THE PLIGHT OF THE NIGERIAN GRADUATE

I was at the ATM machine sometime this month and overhead two young guys making a conversation on a disturbing issue. The subject was, if going to school these days was as good a decision as it were in times past, since education seems not to have changed their financial status.

As I listened to the two young men discuss, my heart sank within me to hear such lamentation. Most graduates also have a similar story to tell about their experiences after NYSC. I have heard my dad say severally that in time past, companies queued up to get the best of graduates. Some went to the extent of offering jobs to distinguished undergraduates pending when they completed their education.

What has suddenly gone wrong in this generation? Employers have their own story to tell. Some say that a huge portion of the university products are not very useful assets.

The problem today can be traced to lots of visible factors and it is very convenient to point accusing fingers here and there, but the truth remains that someone who was headed for failure needed just a little push to get to their destination.

My thought got distracted by another lamentation from the other guy. He said "boy, can you imagine that this is my second year on the job hunting business and still no headway? I am starting to believe when people say there are no jobs".

Painfully, this is the way it is with a huge percentage of Nigerian youths. I have met people who went to school to study only to get disappointed that there is no need in the  the real world for what they have learnt.

Our education system has contributed a great deal to produce graduates that find it difficult to "fit in". Now should graduates continue to lament and despair and wait on government to put food on their tables?

The major reason why graduates come to the real world and feel dazed and disoriented is because they had not developed themselves. Let's tell ourselves the truth. The government will never be able to satisfy all the demands but we can decide to carve an empire for ourselves.

The world need inventors, entrepreneurs and creative people. Most of these people who have distinguished themselves as celebrities in their chosen paths did not necessarily achieve this with their university degrees.

I.T is a major career trend these days, you could determine to develop a skill in an area where you can be effective despite your field of study. The idea is that it broadens your options.

An entrepreneur once said, "locate your area of interest and research deeply into that area.  When you are good enough, the world will celebrate you irrespective of your chosen endeavor". I have a friend who was mocked for studying library science, but she stood by her decision and was proud of her passion. She followed it through joyfully and today she is happy.

The point here is for young people to use their youthfulness judiciously. You may not be as lucky as some people that tend to arrive at the right time, but you can make do with your talents and in the end, you will be happy as well.

Parents should encourage their children to pursue their passion, be it acting, modeling, music, etc. If you go to Abia state, you will see a huge market where shoes and sandals are  produced to be distributed to other African countries and some of tthese artisans are graduates too.

Well another reason  people do not follow their passion or interest is because of negative comments they received from people especially their parents who looked down on those skills, talents and interests, despising their days of little beginning and calling them a waste of time.

There is nothing under the sun that is a waste of time. Success depends on passion and consistence with a little  luck. Take photography for instance, there are celebrated professional photographers now making waves in the world. Most of them started doing it as a mere hubby.

I have seen medical doctors that never went to the hospital or lawyers that never went to court to practice. Instead they went back to their first love which was music. Some of them didn't even have an ordinary diploma in the music field, they just knew deep down that they will have fun doing this and they did.  Whether you like it or not, it is much better having fun and getting paid for it than sweating it out in a field you dislike.

It is very true that "a man's gift makes room for him and brings him before great people". When God created us, he implanted some gifts in us. Nobody was created empty, it is just that we may not have settled down to look inward to discover our purpose and potentials. Can you imagine how rich these Nigerian comedians are? Someone probably called them stupid when they started, but today they stand before kings.

I have told myself that I will encourage my children as soon as I start noticing any special gifts or talents in them. This does not mean that they won't be properly educated, but they may just follow their heart if I guide them properly and not stand in their way as a "stumbling block".

I know a frieand who is a celebrated cartoonist. He started early producing comics and his peers celebrated him for the ability he possessed. He told me that in his primary school! days, he would mess up his school books doing comics and his parents supported him by guiding him towards the arts. No wonder today he will never have to look for a job because he is so good and happy at what he does and nature does not have a choice but to pay him well for it.

Now back to where we started. If you are feeling disoriented and dazed as a fresh graduate because nobody wants to give you the benefit of doubt by offering you a job, then you can quickly look inwards. You will surely find something that you can do. As you job hunt, ensure to start working on developing your talent along side and be very good at it. You will soon start reaping the benefits if you are consistent.

An uncle's daughter searched all over for work after graduation to no avail, she later joined the decoration team of her church, and discovered she has a thing for decoration and today she not only decorates, she is a total events person with a huge weekly income to show for it.

A bossom friend back then at the university was always reading the good old TELL magazine, I was not surprised when he called to tell me he has now become a journalist. This guy was smart to switch to his passion after he lost a bank job and was not finding it easy securing another. Today he is happy to be into journalism, something he has passion for.

Another friend that got posted for NYSC to a remote part of Delta State, was fortunate to get a piece of land on lease which he used for fish farming along side his primary assignment. This guy studied linguistics but he did not leave the village after the service year because he was already on his way to becoming a celebrated fish farmer.

So the key to self actualization does not only lie in getting a good job after NYSC, but it could also come from looking inwards and simply following one's heart.

God's speed.