Self Employment: A Panacea for Unemployment in Kogi State by Balogun Emmanuel

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At no other time is the issue of youth empowerment and development more apt than the present time when the youth are faced with so many back-breaking and unprecedented challenges. In a state of over three million population, governments and policy makers are increasingly finding it difficult to grapple successfully with the youth unemployment, the state appears ominously heading towards a dangerous culture that will defy all economic theories and postulations, corruption becomes prerogative of public office holders, as insecurity threatens the corporate existence of the country.

Kogi, as one of the emerging states of the nation is struggling with numerous problems at each level of her education system, outright lack of social services such as roads, water systems and electricity.

The crux of this article is however to present pragmatic steps to tackling the current unemployment
epidemic in Kogi through self-employment.

It is stunning how young Kogites graduates leave the universities and colleges with great dreams and plans of making it big, their minds were already made up to work in banks, oil companies, customs and other big establishments where they hope to hit it fast after NYSC.

Unfortunately, these youths are too fixated on their affluent ambitions of living in big homes and
buying expensive cars that they fail to bear in mind the common aphorism: not all that glitters is
gold, the days are gone when graduates get jobs and cars soon after school. I however, did not disparage such dreams; I simply implore graduates to factor realism into goals. A chunk of promising graduates are not too keen on the idea of self-employment. Most of them are convinced that they would secure office jobs after university; others were afraid of being criticized and humiliated by their peers; I deeply unearths the negative stereotype youths in Kogi have associated with self-employment.

A shocking national recruitment case was a vacancy advertisement posted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which received over 400,000 applications, another recent
infamous case was the Immigration Recruitment Exercise which had 693,000 registered applicants, these large numbers indicate the mounting despair and desperation among unemployed Kogi graduates.

The mindset of the Kogi graduates must be directed towards embracing self-employment, in this regard the government has a key role to play in ensuring national funds are provided to give grants
and/or loans targeting graduates as recipients, in order to promote self-employment, entrepreneurship and give support to aspiring young entrepreneurs in Kogi with business idea to develop and execute the ideas. This initiative should be properly monitored entrenched. The
government should also strive to organize leadership seminars covering students in all tertiary institutions.

To change the trend of unemployment, the prospective graduates must be given leadership training to amass themselves the technique in building a self-reliant economy and securing a prosperous future.

Graduates  must change the mentality which prefers white collar jobs as the only means of survival, self-employment is the panacea for unemployment. Only self-education can make successful. It is often said that one only earn a living with education; but with self-education, one can earn a fortune.
Therefore, the youth must pursue their passion vigorously and that will open ways for them. The
idea is “think OYO” (On Your Own). Every individual should think and identify the inherent talent in him and thereafter make use of the empowerment strategy that will serve him better in showcasing his talent.

Self-employment is a more feasible alternative to sitting around with folded arms, anxiously searching and waiting for government and office jobs.

For Kogi to secure her future prosperity, graduates of tertiary institutions must constitute a new
generation determined to be creators of wealth and generators of employment. The cycle of
job-seeking  by our graduates needs to be broken. Many of us remember Chief Gani Fawehimi for his sterling human rights record and struggles but little did everyone know that he never worked for any government upon his arrival from the UK for even one day? He set up his private practice from day one. Why should our own graduates not do the same?

Of course, you would say, there is no finance, no transportation, no input,etc. Amidst all of that one must understand the path to opening small-business franchises is not a joyride, people who embark on the venture of self-employment are likely to face numerous challenges.

Nonetheless, success is guaranteed if they set their minds to persevere in spite of the odds such as
doubt, capital, business location, funding inter alia for as they say, nothing good comes easily.

Beyond this, one must develop self- confidence and stop being timid because its expected that university education has given graduates what it takes to be self-confident.

Graduates should not strive to drive a jeep before their time simply because a colleague has a jeep. Everyone’s time will come but first one need to work very hard and very honestly for the time to come in full bloom. Let me conclude with the words of Professor F.S Idachaba (of blessed memory) “It is not how many times we fall that counts but how many times we get up and march on”.

– Balogun Emmanuel Funsho speaks for unemployed kogites. He is a graduate of University Of Ilorin. He can be reached on 07034444976 or irule9ja@gmail.com


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