Google searches will frequently turn up more information- for example, recent scam job offers purport to offer jobs at Nigeria Defcon Oil, Ltd. But if you go to NDO's website, you'll find a scam alert warning you about fraudulent emails offering jobs there.

    If you've read this far, I'm going to assume that the job offer you have in hand is from a job that you applied and interviewed for.

  • What are your gut feelings about the job? How were you interviewed? Was the interview conducted entirely through email? If so, the chances that the job offer is a fraud are very, very high. Or, was the job interview held over the phone? Was it held in person in your country? Did the interviewer seem to be the sort of person that would work for the company he says he's working for? In other words, if you're interviewing for a job with Chevron or BP and the interviewer doesn't sound like a professional, the interview is poorly structured, there are strange background sounds, etc.. you should carefully consider whether the job offer is really legitimate.
  • What is your offer? Are you being offered more money than you expected? Way more than you've ever gotten for a salary before? Some jobs in Nigeria do indeed pay more than what you might make at home, but if you see extremely large numbers you should be suspicious. Some scam jobs offer US$10,000 or more per month in salary. While there are certainly expat jobs in Nigeria that pay that amount, there are also scams out there that also purport to pay that amount for positions that wouldn't normally be paid at that level.

    USE YOUR COMMON SENSE. If something doesn't seem right, it probably isn't.

    In short:

    If you:

  • Applied specifically for the job you've been offered AND
  • Interviwed with a live person at least on the phone (but preferably in person) AND
  • Haven't been asked to pay for the interview or the job
    then you could have a legitimate job offer.

    But, if you:

  • Didn't apply for the specific job you've been offered OR
  • Didn't interview with anyone for the job (or did an email interview) OR
  • Were asked to pay fees for the application or interview or offer OR
  • Are being asked to pay for your own flight to Nigeria for an interview or to start work OR
  • Have been asked at any point for any of your personal banking or financial information OR
  • Have been asked at any point to receive money for anyone that you're then expected to buy something with for another person, or asked to then re-transfer that money to someone else OR
  • Have been offered an extremely large salary (some scam job offers promise well over US$10,000 per month)
    then you should be extremely skeptical about the job offer. If I were you, if any of the above seven points are true, I'd disregard the offer entirely.
    Another frequent question about working in Nigeria:
    What benefits should I get/ask for?
    The benefits that are available all depend on the job you're offered and the company you're working for. Large multinational corporations can offer much better benefit packages than some domestic corporations (there are exceptions, of course).

    Some standard benefits for expatriate workers in Nigeria include: (this list isn't meant to be exhaustive.. I just want to give you an idea of what might be available, and what issues you should consider regarding each one. Many companies will let you refuse a benefit and will instead pay you the money they had budgeted for it... for example, you might refuse the company house and instead take the money and find your own house)

  • Housing: The kind of housing you get also depends on the job and the company. Ask for specific details. Some companies will provide you a room in a company house that is shared with other employees. In this situation, you might want to ask and see if you get a private bathroom, how security is provided, if all housing costs (electricity/security/generator fuel/etc) are included or if you pay separately, etc. If the company provides you with a house of your own, find out when you'll be getting the house- and can you help choose what house they provide you? What services are provided with the house (generator? electricity? appliances? furniture? staff? security?) and what services will you need to pay for? When the generator/oven/water heater/plumbing/air conditioning/electrical wiring breaks down, who pays to fix it?
  • Car: Some companies give their staff their own car, others give their employees access to a shared pool of vehicles. Some companies give their employees a driver, others don't. Obviously, you'll want to know what restrictions there are on the use of the car- you'll want it available on weekends (to go shopping, to the beach, to go sightseeing, etc). Other companies only provide a shuttle bus from their employees' residence compound to the office. If you get a driver, who pays for him? Who hires/fires him if you have a problem? Who pays for car insurance coverage? Who pays for fuel? Maintenance?
  • Staff: Cooks, housekeepers, security guards, and drivers are sometimes provided. You need to know how these people are hired and fired, as well as who pays them.
  • Vacation/Paid leave: How much vacation time do you get a year?
  • Paid flights home: Does the company provide a certain number of plane tickets home each year? Can you use the allotted tickets to go elsewhere if you choose? Are there tickets for your spouse and children?
  • Insurance: What does the insurance cover? Who provides it? Do they seem like a reputable insurer? Does the company have an agreement with a local hospital? How about local doctors? Will the company pay for emergency medical evacuation service to your home country if you need it? And if so, will your medical insurance or national healthcare policy still cover you? Does the company health insurance policy cover your family?
  • Salary: How is your salary paid? Some companies pay some of the salary in local currency (Naira) and will pay the rest in your home currency to a bank account at home. How flexible is your company on this? Can you borrow against future salary payments in case of an emergency?

    List of companies and people mentioned in scam emails

    The following lists contain the names of companies and their "employees" that have been found in email job offer scams. If the letter you received is from one of these people, it's very likely a scam.

    Note that some scam job offer letters purport to be from legitimate companies. I've tried not to list those here, but just because the company mentioned in the letter you've received isn't listed here doesn't make it a legitimate offer.

    Company Names, Phone Numbers, and Emails

    Individual Names, Phone Numbers, and Emails

    More questions about working in Nigeria? Send them to me- robbie (at) shorty (dot) com.