Bang Bang Bang
Over the past few months I’ve gotten increasingly worried about the rate of not just unemployment but under-employment. I am of course not saying anything that hasn’t been said before but then the problem just refuses to go away; what can a man do but write about it?
I recall the picture on the internet sometime last year of a stadium full of people (literal stadium, literally full!) that turned out to be one of about 5 centers for a recruitment test into a Government agency! I also know one other Government Agency which had 108, 000 applicants out of which it employed a little over 4, 000 or so. I know - the math is just not good. As if the existing army of unemployed graduates is not enough of a complication the Universities are churning out even more recruits every day. Who will employ this army?
Talking about armies, the focus of generating employment is overwhelmingly with reference to educated applicants but the problem is much bigger than that. I reckon that the uneducated ones are an even bigger issue because by my estimation they are more prone to violence; and therefore are ready material for recruitment into the reverse side of the war on terrorism. If it is true that 75% of Nigerians live on less than $2USD a day, then you don’t need to be a macro-economist to see that this is a socio-economic time bomb ticking away, unattended. And indeed, for the tenders are too busy lining their pockets with the funds meant for everyone’s benefit and foolishly lying that things are getting better as if we all live in Canberra, Australia not right here in the thick of the mess!
There are indeed various dimensions to the problem, one important one being the issue of underemployment which I mentioned earlier. In my office, there are several graduates of different disciplines who are drivers, and I know it isn’t peculiar to my office. Think of the ones who sell recharge cards: are they “telecoms workers”? What is the effect of just sitting there and saying “how much?” and scratching recharge cards all day, every day on their intellect? The under utilization of capacity is criminal! Please don’t get me wrong; my issue is not that every graduate should have a white collar job. Far from it! What I’m decrying is the prevailing economic environment which stifles the entrepreneurial spirit. The Nigerian economy must have the highest “infant mortality rate” for businesses in the whole world! Think of this: why do Nigerians do so well in other climes but not here at home?
Another issue is the fact that many graduates are simply unemployable and abysmally unprofessional; someone wrote after several years as an accountant (chartered no doubt!) that his job description was “doing Bank runs/transactions”! I don’t know whether to be outraged at an economy that has no better use for a chartered accountant than “bank runs” or at a chartered accountant who doesn’t know how to craft a CV! There are simply no upsides to this discussion. I ask again, who will save the day?
Our immense natural resources are being left to waste and no one seems to care – least of all those who can and should do something. I repeat, this is a time bomb waiting to explode. The ominous words of the last verse of Tracy Chapman’s “Bang bang Bang” are hauntingly scary:
“Before you can bridge the gulf between,
And embrace him in your arms,
Bang Bang Bang, He’ll shoot you down”
Is anyone even listening?
I recall the picture on the internet sometime last year of a stadium full of people (literal stadium, literally full!) that turned out to be one of about 5 centers for a recruitment test into a Government agency! I also know one other Government Agency which had 108, 000 applicants out of which it employed a little over 4, 000 or so. I know - the math is just not good. As if the existing army of unemployed graduates is not enough of a complication the Universities are churning out even more recruits every day. Who will employ this army?
Talking about armies, the focus of generating employment is overwhelmingly with reference to educated applicants but the problem is much bigger than that. I reckon that the uneducated ones are an even bigger issue because by my estimation they are more prone to violence; and therefore are ready material for recruitment into the reverse side of the war on terrorism. If it is true that 75% of Nigerians live on less than $2USD a day, then you don’t need to be a macro-economist to see that this is a socio-economic time bomb ticking away, unattended. And indeed, for the tenders are too busy lining their pockets with the funds meant for everyone’s benefit and foolishly lying that things are getting better as if we all live in Canberra, Australia not right here in the thick of the mess!
There are indeed various dimensions to the problem, one important one being the issue of underemployment which I mentioned earlier. In my office, there are several graduates of different disciplines who are drivers, and I know it isn’t peculiar to my office. Think of the ones who sell recharge cards: are they “telecoms workers”? What is the effect of just sitting there and saying “how much?” and scratching recharge cards all day, every day on their intellect? The under utilization of capacity is criminal! Please don’t get me wrong; my issue is not that every graduate should have a white collar job. Far from it! What I’m decrying is the prevailing economic environment which stifles the entrepreneurial spirit. The Nigerian economy must have the highest “infant mortality rate” for businesses in the whole world! Think of this: why do Nigerians do so well in other climes but not here at home?
Another issue is the fact that many graduates are simply unemployable and abysmally unprofessional; someone wrote after several years as an accountant (chartered no doubt!) that his job description was “doing Bank runs/transactions”! I don’t know whether to be outraged at an economy that has no better use for a chartered accountant than “bank runs” or at a chartered accountant who doesn’t know how to craft a CV! There are simply no upsides to this discussion. I ask again, who will save the day?
Our immense natural resources are being left to waste and no one seems to care – least of all those who can and should do something. I repeat, this is a time bomb waiting to explode. The ominous words of the last verse of Tracy Chapman’s “Bang bang Bang” are hauntingly scary:
“Before you can bridge the gulf between,
And embrace him in your arms,
Bang Bang Bang, He’ll shoot you down”
Is anyone even listening?
As usual, fantastic piece Sheddy!
ReplyDeleteFor a very long time my biggest burden as a Nigerian was the level of poverty and ridiculously low quality of living.
Lately, UNEMPLOYMENT & UNDER-EMPLOYMENT has been the only thing on my mind.
The unemployment market is filled with PhD holders, foreign degree holders, 1st class graduates, other graduates, the technically skilled,the non-formally skilled,fully grown men & women with families to cater for. May God help us!
may God help us.
ReplyDeletei wonder sometimes if all the work there is in organisations today is to stuff money in ghana-must-goes! cos there doesnt seem to be work to do. 'connected' employed graduates today just "go to work' without really working at work.are they really "gainfully" employed as regards utilizing their capacity [if they have any]? but bcos they are one big man's son or the other, they have 'jobs' anyway. while the one with no 'hands abi legs' in many places is left with his to roam the streets in search of a job...mtschewww..
then there are the ones who ought to be admin heads and the like and are maybe receptionists or office assistants some of who even do the work of directors but get paid the wages of a cleaner even.
i dont understand but so much is wrong and it is sad to just talk about it.
nice piece Shaeddee!
This is my first visit to your blog and I must say it's not too shabby. Great write up as usual and so true.
ReplyDeleteI however want to know why all your wonderful notes on Facebook do not feature here. Please remedy the situation.