How To Make Money As A Student In Nigeria
Are you a student at any university, polytechnic, or college of education? Do you wish to make money while studying without it affecting your studies?
If yes, then this post is for you.
It’s a very common thing for many students in tertiary institutions in Nigeria to want to do something to make money while studying.
In fact, it’s among the most popular searches by students on Google in Nigeria.
Due to the economic situation of the country, many undergraduate students are often faced with different financial challenges on campus.
Some of these may be the inability to pay tuition fees, different faculty and departmental dues, and other payable fees.
Money from parents or sponsors is often not enough, and as such, many wish to work a side hustle in order to meet these needs.
In view of this, this post is to help those students find side hustles that can earn them money while on campus.
And most importantly, without affecting their study life.
So, if you are in these shoes, this post is for you. Here, I’m sharing with you the top 40 side hustles to earn passive income on campus.
1. Cake Making
If you can learn how to make cake as a student, you will be making lots of money on and off campus.
There are always different events, ranging from birthdays, convocation, matriculation, get-togethers, and other occasions that happen often on campus, for which cake is in high demand.
In addition, cake-making as a side hustle on campus is not just ideal but flexible and mobile.
Also, it’s not something that can affect your ability to focus on your studies. It’s something you can do on weekends and on lecture-free days.
2. Blogging
Blogging is an ideal side hustle for any student.
First, it’s not like manual jobs that will take away your study time.
Plus, it’s something any student can do, and it’s also very cheap to set up.
Though it takes a little bit of time before it starts to yield profitable results.
You only need a laptop with an Internet connection, a properly designed website, good SEO skills, and blogging skills, and you are good to go.
It’s a very flexible venture, which allows you enough study time and leisure, as you can do that on weekends or during your free time.
3. Hair Dressing
If you have hairdressing skills, why not leverage them to make money while you are still studying?
Even if you don’t have the skill, you can learn it during semester break and become professional within a short while.
You don’t even have to own a salon before you can practice it.
You can just approach fellow female students in your hostel and let them know you can help them make their hair at pretty fair prices.
What’s unique is that you are buying almost nothing to start this.
Plus, it’s a very flexible skill, and it’s mobile, as you can do it anywhere and anytime.
4. Dry Cleaning
Dry cleaning is an undervalued business in Nigeria.
But, unknown to many, it’s actually a very lucrative business.
As a student, you can also run this business part-time to earn some extra cash while still studying.
You don’t have to own a washing machine to get started if you can’t afford it.
You can start with hand-washing and ironing.
There are lots of fellow students in your vicinity who can barely do laundry themselves.
Just let them know, and you are good to go.
5. Web Design
As much as the world is going the tech way, web design remains a skill that’s much in demand in our world today.
Schools, businesses, industry, bloggers, the church, and others all need websites to be visible online. That’s where a web designer steps in.
You can learn web design as a student from an expert within 2 months or take courses on Udemy or Coursera.
You can practice it and get high-paying gigs as a freelancer on Fiverr or Upwork.
Plus, you can also get in touch with organizations and individuals that need their websites designed.
6. Part-Time Shifts
If you are running a part-time program in school, this is most suitable for you.
Simply apply to works that involve shifting.
A good example is hotel work or working in a hospital.
Through this, you earn good salaries that can help you offset almost any school bill. In fact, you can make more.
There are other part-time jobs like bar attendant, receptionist, restaurant waiter, and many others that you can go for.
All you have to do is create a timetable for all you do so that your work will not in any way interfere with your studies.
7. Tutoring
This is one of the most popular businesses on every Nigerian campus, and it caters to extra-brainy students.
If you are sure you can teach some of your past or previous courses very well, you can take on first-year students and earn money as you do.
There are courses you passed really well in years 1 and 2, and if you are confident you can teach them well, then organize tutorials for junior students who are confused or, rather, not knowledgeable on the courses.
You charge each student a little fee for that, which might be daily or on weekends.
8. Photography
Taking photos and getting a passport is a very common thing amongst students in tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
So if you own a camera and can take good photographs and passports of people.
There’s an opportunity for you out there on campus.
You can earn a whole lot of money from this if it’s something you really like or can do.
Students often need passports for different forms of registration. If you can take “wait-and-get” passports, you are sure to get loads of customers daily.
9. Sell Footwear
Selling footwear is a very profitable venture that can actually help you earn cool cash on campus.
Footwear bought in bulk and sold in singles can sometimes double profits.
Just let many people know that you actually sell footwear.
You just buy in bulk and sell in singles. You can also advertise it online on your WhatsApp status.
If you can as well afford to rent a shop around the school’s vicinity, do so; you just go there when you return from lectures and during weekends too.
10. Okrika Business
Okirika (fairly used clothes) is a common business across Nigeria.
Due to the economic situation of the country, many people who can barely afford brand new clothes or even visit a boutique often seek to wear Okrika.
You can start a small okrika business as a student.
The good part is that it doesn’t cost much to start the business.
If you have N50,000, you can start the business.
All you have to do is visit different hostels and lodge with your luggage.
11. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a business that can be done by everyone.
Here, you need no or little capital to get started.
What you have to do is get registered on affiliate websites, pick up one or more of their products, and promote them.
There are lots of sites like Amazon, Fiverr, Clickbank, Jumia, Konga, and Selar where you can become an affiliate marketer.
You can leverage social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, and WhatsApp to promote these products.
And you earn commission from each sale made through you or your affiliate link.
You can also help fellow students sell their properties as fairly used.
All you do is post the product on social media and tag a price that will be profitable to you, just as it was to the owner.
12. Data Reselling
As an Airtel advertisement will say, “Data is oxygen.”
Everyone needs data to be online. Plus, almost every student on campus has a smart phone or access to the Internet.
They sure do need data to access the Internet. You can start selling data on campus.
It’s very easy, and you only need as little as N5,000 to start the business.
What you have to do is register on a Vtu website like Dataups.com.ng or Vtu.ng, where you can buy data at a very cheap rate per gigabyte and resell it.
Let’s say you bought MTN at N225 per gig on these websites.
You can resell it at N350 per gig. That’s a massive profit, isn’t it?
13. Wig Making
Wig making is now the rage among women.
Some wigs are sold for as much as N200,000, depending on the quality and design.
As such, wig making is considered a profitable venture and easy to run too.
It takes just a few weeks to learn to make wigs; you can even learn by watching tutorial videos on YouTube.
Selling wigs is easy; social media, which is your WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook, is what you need to advertise on.
You can also advertise on the campus WhatsApp TV channel.
There are really massive gains in the wig-making business because the price is not fixed, so you can make as much profit as you want doing it.
11. Lodge Agent
This is another simple yet lucrative thing you can do as a student.
That’s helping freshmen on campus find hostel and lodge accommodations.
Normally, at the beginning of every new session, it’s common for freshmen and some stay-lites on campus to demand accommodation.
As such, they need an agent to help them get one.
All you have to do is meet the right people who can connect you to different landlords and caretakers who will get you started.
You earn commission for every student that rents a lodge through you.
15. Graphics Design
Graphics design will be a very popular online business in 2022.
Though the market is already saturated as there are already lots of people doing it.
Nonetheless, you can still make lots of cash on campus because demand is as great as supply.
And if you really design well, your work will speak for you.
Plus, you did get not just plenty of jobs but also high-paying jobs.
You can also earn as a freelance graphics designer on Fiverr and Upwork by getting different foreign clients that will pay you really well.
16. Online Registration
If you have a working laptop, then get it working and earning you some sweet change.
Many students often have different online registration and payment options.
Instead of them going to cyber cafes, why not start helping them run it and getting some money through that? As long as you can operate a laptop well, you can learn how all these things work and how they do them.
It’s a pretty easy venture for any student who really wants to earn extra money.
17. Painting and Wall Paper Decoration
This is a skill you can learn as a student to help your financial life on campus.
Some rich students are often engrossed with making their room look nice.
So, many often like repainting their rooms or putting up wall papers to decorate them.
Painting alone is a very lucrative skill anywhere in Nigeria.
The population of hostels and lodges around the school area increases the demand for such skills, so definitely you’ll make a lot of money from it.
18. House Cleaning
You can start a cleaning service to help people clean their hostel or lodge.
Students parking new vehicles in a lodge may need your services, or even non-students who want their offices or buildings cleaned can reach out to you for cleaning services.
So in as much as you do it well enough, people will always refer you to other people who are in need of your service.
19. Mc/Comedian
This actually involves more talent and social life.
If you can really make fellow students laugh by cracking hot jokes or you can MC an occasion, there are tons of opportunities for you on campus.
In every Nigerian campus, there’s always plenty of social activities going on, and comedians are needed.
So it’s a big opportunity for you to earn money while showcasing your talents.
20. Making of Snacks
Snack-making is a common business, especially among young women.
Though it’s not limited to females alone, anyone can make snacks.
You can learn to make snacks like chin chin, egg rolls, puffs, hamburgers, and others and sell them to your fellow students.
It’s a very lucrative, yet flexible and mobile, skill.
21. Cable TV Installation
If you can install cable TV like Dstv, Gotv, and Sirius, do so.
There’s also an opportunity for you to earn some money on campus.
The demand for this is actually among students living off campus.
Many of the rich students furnish their rooms to the extent of installing a cable TV. Hence, your skill is required.
Once you make it known to as many people as possible and you do your job well, they will keep calling you, and you will keep earning more!
22. Work as a Site Laborer
If you are struggling or sponsoring yourself through school, this is a good way to earn a really nice sum to offset some school bills.
Not necessarily every day; weekends are enough.
Just get in touch with the bricklayers and contractors around so that they can wake you up when the need for laborers on a site arises.
23. Apply for a Scholarship
This is actually not a business; it’s an opportunity to make life on campus really easy for you.
If you have good grades, there are tons of scholarships you can apply for.
These scholarships sometimes may go as far as paying you a monthly stipend apart from the normal free tuition you will enjoy.
Though it’s not easy to get them, you can sure give them a try; just prepare well for the exams.
24. Teach Dance
Do you have dance steps and can you teach others how to do them? If yes, don’t limit yourself to doing it for money alone.
There are a lot of other people on your campus who don’t know how to dance but would like to learn.
There you go in, organize special dance classes for people.
For you to get them coming, simply print like 10 posters about your new dance class and paste them in different places.
It’s important that you ensure that the poster contains your contact details and the venue of the class, and you can also include a price for registration there.
Hence, you can start earning cool cash by doing what you used to do for free.
25. Catering and Event Planning
You can offer these services even while you are still a student.
If you already had the skill before you entered tertiary school, it was a smooth ride for you, as all you had to do was work towards getting customers.
But if you’ve never taken it but find it interesting, you can learn within a short while, even while still in school, since you don’t attend lectures during weekends and most events are held during weekends.
Apart from rendering these services to fellow students within your school’s premises and environs, You can also get customers from neighboring towns and cities.
On weekends, you go there with your colleagues and offer catering and decoration services to your patrons.
Events like weddings, birthdays, naming ceremonies, matriculations, convocations, engagements, etc. sure need your service.
26. Join school politics
If you really have what it takes to run for a school post, be it in the SUG, your faculty, or your department.
Then step out; it can help you in the future.
Not just that people holding several positions like president and vice president of SUG, faculties, and departments are often paid a stipend, which can be monthly or per semester.
Whichever one it is, you are sure to make some money through that.
Other posts you can vie for in the SUG, faculty, or department include: secretary general, public relations officer (PRO), director of social (DOS), director of sports, etc.
27. Photocopying and Printing Business
This is if you can actually afford a photocopy machine.
If you can, that’s a money machine you’ve got.
Students of tertiary institutions do hundreds of photocopies and typesetting every day, be it for assignments, projects, or handouts.
Just get a stand inside campus or even outside, and you are good to go.
28. Content Writing
Content writing is one popular online business you can run as a student that will not only help you earn money but also build your writing and vocabulary skills.
Not everyone can actually be good in this field.
Fortunately, anyone can learn how to write various types of content, including web content, articles, blog posts, etc.
Content writers are much in demand today, especially on freelance websites like Upwork, Fiverr, and LinkedIn.
If you don’t have writing skills, you can take courses on Udemy, Coursera, or SkillShare to learn how to start writing.
29. Ushering Jobs
Herding is a very popular part-time job among students.
Many organizations and agencies do need people to help usher in an event.
So in most cases, they do like to employ students.
There are always posters of available ushering jobs within the school’s vicinity. In fact, you often saw vacancy posters around school.
30. Phone Repairs
If you learned how to repair phones before you got admitted to the university, don’t keep it hidden.
Bring out your skill and practice it in school.
You did make lots of money because of the popular demand for phone repairers.
You can just do it from home; you don’t need a workshop to start.
Just post posters with your phone number around school and inform your friends that you can repair damaged mobile phones.
31. Home Tutoring
Home tutoring is a good and lucrative venture for students, especially.
Many parents who have their kids in primary and secondary school but who are not doing well in school often seek to employ home tutors to help them match up and improve academically.
If you, as a student, can get four of these gigs, you will be earning a very reasonable sum because home tutoring is expensive.
Though it’s not easy tutoring kids at their home, you can do it; with time, you’ll learn.
And if you are studying education, it will also help you in the future when you are done with school and working in the teaching field.
You can also organize extramural tutorials for kids living in your area.
You charge their parents at least N2,000 per month for each kid. That’s cool money, isn’t it? But truth be told, it can really be stressful.
32. Do Assignments for Lazy Students
If you are really broke or struggling to pass through school, you can as well engage in helping lazy students do their assignments.
It’s common; there are always lazy students in every class.
Once they see you as a brilliant and serious type, they’ll definitely approach you for such offers.
33. Recharge Card Selling Business
The recharge card business is one that has been in existence for a long time and will still be in existence in years to come.
It’s a business that everyone can do. In fact, it’s not just ideal but also flexible for students.
34. Tailoring
Tailoring is another lucrative skill you can practice as a student without it interfering with your studies.
A lot of students in your area mend their old clothes or sew new ones.
Let them know that you can sow very well.
Even your lecturers are not exempted; just tell lots of people that this is what you do.
However, be sure to only take on what you can do.
35. Publish e-books On Amazon
As long as you have great writing skills, you can learn how to write short stories and e-books and upload them on Amazon for money.
Amazon e-books are short books created in Docx, Word, and PDF format.
36. Start a WhatsApp TV
This is a soft business for anyone who doesn’t want any stress at all.
Anyone can start a WhatsApp TV, as all you need is a phone, data, and an active WhatsApp number.
Whatsapp TV owners make money through different ad placements on their TV.
Once you have a reasonable number of viewers and post reasonable and exciting contents, you are sure to get them coming to you for advertisements.
37. Start a YouTube Channel
If you are a creative type of person, creating your own unique YouTube channel is ideal.
All you have to do first is choose a specific niche for your channel and pick out an outline for what you are going to be doing on each video you want to upload.
In case you don’t know, YouTubers earn money from AdSense ads displayed on their channel through the YouTube partnership program.
All you need is a good camera or iPhone and a laptop computer to edit and upload your videos.
Honestly, this is something that you can do as a student.
Though it takes time to grow your YouTube channel, with persistence and consistency, you’ll grow and start earning millions on your channel.
38. Makeup Artist
The world is changing; artificial beauty is taking over from natural beauty.
Hence, the make-up industry is booming. Most women will spend their last dime on make-up to attend any occasion.
Make-up artists are at the receiving end of this.
For birthdays, weddings, matriculation, convocation, and school events, female students pay to get their make-up done for them so as to look stunning.
Make-up artistry is a very feasible business for any female student and even some males who are interested in it.
39. Barber Salon
In as much as you can barber well and you possess the skill.
Get a barbershop and work part time during your free time.
Alternatively, you can go around barbecuing people in their different hostels.
As long as you charge a bit less than what a barber shop charges and you barb well, customers will always reach you.
40. Sell Stationery
You can also sell books, pens, erasers, A2, A3, and other types of papers, plus other stationery.
You can sell both in your lodge and to your coursemates in class.
At least, the gain you will be making from it will help lessen your financial stress in school.
You can even go as far as getting a store inside the school and putting someone there to help you manage it.
What You Need To Know Before Starting Any Business As A Student
Sometimes, it’s not advisable that you start any business while schooling, as most times it can negatively affect you academically.
Your work begins to clash with your actual purpose for being in school.
Notwithstanding, the current economic problems in the country demand that many students, especially those from humble backgrounds, still work while studying.
This is because some parents or sponsors may not be able to fully cater to the needs of their wards.
Plus, some students don’t actually have any sponsors; they are the ones sponsoring themselves through school, so they have to really combine work and school to be able to pay tuition fees, rent, and other expenses.
However, as a student who wishes to earn money to offset some extra school bills or who is self-supporting, it’s advisable you take on jobs that won’t deter your academic success and provide you time to concentrate on your studies.
Additionally, when you start any business, be sure to let as many people know that this is what you do and that they should do well to patronize you.
You can print posters and fliers and even promote on your social media handles.
To conclude, whatever business you choose to engage in, be sure to be nice to customers, remain focused academically and business-wise, spend wisely, and also imbibe financial discipline and a saving habit.
Good luck in your new student business!
