From Screen to Livelihood: The Real Cost of Nigeria’s Creator Economy
By Ibrahim Isaac, Maiduguri
The Stage
When the music starts, Ezekiel and the members of his dance team are ready. A phone is positioned to capture the performance as they rehearse, repeat movements, and make corrections. They are not inside a television studio or a professional production house. Their workplace is wherever they find a suitable background.
Before the final recording, there are several takes. They watch the footage and discuss what needs to be recorded again. Sometimes the process takes about an hour. When the best take is selected, the work is still not over. The video has to be edited before it can be published.
For Ezekiel, a Nigerian Amapiano dancer who has been dancing for about six years, content creation is more than simply recording himself dancing. It requires mobile data, equipment, editing applications, time, and an understanding of how to attract an audience.
READ ALSO: Tinubu: Nigeria Reduces Dependence on Oil Revenue, Targets More Diversified Economy
“I invest money in it for data and other things I need, but what I get is not enough for me to buy data,” he said.
His experience captures a contradiction at the heart of Nigeria’s growing digital creative space: the phone can open the door to an audience, but keeping that door open is costly.
Nigeria’s digital population provides a potentially large audience for such creators. DataReportal reported 107 million internet users in Nigeria in January 2025, representing 45.4 percent of the population. It also recorded 38.7 million social media user identities at the time, while noting that social media identities should not automatically be treated as unique individuals.
For young Nigerians, this growing digital space has created opportunities to turn creativity, skills, and ideas into work. But the nature of the creator economy is more complicated than the image of young people becoming rich simply by posting online.
For some youths, content creation is already a source of income. For others, it is a developing career. For people like Isaac Kaigama, it is currently a creative pursuit that costs money rather than generating income.
More Than Influencers
The phrase “content creator” often brings to mind influencers, dancers, comedians, or people speaking directly into cameras. But the digital creative economy is much wider.
Oladepo Matthew Olatunbosun, a Nigerian graphic designer, works mainly from his phone and computer. His tools include Adobe Photoshop, CorelDRAW, and Canva. A job begins with contacting the client, receiving resources and other information, and ends with final corrections before the finished design is delivered.
The work can take some days, depending on the type of design and his academic workload.
His first designs were simple flyers and social media graphics. With consistency, the work developed into a service for individuals, organisations and small businesses.
But earning from the skill does not mean that every client relationship is smooth.
Friends and acquaintances sometimes ask for discounted rates, making it difficult to charge what a professional job may normally cost.
“Because they are my friends, I sometimes find it difficult to charge them the amount I would normally charge a client,” Matthew said.
The creator economy, therefore, extends beyond people appearing in front of the camera. It includes people designing graphics, editing videos, managing social media pages, producing podcasts, writing, photographing, and filming for marketing, entertainment, or other purposes.
When Content Doesn’t Pay the Bills
Isaac Kaigama entered podcasting for a different reason.
“I started podcasting because I wanted a platform where I can talk to young people like me about issues that concern us,” he said. “I felt like I had a lot to say, and through podcasting, I have a platform to say those things.”
He has already explored other forms of content, but podcasting gave him what he described as more room for expression.
Before releasing his first episode, he told family members and friends about his plans. By the time the episode arrived, some people were already waiting for it.
Yet there is currently no financial reward waiting for him.
“I do not make any money from my podcast. At least not yet,” he said.
Kaigama has not received sponsorship, and he turned down paid advertising offers.
Producing an episode costs him roughly ₦5,000 because he uses his equipment and handles the editing himself. Data is currently his main expense.
He started with only a phone and a laptop for editing. He now also has microphones.
An episode can take between three and seven days from planning to recording and publication.
For Kaigama, one of the greatest difficulties is attracting listeners.
“Most people no longer like content that is not comedy or music or dance,” he said.
Yet he remains convinced that podcasting can become a sustainable career for young Nigerians.
“I don’t think it. I KNOW it will become a sustainable career for young people down here,” he said, pointing to podcasters in other countries who have built successful careers and expressing hope that he and other young people will excel in the digital space.
The Cost of Creating
Behind the polished videos, good graphics, and carefully edited podcast episodes is an expense that audiences may never see.
Data has to be purchased. Devices need to be maintained. Editing applications and other digital resources may cost money. Cameras, microphones, tripods, and other equipment can improve production but may be beyond the reach of some young creators.
John Buba, an expert in content analysis, said content creation is already providing employment for many Nigerians and could become an increasingly important option for young people.
He identified equipment and payment systems as major challenges facing content creators.
According to Buba, good equipment can help improve content quality, which can in turn help creators attract audiences and increase engagement. But the equipment itself can be expensive for some creators.
Ezekiel’s experience illustrates that challenge. His content is produced on a phone, using mobile data to access editing applications and social media platforms. His team spends time rehearsing and reviewing recordings before publication.
Matthew faces similar digital costs. Mobile data is necessary for communicating with clients, downloading resources, and sending finished work.
For Kaigama, the financial burden is more concrete: about ₦5,000 per podcast episode, while the podcast itself currently generates no income.
The idea that a person simply posts online ignores much of the work that happens before content reaches an audience.
Not Everyone Is Making Millions
For many, the title “creator” can suggest success. Social media can make it appear that everyone is earning from their content.
The experiences of these young Nigerians tell a different story.
Ezekiel receives gifts during TikTok Live sessions but says his earnings are not enough to cover his data expenses.
Kaigama has yet to earn money from his podcast.
Matthew earns from graphic-design jobs but has to balance creative work with academic responsibilities and navigate the difficulty of pricing work for friends.
Their experiences suggest that an audience is not automatically an income, and a social media account is not automatically a business.
There is also another distinction. Not everyone using social media is there to make money.
For some Nigerians, social media is simply a place to pass time, watch comedy, listen to music, follow celebrities, keep up with sports, communicate with friends, or share personal moments. A person scrolling through TikTok may be looking for entertainment, not a business opportunity.
An audience member is not necessarily a creator, and a social media account is not necessarily a source of income.
The Rules Behind the Screens
There is another risk for creators whose work depends on platforms they do not own.
Ezekiel said he experienced this himself.
He said he spent ₦10,000 promoting his Facebook account, but the account was later banned. He also said he had earned $25 that he had not withdrawn.
His experience illustrates the dependence creators can have on privately owned platforms.
At the same time, platform rules serve purposes beyond protecting a creator’s income. Platforms have to address issues such as copyright infringement, scams, harmful content, and other violations.
For creators, the challenge is learning how these systems work, protecting their work and understanding the options available when their content or accounts are restricted, Buba said.
Content Creation as Work
For Buba, the growth of content creation should not be dismissed as merely a social media trend.
He said many Nigerians are already employed through content creation and described it as a potentially good option for Nigerians.
The experiences of Ezekiel, Matthew, and Kaigama show why.
One person can create dance videos. Another can design graphics for businesses. Another can produce a podcast. Around these activities are other possible roles: video editors, photographers, sound engineers, social media managers, writers, designers, marketers, and other creative workers.
The opportunity is therefore not limited to becoming a champion in the digital space.
Matthew’s story demonstrates that a person can build an income around a skill. Ezekiel’s experience demonstrates the effort required to build and maintain an audience. Kaigama’s experience demonstrates that creative work can exist before commercial success arrives.
The difficult question is whether the opportunity can become sustainable.
That depends not only on creativity but also on access to equipment, affordable connectivity, payment systems, skills, markets, and audiences.
Government and the Digital Future
The Nigerian government has also recognised the importance of digital skills and talent development.
The Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy’s 3 Million Technical Talent programme (3MTT) is designed to build Nigeria’s digital workforce. The programme’s official website says its first phase began with 30,000 fellows across the 36 states and the FCT, while its second phase was planned to train a further 270,000 technical talents.
The programme’s initial skills include areas such as animation, UI/UX design, software development, data analysis, game development, and cybersecurity.
The programme is broader than social media content creation, but it reflects the wider shift towards digital skills and technology-enabled work.
For young creators, however, training is only part of the equation.
The question is therefore not simply whether young Nigerians can create.
They do already.
The bigger question is whether the environment around them can help turn that creativity into sustainable work.
From Screens to Livelihood
The promise of the creator economy is not as simple as “post and become rich”.
For Ezekiel, there are hours of rehearsals, repeated recordings and corrections.
For Matthew, there is the skill behind every graphic, the cost of digital resources and the challenge of balancing creative work with university life.
For Kaigama, there are three to seven days of work behind an episode that currently earns him nothing.
Yet none of their stories ends with giving up. They continue to create. Their stories show how young Nigerians are finding new ways to work, connect, and share their stories in a country where the phone is now more than just a tool for making calls.
It can be a camera.
A recording studio.
A design office.
A newsroom.
A marketing department.
And, potentially, a source of livelihood.
But the journey from a screen to sustainable income is not guaranteed.
For Nigeria’s young creators, the challenge now is not simply to get online.
It is to find a way to make creativity last.
Ibrahim Isaac Mass communication student and feature writer, based in Maiduguri. He can be reached via Ibrahimiseec419@gmail.com
