Reasons Why Programming Is A Dangerous Profession In Nigeria by Gibsblog : October 20, 2016, 08:15:29 AM This is not to scare you guys off programming, but to advice the future programmers to up their game.
first, programming is a very challenging but interesting profession, sadly Nigeria as a country don't value programmers. to proof am correct, how many Nigerian billionaires are programmers? compared to other professions like businessmen, etc the figure is quite negligible.
although it is debatable, I believe a programmer uses more IQ power than a medical doctor or lawyer, but the reverse is the case in terms of their rewards or basic pay.

the two main reasons why programming is a risky field are
1. Too many average programmers, the world we live in today, comprises of lots of programmers most of them are just average programmers. sadly this is because medical doctors, carpenters etc can register with an IT firm and learn Java , C++ etc for 6 months and believe they are competent programmers therefore competing with Computer Sci graduates who have studied for years.

2. No standard Certification for programmers. unlike fields like medical doctors or lawyers who have to obtain a certain certification to practice their profession, the same can't be said for programmers because virtually anybody can write codes but not everybody can fly a plane or operate a human being.

3. Nigeria's environment doesn't encourage talented programmers, although is not a nice habit to blame someone or some factors for your downfalls in life but this factor is something the government and private sectors need to consider and improve on. Banks and some companies outsource their software projects to foreign firms or expatriates .

4. Open Source, almost everything is the programming is world are free (from Java, mysql, etc) most are open sourced for the public, although this is a good thing but this has reduced the value of the average programmer as anybody irrespective of his/her profession can gain access to programmers tools.

Advantages of being a programmer in Nigeria.
Rather than consuming Nairaland's storage space by creating a new topic, i prefer to continue here.

1. They are lots of projects and problems in Nigeria that your software can solve.
Mark Z, the facebook guy is a billionaire today because he solved a problem,
The truth is Nigeria is a country facing many challenges, and as a programmer when you go to schools and organizations and see how obsolete
they do things( like registration, verification, etc), it won't take long before you get a flash of the next big app that can solve the way things are done. if you doubt me, check , a platform built after the founder discovered the high rate of unemployment of graduates and traditional methods of looking for jobs. you still doubt me? check too.

2. Open Source, remember in my former post how i said open source could be reducing the value of programmers?
Well, Good news, Open source could also make you the next big thing in the software industry,
Simply because you can build complex applications for free or without spending much. this means at the comfort of
your room, your laptop and IDE, you can move mountains if you work hard.

3. Internet is now cheaper than ever, Youtube and lots of free e-books.
I don't need to introduce Glo crazy data plans driving other network giants to reduce their data plans, to top it up 4G speed.
this means you can access resources,visit stackoverflow and download materials without causing a hole in your pocket.



so if you call yourself a programmer or you wish to dive into this field, study and work harder than ever, don't leave any stone uncovered because the competition It's real in the real world.

feel free to add yours!!!