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| A cross section of NYSC 2015 Batch A Corps members |
Yesterday, several NYSC Corp members numbering about 100,000 passed out from the scheme. They had successfully served their fatherland in different capacities. Although most of them were arbitrarily turned into classroom teachers, several others served in
both government parastatals and private organisations, yet a very special category served in the capacity of 'ghosts'. These ones sought for and successfully found several means to evade taking any active part in the responsibilities attached with service, they most probably had bribed their way through by conniving with some staffs at NYSC.
Notwithstanding the manner anyone may have chose to serve, one thing remains unwaveringly lucid, and that is the fact that the chains which once served as an excuse for many not to pursue their goals had been broken, the scales of a government inflicted hiatus had fallen off the eyes of all and sundry. If not now, then in a few months to come, many would start witnessing firsthand, the reality of having unilaterally pursued academic success at the expense of several other things.
As I went through different social media platforms this morning, my timeline were all flooded with photos from excited corp members who had passed out from the scheme yesterday. Their smiles extended from chin to chin, happiness radiated all over their being, some took photos of them suspended in the air, while some others baked gargantuan cakes fully decoratedwith all the emblems of NYSC.
Scrolling through these pictures, I had a bitter- sweet feeling for these young graduates, who after having earned a paltry N19,800 for the past 12 months, may spend another 12 months or more scavenging for non-existent jobs, thereby earning nothing but peanuts as financial assistance from compassionate family members and friends. Some may spend another 3-4 years job-hunting and indiscriminately sending out thousands of both hard and soft copies of their CVs. With time, they would forget their qualifications, abandon the idea of what their dream jobs used to look like, drastically lower the bar of the sort of organisation they always wanted to work for, yet some others would be willing to work for little or nothing, some would offer bribes to HR personnels, while some may yet apply as non-paid interns at both reputable and non-reputable organisations. It sure would be sheer madness out there, yes! Searching for something non existent can be both tiring and exasperating.
Many Nigerian graduates are unemployable!
I know it would offend the sensibilities of many and hurt the ballooned egos of some, but I would state it still. Graduates who cannot spell, who have a chronic phobia for writing anything other than song lyrics and reading anything apart from sports newspapers, graduates who have a natural aversion for political news, but would rather watch Soundcity and MTVBase, I mean graduates who still use social media platforms for leisure, spending hours obssessively uploading posts, liking and commenting on that of others with a total ignorance to the financial mechanics of social media and how it can be monetised for profitable use. I won't waste my time, talking about the set of 'ghost' graduates who were absent from classes, hired machineries during exams, bribed lecturers for grades and cannot even remember the topic of their final year thesis. On the contrary, I would rather spare a few words for those that so far have played by the rules, those who spent 6 years in primary school, wrote common entrace, came out with flying colours, proceeded for another 6 years in high school, cleared their papers, made straight A's or B's in WAEC, scored 280+ in JAMB and got the much elusive admission into a tertiary institution (wether reputable or not). These set of people who have now graduated and served their fatherland I pity the most. Well, I have both good and bad news for them, playing by the books would get you into Heaven, but not neccessarily a good job, see there are vacancies in heaven, but little or non on earth as we know it (although i heard ISIS is hiring). NO JOBS my friend, its not a cliche, its the truth.
In the past, companies used to hire a team of marketers to create awareness about their products and services, back then all you needed was a degree, smart talk and maybe good looks, but these days, companies just pay facebook and these other electronic platforms to flood your phones with adverts, yes! That annoying pop-up you always see on your mobile device telling you about a new Jumia product, yes that pop-up is doing your job, even more efficiently than a human would. Everyone knows how much Linda Ikeji have made and is still raking in from Blog adverts, there you go my friend! Everytime linda receives a 1.5million naira credit alert for advert placement, that means you my friend and several others stand an even lower chance of ever landing a marketing job, except of course you do something now!
Entrepreneurship!
"There are no jobs, there are no jobs", sorry I lied, there are jobs and they are multifariously and plentifully abundant. Lets stop massaging our egos, Nigeria is still largely undeveloped and this portends a wide range of opportunities for as many as may want to grab them. Every problem is a million dollar in disguise. Money is just a measure of value, which means people only give you money in exchange for a valuable service or product from you. Now there is nothing more valuable than solutions, have you ever had a problem, mostly health problems? Can you still recall how you and your family had to run helter-skelter, spending money liberally, all in search of solutions? Hold on, remember how you wrote JAMB three times and the fourth time you had to seek for a miracle center, well remember how much they charged you for such a problematic solution (although you may not know it's problematic). What I am saying my friends is that we all should seek for ways to be self employed, create jobs and create a brighter and better future for our families, communities and country at large through problem solving. Actually we need these solutions more than you need the profit, so dear 2015 NYSC Batch A corps members, please don't waste your time and youth searching for jobs that would eventually mortgage your future, but instead, invent solutions and watch your account grow as you put smiles on the faces of millions.
Onyeoziri .U. Favour
(Unilag alumni, Historian,
Blogger, digital marketer,
Educationist & proud member
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