The invisible workforce: ₦2.3 trillion and zero contracts
Nigeria's domestic service sector employs an estimated 7-10 million workers — yet virtually none have written contracts, health insurance, or pension contributions. In Lagos, a city where 60%+ of middle-class households employ at least one domestic worker, the sector operates entirely on verbal agreements and trust. Our guide exists to bring transparency to a market that desperately needs it: what should you pay a nanny in Lekki vs Yaba? Is a live-in gateman cheaper than a security company? When does hiring a driver break even vs Bolt?
The Island-Mainland salary gap for domestic workers mirrors the gap for everything else in Lagos — 40-60% premium for the same work on the Island. A nanny in Alimosho earns ₦40,000-₦70,000. The same role in Lekki commands ₦80,000-₦200,000. This isn't just geographic pricing — Island households expect English fluency, school-run logistics across traffic, and the social polish of estate living.
The biggest hidden cost is live-in staff accommodation. A gateman earning ₦40,000/month in cash also receives a room (worth ₦15,000-₦30,000/month), meals (₦30,000-₦60,000/month), and utilities. The true cost is ₦85,000-₦130,000/month — double the headline salary. Our calculator accounts for this.
Domestic and skilled household services are woven into everyday Lagos life to a degree that surprises newcomers. Because so much of running a home here is manual — no reliable grid, patchy water, heavy traffic, large families and compounds — a whole economy of help exists to fill the gap: nannies and house-helps, cooks, drivers, gardeners, security guards, cleaners, and the tradespeople every household needs on call, from generator mechanics to plumbers and electricians. For a large slice of middle- and upper-income Lagos, this help is not a luxury but the infrastructure that makes a working household function.
The arrangements come in a few standard shapes, and they drive the cost. Live-in staff (common for nannies, house-helps and some cooks) are paid a monthly salary and housed and fed; live-out or 'day' staff come in on set days or hours; and many trades work per-job or on a retainer. Pay varies widely by role, experience, live-in versus live-out, and the neighbourhood, and it is quoted monthly for household staff and per-job or per-visit for tradespeople. Beyond the headline salary, the real budget includes feeding, transport allowances, and often a thirteenth-month or festive bonus that is effectively expected.
How you find people matters as much as what you pay. The trusted route in Lagos is referral — a relative, neighbour or estate that has used someone reliably — because trust and honesty, especially for staff who live in your home or mind your children, count for far more than the lowest rate. Agencies exist and add a layer of vetting and replacement for a fee, which is worth it for some roles; informal networks are cheaper but put the checking on you. For anyone hiring, references, a clear written arrangement, and where relevant proper background checks are the sensible minimum.
The practical wisdom, across every role, is to be clear and fair from the start. Agree the salary, the days and hours, the duties, the feeding and transport, and the notice period explicitly, so nobody is guessing; treat good, reliable staff well, because in a city where trust is the scarce commodity, a dependable long-term helper is genuinely hard to replace. Whether you need full-time live-in help or an occasional tradesperson, the Lagos services market is deep and affordable by global standards — the skill is hiring on trust, pricing fairly, and building the kind of relationship that lasts.
It is worth stressing how much the market rewards being a good employer. Reliable domestic staff are in genuinely high demand across Lagos, so the households that keep the best people are the ones that pay fairly and on time, provide decent conditions, and treat the relationship as long-term rather than transactional. Poaching is common, turnover is costly, and starting over means re-establishing trust from scratch — so once you find someone dependable, keeping them well is not just decent but sensible.