Imagine a graduate with top-notch emblem for excellence seeking for job in a country where politicians collect billions in the guise of wardrobe allowance.
How do we describe a situation where EMPLOYMENT is only taught as topic in Economics but a mystery in reality? What then is the sense in paying heavily to gain knowledge and still end up begging to be gainfully employed? Who is to blame?
This is the story of a yet-to-be identified Nigerian graduate carrying ‘I-need-a-job’ sign on a road in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, where political gladiators ply through with exotic cars with little or no thought of creating a system to tackle the high rate of unemployment in the country.
The young lady is out there to echo voices of other Nigerian youths who more often than not have nothing to live on after graduation because of the limited jobs available for them.
So, what’s the essence of education if the only thing you keep telling us is to learn trade after wasting four years in the four walls of university. There’s no sense in preaching Entrepreneurship to people if there are no mechanisms in place to support them to achieve their business goals.
It’s insane to only include Entrepreneurship in the curriculum when in reality the system is only favourable to few individuals who are one way or the other have advantage because one ‘BIG ALHAJI’ is somewhere financing them. What is now the fate of those with little or no hope to survive in this greediocrazy system of government?
I am not against Entrepreneurship but only advocating for a better system where opportunity is equity; getting grant isn’t based on entitlement but rather on competencies.
There should be an all-inclusive approach to tackling the systematic problem confronting us as a nation. Nigerians need Nigerians to achieve a better Nigeria where no human is more human than the other. This is time for deep reflection.
Save our education!
– Arogbonlo Israel, a journalist cum good governance advocate, writes from Lagos.
