No doubt, education to some extent is the key to success and most people including the poor go through whatever hurdles to get the certificate. The experiences gained through this process is a mixture of pains and lessons which ought to prepare one for the future. However in Nigeria, even with the certificate one’s future is not sure. School life they say is the best but the life after school is the worst.
Yearly, thousands of graduates are produced from Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of education. The minimum each of these students spend in any of the various institutions is three years and after all the stress, they are graduated into the labour market where jobs are not available. From morning till night, young intellects roam the street in search of what can never be found. Some are humiliated and treated with scorn, while others are given the option of sex. Unfortunately, those who cannot cope with the pressure end up selling Garri in the market or frying Akara by the road side. It is only in Nigeria that raw talents are allowed to waste.
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On their own part, the institutions advise students not to depend on the certificate alone and that personal skills is important. To help achieve this objective, general skill learning are introduced in schools where experienced entrepreneurs come teach students what it takes. However, it is a Nigeria thing to come up with good suggestions and end it with poor implementation. There is no way one could have become master in skill that is predominantly taught in theories with little practicals. In the end, the aim is defeated and students are graduated with no knowledge of entrepreneurship.
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Furthermore, successive governments have come and gone with fake promises of youths involvement and employment creation for graduates. However, none could achieve anything because what they do is to reinvent the wheel. Incapable hands are put in positions with nothing to show and even when the opportunities are provided, favoritism becomes the criteria and merit is never acknowledged. You can have your first class and be the best at what is required, so long as you do not belong to the cadre of the upper echelons, you are not the best. This horrible ordeal has frustrated the masses into tagging school a scam.
The implication of this is that knowledge is dying gradually and crime is increasing. Since priorities are no longer given to certificates and brains are not rewarded, people are losing interest in school. This of course will end up killing the educational system. Also, the jobless graduates are helpless and hungry thereby making them vulnerable and easy targets to be recruited by terrorist organizations or other miscreant groups. Those who don’t belong to the aforementioned will find other illegal means to survive. And so it goes, the Nigeria insecurity problem will keep on compounding.
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The leaders are aware of all these issues and the country is capable of providing jobs but the handlers chose to serve their pockets and not the people. Money meant for industrialization is embezzled by the few and people oriented policies are thrown into the bin. The stolen funds are used to fund their families and the little available jobs are reserved for their children. So long as this attitude continues there can be no hope for the poor.
Adama Ayuba, a graduate of Mass Communication, writes from Abuja.