Topic: Lets take out time and reflect on this!!!

It is very obvious that our nation Nigeria has gone beyond its breaking point when it comes to the issues concerning unemployment and youth development. The story is a very sad one and nothing is being done to remedy the ever deteriorating situation. The nation is currently focused on executing a successful 2011 elections and a lot of monies has been sunk into this upcoming event whereas there are so many issues requiring the same attention that are yet to be addressed. For instance the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC received over 79Billion Naira to prepare for the 2011 polls whereas the nation is in a state of total decay and yearning for attention. How much have we invested on education, the production sector, job creation and youth development? Our leaders have failed to realize that excessive expenditure on elections will never solve any problem in this country. First of all we need to get the electoral system right before we involve other factors like logistics, planning, finances and security. The election as it stands is an all important event that must be executed to pave way for a new government. Like every new government, there should be new ideas, innovations and hopes of positive changes in the system but it is time for the youth to sit down and ask themselves this question “Have our lives really changed?” Since the inception of democracy in 1999, I can authoritatively say a big “No” to that question.


Every year thousands of youths are churned out from the universities into the job market. They are not only made to roam the streets in search of jobs but also travel from one city to the other, jump from one Aptitude test centre to the other, stand for long hours in the blazing sun and also become victims of fraud from recruiting agencies. In recent past, the situation has deteriorated to stampede, suffocation and instant death all in the bid to secure a job. I’ve also learnt the term “gate crashing”, a situation where job seekers come to test centers uninvited hoping to participate in the exercise. This trend is so demeaning that the organizers of such exercises now have a filled day with it. The new trend now which has been widely condemned is the payment for application forms as with the case of FRSC and NDLEA recruitments. It was reported that both agencies netted over 750Million Naira from job seekers and nobody has been held accountable for such extortion. If the truth be told, I feel that Mr. Osita Chidoka and Alhaji Ahmed Giade should be questioned on how these monies where spent. This is a very good case for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to look into but it seems that every time we listen to the news, it is only the case of a Governor Vs the EFCC that we get to hear about. I witnessed the test conducted by NDLEA at the Federal Government College Awka, Anambra State and it was nothing but entropy at its highest level. Due to the large turnout of candidates, the test was written in three batches and at a time the organizers announced that everybody present at the venue are eligible to participate in the exercise. If this was initial plan, Why then did they allow unemployed graduates to part with 1500 naira purchasing application forms only for them to make it a free for all fight?


The Federal Government really needs address this issue because if public bodies like FRSC, NDLEA, INEC Customs and Immigration cannot get it right, what then would be said about other sectors of the economy. Recently, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company placed adverts on our national dailies for various positions and went further to state that the minimum requirement to be considered is a Second Class Upper. This move needs to be questioned because it’s a big slap on the wrist of job seekers. It’s an indirect way to say that people with Lower credit are unemployable. From a source who wished to remain anonymous, I gathered that at a verification exercise conducted within the NNPC revealed about 40 cases of certificate forgery hence leading to the termination of most of its staff. Then, why not throw the opportunity open and allow the best man win. Our Universities are becoming weaker and weaker every passing day owing to strike actions, inadequate facilities and poor funding from the government. They are mere breeding grounds impacting little or no knowledge on students therein. They are fast losing their integrity because most degrees we see today are not awarded on merit rather one can pay to obtain one. We are in hurry so see what is awarded on paper rather than the knowledge impacted on our students.


For almost three times every year we hear the anthem “Youth obey the clarion call, let us lift our nation high, under the sun and the rain” echoing from different orientation camps across the country. The number of youths participating in this program far exceeds beyond 300,000 every year. They run this program for a year and come out to further saturate the system. The unlucky ones are either lost in religious violence, social vices or ghastly road accidents across the nation. Some of them who wait endlessly for jobs end up living a life of crime. I can remember been held at gun point one early morning on the streets of Lagos, I pleaded with the armed robbers that I had nothing on me and am currently unemployed, they burst into laughter as if what I said was so funny and told me to depart from their presence with my useless degree. With the high rate of unemployment I believe it’s time for us to redefine the National Youth Service Program. Instead of running a 2-3week camping period and then a year of working for one organization or the other only to roam the streets for another a year or two, It is better to provide graduates with entrepreneurial skills over the period of their service year. A sound program should be developed which will be highly competitive, educative and guided by seasoned professionals. Let the youths come together in groups and learn how to create wealth for themselves and at the end of their service year receive a financial boost to take off. We preach entrepreneurship everyday and yet we have neglected the sources that we are supposed to tap into.


It is very sad that the manufacturing sector of the nation is almost non-existent, due to the shortcomings of the power sector and other militating factors. This has caused so many companies to close shop and thus saturated the job market the more. As we hear the manifestoes from public office seekers, coming with promises of job creation, good roads, hospitals etc let us not forget that our lives have not really changed.

Hmmmmm nice one... this is a nice post to ponder on. Good work Im wif u all d way, im tired of doing business as usual its time for a CHANGE! long live the federal republic of nigeria!