It is so glaring nowadays that there are no jobs for the Nigerian youths with the economy in a bad state like the titanic brought out of the sea after many years, I guess you should know the state in which it would be. Even before our current state of economy, it has been a sad tale all through the years. After spending so many years in the tertiary institution plus the additional months or years of strike by the school, it is so unfortunate many students graduate every year without the hope of getting a job after their graduation.
Some become fortunate by getting a menial job in which they do just to keep body and soul together, the less fortunate roam around the streets in search of jobs that are nowhere to be found. Companies advertise for vacant post but you see many young people applying for this post but at the end of the day, instead of them to get employed; the companies make obnoxious demands. Some requesting for 5 years’ experience with an age bracket included, and some only the big and mighty people that have connections can get the job and this got me pondering what is the hope of the Nigerian student? What does the future have for us?
The big and mighty people secure places for their children to work and this got me thinking what will be the fate of those who don’t have anybody except God to look up to.
The rich and fortunate ones now put themselves in the position of a “god”, they want to be worshipped because they are already aware that there are no jobs in the country and whosoever they employ should be at their mercy.
They treat their workers like they are doing them some favor by employing them and always want them to be worshipped. They met out treatment to them like they are nobody and this always make me sad and I think aloud “can they ever make their children go through this”
The government will say students should endeavor to be employers of labour, they should be able to create jobs and not look for jobs, and they should be entrepreneurs. They even went as far as introducing “entrepreneurship education” in tertiary institutions but the facilities are just not enough to make the students gain knowledge in the particular skill they want. Imagine a hall of more than 200 students and only two instructors teaching them, what exactly are they going to learn? Even the materials made available are barely enough. Yet they say “students should be entrepreneurs” or is it someone who comes from a family that can barely afford three square meals? Parents who struggle to send him or her to school with the expectation of graduating and helping the family to live a better life would still go out there and start learning a skill over again instead of making money. Even the ones that are able to gain skill among them while in school won’t have the capital to start a business.
The society itself is not proven to be a healthy place for young entrepreneurs. It is only popular brands that people go for; it is only beauty shops that are owned by the big names in the society people that are being patronised. So what becomes the fate of a graduate who becomes an entrepreneur but isn’t patronised just because he or she isn’t popular.
The rich and fortunate ones who are supposed to help the poor; they treat young graduates as if they are some piece of dirt, some talk to their employees harshly and this goes a long way affecting them psychologically, mentally and emotionally. They spit out words that are harsh and make them feel less human and have a low self-esteem.
Some young and promising Nigeria youths commit suicide just because they have waited many years without a job and there comes the high rise of insecurity in the country. It won’t be surprising if one of these suicide bombers is being questioned and you find out he/she is a graduate or undergraduate, many have become armed robbers, kidnappers, prostitutes. Most of them have resigned to fate, they have given up, and they are dehumanized. They don’t look up to the future anymore they only live for the day and don’t care about life anymore. When I was young, we do recite a poem in school back then, which goes thus ” parents listen to your children, we are the leaders of tomorrow, try to pay our school fees and give us sound education”. Now parents have listened to their children, paid their school fees and have given them a sound education but the future does not look promising! The future has become too bleak. When are we going to be the leaders of tomorrow? When it is people of age 70 and above that are at the realms of government; when the youths are being cast aside, when many brains are being ignored and only our grandfathers, grandmothers are ruling the country. When are the youths going to be the leaders of tomorrow? When most of them are being killed bombed daily, when most of them have committed suicide out of frustration, when most of them have delved into robbery, kidnapping, internet fraud, and all manners of crime; when most of them are totally brainwashed and used as political thugs by politicians.
Nigeria students cry out, Nigeria students are in agony, pain stroking their hearts like a sword piercing the heart of a lion. The future seems not real to the Nigeria student, the future looks so bleak! I hope our president can remedy the situation of the county as all hope is high on him. These are the agonies of the Nigeria student. God bless Nigeria!
Adebayo Yewande
