Nigerians absolutely do not understand or appreciate a writer's talents..
For them, you're not selling any products in which capital has to be considered and profits or loses taken to account.
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OK, I personally sort of gained a little bit of exposure of late and as a result I'm getting bits and pieces of writing jobs mostly from people based overseas. You would be surprised how often matters that require constructive and critical writing arises ever so often and how people need someone with the ability to bail them.
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But sometimes, I tend to think that some of these people could actually handle the task by themselves if they only settled down to write,because they seem such intelligent writers, but then, it's OK to pay someone to do a job for you if they are capable, if it will take a little weight of your shoulder and of course if you can easily afford to pay.
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But my problem with Nigerians living in Nigeria is that they think you shouldn't charge fees for a piece of writing since you're only using your brain in other words, only mental energy without any physical energy invested.
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Nigerians have little to no regard for mental exertions, all they often think is worthy of payment for is a job that requires straining of muscles, breaking of sweat and burning up calories but that is an aberration in a world were the smart ones rules over the strong ones and does with them as they please.
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When a Nigerian contracts me for a writing job, despite that I try to keep my fees very affordable and minimum to the barest because of the reality of our economy, they are never satisfied, all they want is either you do the job for me, or they send you a token of airtime and feel they are doing one a favour on top of that.
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But foreigners and others Nigerians who have lived outside the country for a while will present a job and begin to talk of prize while you're still analyzing the scope of the job and trying to grasp what it entails.
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They rarely attempt to beat the prizes down. They are ready to pay anything as long as the job is done nicely and delivered promptly. Sometimes you charge them and after they pay and the job is submitted, you start to feel a sense of guilt, like what you've taken far surpasses the job you've done, but yet they'd be thankful and so full of praises for you like you're more charitable than mother Theresa and father Christmas combined and you've done a free job for them. The money seems to mean nothing. The service and the value they derived is all that matters.
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See, when you're paying a writer for a job, consider yourself paying for a service that is in arrears. A backdated payment for all the sleepless nights, the insomnia fueled by a book he/she had to read within a given time and couldn't put down until the last word is absorbed, the strain on their pupils or eyes caused by prolonged steering into dim or overtly bright spectrums of light, the dates he cancelled and parties and occasions he forwent just because he had to read and write to groom and hone his skills, the cramps on the neck or waist from lying or sitting in position for too long at a stretch, the headaches and migraine from excessive reading and all the other minor and major inconveniences they had underwent to fix themselves in a position to do your job for you.
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I have attained a stage were I can say I'm a professional writer and for that reason, when I see other people who can do it like I do or even better, I feel nothing but deepest admiration and respect for them even if our world views are always in contrast because I understand the difficulties we know we had to encounter to become thinkers while the rest of the world slept.
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Thankfully, the talent of a writer is one of the few ones around that cannot be faked, improvised or counterfeited.
If we couldn't agree and you take a your job to someone else or decide to do it all by yourself when you have no true skill and experience in the art, the difference will always emerge clearly from the get go!
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So if you offered me a "job" of writing and I've ever refused because you didn't think you should pay or what you wanted to pay wasn't nearly commensurate with the job, then I have a three words piece of advice for you.
Do it yourself!!
Here's a picture of Imadol. An amazing writer and a friend.
