The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says that Nigeria’s rate of unemployment is at 20.3% while no fewer than 5.3 million youths are jobless and 1.8million youths are churned out yearly into the labour market. Also the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) came out with its own statistics saying 80% of Nigerian youths are unemployed. This to a large extent shows that Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gunpowder ready to explode if no reasonable measure is taken to address this statistic that increases periodically. To some it is even a conservative estimate of the actual number of unemployed youths. This should not be surprising however, considering the fact that Nigeria is more of a consuming nation than a producing nation. The country presently relies on oil as its main source of revenue that mostly goes into recurrent expenditure in the budget and that kind of economy is largely referred to as “monoeconomy”. Virtually all the industries are in comatose save for the Oil & Gas industry, which is not without its own fair share of issues but can only employ as much as it can.
On the other hand, the government in the bid to encourage Nigerians to participate and be hands-on involved in the development of the country whilst acquiring the necessary technical skills involved, signed into law the Local Content Act. Also, programmes such as the Youth Enterprise Scheme (YES), Youth Enterprise with Innovation (YOU-WIN) and Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) have been put in place but has not largely reduced the amount of unemployed youths around- which is where I come in.
Upon completing the NYSC scheme, we all had high hopes of securing great jobs, not necessarily with multinationals but at least with a worthwhile company depending one’s course of study. I had to wait for close to two months after NYSC or more before I had my first shot at an aptitude test that happened to be for a financial Institution which in anyway is far from my discipline but hey!, half loaf is better than none. So I braced up to take the online psychological test after which I was given the directives for the main test. At the bus station to the venue, I met an interesting personality, only from sheer intuition he knew we were headed to the same venue for the test but he had to confirm by asking. We got on the bus and in the course of discussions he got to know my course of study and wondered why in heaven I applied for the job. On the other hand, he read Economics and I was wondering if he had schooled abroad or wasn’t in the know on how things are being done here- fit into a place irrespective of your qualifications provided you are a graduate. He went further to propose that my course be scrapped from higher institutions since their graduates will end up scampering for jobs. I had to pause for a while to think about his opinion, hmm… this guy really has a point, but the bias in me wouldn’t totally give in to the idea considering the fact that a classmate of mine in the University recently got employed by a popular cement production company and also that in the ideal sense a graduate of that course could work in a wide range of industries ranging from the everly-craved Oil & Gas to Mineral processing, Paints, Pharmaceuticals, Food & beverages and so on. On arrival at the venue, we met hordes of people but I was eager and optimistic to write my first job test while my new found friend who had written several was calm and not really bothered by anything though he was reading while I was not. The test was outsourced to a popular recruitment agency. I was timed 51mins for 60questions and when I got out of the hall, my head felt so heavy like I had been in bondage. I was not happy at the mode of questions not because I was a dullard but because after going through 5yrs of University education and acquiring a B.Tech degree, I still had to go through technicalities and series of screenings to get a job in my own country? I felt very pissed off whilst my friend was nonplussed and signed out with an “I told you laughter.”
In the long run, every other person I know that took the test including myself didn’t proceed to the next stage due to reasons best known to the financial institution or the recruitment agency (because they communicated that to us by an “irritating” mail after months of waiting and my interesting friend wasn’t in anyway happy about it. His hopes were high for a long time considering that he called severally to know if I had been contacted while I had given up long before the mail came in) only to be informed by a good friend of mine whom I had persuaded earlier to apply for the job but had this laissez-faire attitude about it that she had started working there and please don’t ask me if she used “leg” to get in there.
I have since then proceeded to write several tests with sheer optimism and a level of preparation.
This short story to me paints a picture of why our youths proceed to engage in several heinous activities that will enrich them quickly and handsomely at all costs. They argue that the government cares less about them so why should they care while the non-graduates amongst them will argue that those who have graduated are jobless so what makes them special and only a few percentage of them get the dream jobs. I see on Television artistes who should have no business singing, releasing tracks in the name of being a star or with their popular lines “enemies wey no want make I blow…” and I keep wondering if truly the enemy doesn’t want them to blow or that they are just chasing after shadows. But come to think of it, will you blame them considering the fact that everyone wants to be rich and famous. What difference would it have made if they had gone to the University for those of them who didn’t, after all some musicians today are richer than most University Dons or what would you say if I told you that Harrysong claimed he made a whooping sum of 50million Naira from the “Mandela” track he released after the demise of Nelson Mandela! Good timing on his path I would say.
In true finish, most of us are still in search of “befitting” jobs and are optimistic about getting it but the truth is if Whizkid sang that he could die on a lady’s matter then conversely I will say that I cannot die on top any job matter o!
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