Don’t Rely On Us For Jobs, Fg Tells Unemployed Graduates
The Minister of labour and employment, Dr. Chris Ngige says, “The richest youth of the world, aged between 21 and 31 years, are not employees of government, but smart entrepreneurs who distinguished themselves in creative skills in various areas.” He advises graduates in Nigeria not to rely on the government for employment.
Yes, i agree with Minister Ngige that creative skills are solutions for the alarming unemployment problem in the country. But I blame the government for not creating a level playing field and the enabling environment for our youth to use their creative skills to earn a living. The government has been making efforts to employ the youth, but, what it is doing is not up to scratch. The youth should start thinking of ways to help themselves and the community. I told a lot of graduates, diploma holders and secondary school leavers it is difficult to get a government job in Nigeria today.
Lucrative jobs, by this I mean well-paid jobs, are exclusive preserve of sons and daughters of the rich and people in power in Nigeria. My search in all the high paying offices in Nigeria shows that there is a small fraction of sons and daughters of poor Nigerian families working in those offices.
There are allegations that employment in public offices in Nigeria is for sale. This is now not a mere allegation. I saw somebody who paid a huge sum of money to get a job. I learnt that such shoddy practices are open secret. Nigerians accused some shameless and heartless members of the national assembly of selling employment meant for their constituents to other Nigerians who could afford the bid. What this means is, those young Nigerians who don’t have the wherewithal to buy for a job will die in the labour market. What a gross injustice!
I advise young graduates whose parents are poor and inconsequential to think outside the box. They should put to use their brains and ideas to earn a living. Mark Zuckerberg, Steve jobs and many others in the world who made it are of poor and middle class family background. They are rich and popular in the world today not because they hold a degree, or their parents are top government officials who live on the fat of the land. Graduates and other unemployed youth are victims of the nation’s prebendal interest.
The world in which we live regards and rewards people who have ideas. For this reason, graduates in Nigeria should be creative. Nobody has control over your creative thinking faculty. Don’t be enslaved by ignorance, indolence and poverty. There are too much opportunities outside what we see in white-collar jobs. Go out and grasp it!
𝑺𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒉 𝑰𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝑩𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝑨𝒃𝒖𝒋𝒂 𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒖𝒆. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒗𝒊𝒂 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒂@𝒚𝒂𝒉𝒐𝒐.𝒄𝒐.𝒖𝒌