Nigerian Graduates: Beyond Comfort Zones

BAKARE ADEDAYO A

adedayo_bakare@yahoo.com   Twitter: @adheydayor

The scourge of unemployment in Nigeria with its profound notoriety has taken a backfoot in recent time due to a more troubling reality, unemployability. Unemployability has become the greatest evil facing the average Nigerian youth studying in Nigeria’s public universities, and this is no due to the retrogressing standards of education in these schools. This has shifted emphasis from the soaring unemployment in Nigeria to a campaign for unemployability and it is now widely acclaimed as the major bane of Nigerian graduates because even when jobs are available, there are no suitably qualified candidates.

With my seemingly unending stay in the university having spent four years already and without a graduation date, I have listened to varied seasoned speakers spanning many field of endeavor and attended many student conferences, yet, the perception of the average Nigerian graduates as incompetent and lacking in requisite skills is at its peak. This is quite alarming and portends dire prospects for the massive youths in this nation and their future, so also the collective dream of a better Nigeria. Based on my observations as a final year student, I have come to the conclusion that unemployability is real, pervasive and seem unending among youths.

The sum total of my submission in this piece is premised on the orientation of the average Nigerian undergraduate. The average Nigerian undergraduate lives in the spur of the moment, can hardly see beyond his/her shoulder and assumes a laid back approach, thus culminating into unemployable graduates with little drive, experience, exposure or expertise in their field. This is not unfathomable considering the chain of events that bedevil our youths. Right from high school, apprehension about getting admission to study a course of choice in a university of preference is often not unconnected to the attitude we youths have come to possess, because eventually when we get the admission we erupt into a frenzy of wild jubilations and testimonies that we often forget to have a strategic plan and conception about our stay in school.

We are often told by our parents when leaving home for school to be focused on academic activities and not to join bad groups or make bad friends. But really, how many parents tell their kids/wards to join a student organization, volunteer for an organization/event or make friends. With my experience and interactions, parents hardly encourage this. We are constantly told by employers to develop our soft skills, some of which include communication skills, teamwork skills, and leadership skills, amongst others. But in reality, they do not teach this in our classrooms. This is the crux of the problem (unemployability) at hand.

On a final note, while it is important that Nigeria tackle unemployment, let’s make ourselves marketable. Our attitude, knowledge and scope of reasoning as inhibited us even much greater than unemployment. Let’s learn a new skill, join groups, volunteer etc. Let’s move beyond our comfort zone, there lays the key to unlocking our potentials.