According to statistics, there are about 25 million unemployed Nigerian graduates, and this is a wake-up call for national planning in the area of employment. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has not been up and doing its job by updating its record to help the populace understand the exact figures of the country’s employment, unemployment, and underemployment status.
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In Nigeria, a graduate is defined as an individual who has completed their first academic degree at a university or polytechnic. Despite the already saturated job market, Nigerian universities and polytechnics continue to produce a large number of graduates each year. As of 2019, there are 134 recognized polytechnics and 174 universities in Nigeria, which admit about 2 million students and release approximately 600,000 graduates annually.
In 2014, the stark reality of the Nigerian job market was highlighted when around 520,000 unemployed graduates applied for only 4,000 advertised positions in the Nigerian Immigration Service. This equated to about 130 applicants per position. Tragically, on the day of the aptitude tests, a stampede caused by the overwhelming crowd resulted in the deaths of 16 graduates. Despite the incident, no sanctions were imposed on the then Minister of Internal Affairs, Abba Moro, by the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan. Instead, compensation was given to the families of the deceased through automatic employment slots. Similar troubling stories of employment challenges exist across various ministries and parastatals in Nigeria.
Unfortunately, there seems to be little relief from the high unemployment rate in Nigeria, leaving many graduates feeling trapped without a clear path to employment. Before delving into the reasons behind the unemployment rate and the perceived unemployability of Nigerian graduates, it is important to define unemployment. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), unemployment refers to the portion of the labor force that is without work but is available for and seeking employment, including those who have lost their jobs and those who have left work.
The question arises: why are Nigerian graduates considered unemployable? Below are some reasons for this situation.
Frankly speaking, most Nigerian graduates are unemployable because they lack employability skills. These skills are the skills that could guarantee employment. So, when the graduates lack the relevant skills that are needed in the job market, they may never be able to get employed in any organization. Therefore, it behooves the Nigerian government to ensure that the education system in the country is improved to a quality standard; otherwise, the same problem will keep moving in circles.
The Nigerian educational system is not organized in a way that it could accommodate entrepreneurship in its curriculum. In short, most students read to just pass their examination and come out with a high CGPA. They are not equipped practically or exposed to the reality of life situations. Therefore, upon graduation, they become confused as to how to handle life and make the best of it, even with good results.
The quality of education students get does not tackle the current needs of society. For instance, we are in an innovative era where people make use of their brains more than their hands while working. But it is quite unfortunate that the training in the classroom still focuses on the industrial era. Thus, it could be said that most of the programs in schools are irrelevant to the current world situation.
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Most recruiters in Nigeria request that applicants possess some level of work experience with some years of practice. There is no room for fresh graduates to even learn the ropes of the job before perfecting the job roles. Worse still, most curriculums do not make room for internships where students can learn practical skills before applying for their job roles.
The lecturers in Nigerian tertiary institutions are supposed to undergo training from time to time to refresh their knowledge in their areas of expertise. But the situation at hand is not so. Their knowledge is obsolete, and so they can only impact the students based on what they know. Sadly, the skills and knowledge being impacted are not marketable enough to inspire confidence in the students after graduation.
Education in Nigeria seems to just be a means to the end. Most students are in school to graduate and make real money as quickly as possible. None of them is willing to study to possess the skills that would enable them to make money in the end. Additionally, exam malpractice has become the order of the day. Unserious students bribe the lecturers to give them high scores after the examination, while the scores of those who studied intensely are reduced.
That aside, most of the available jobs in Nigeria are offered based on nepotism and favoritism. Those prepared for the jobs are not offered, while those who lack the skills but know some top people at the organization are offered the jobs. Some of the lazy students also engage in some social vices like ‘yahoo yahoo’ and the recent one called ‘yahoo plus; to make quick money, while those serious ones are encouraged to be ‘patient with God’. This discourages serious students and causes them to become lazy. As a result, the standard of education is reduced.
Most graduates go for their one-year mandatory NYSC program without any plans for life after. The NYSC program should be an avenue for self-discovery for those who lack the relevant skills to face the job market. Some of them are expected to enroll in some skill acquisition to equip themselves practically and go into entrepreneurship since it is obvious that the available jobs cannot go around. They also know that after the program, they are left to cater for themselves as there are no arrangements by the government to absolve them into the labor market afterward. But the reality is that most of them see that as an avenue to spend one year doing almost nothing but receiving stipends at the end of each month.
Also, another reason Nigerian graduates are unemployable is that most employers are not ready to get their employees trained from time to time to acquire skills that would enable their employees to perform their jobs better. They are not ready to spend money on someone who would leave at the end of the day, as some of them put it. However, they are more than willing to use their employees until the last sweat dries off their bodies. When you meet a typical Nigerian graduate, he or she must have changed their job at least three times in a year. Their reason? The pay is not encouraging!
In Nigeria, most graduates feel it is degrading to learn a skill or take up a skill-oriented kind of job simply because ‘they are graduates’. We need both skilled and semi-skilled professionals in Nigeria because they contribute to the country’s GDP. In most countries across the world, possessing a skill or trade before graduation is compulsory. This is because it would enable them to have something to fall back on in case the anticipated job is not forthcoming. But such is not encouraged in Nigeria.
Today, Nigerian leaders are not seeking the good of all as it should be. In short, anyone who wants to enrich his pocket is advised to join politics. This makes us have low-quality leaders at the national, state, and local levels. Hence, there is no quality leader to monitor and regulate the quality and standard of education being offered in the classroom. Also, the communal money that is meant to be used for the common good of all is packaged by a few individuals at the top and sent into their private accounts, leaving the masses to their fate.
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In Nigeria, one of the joys of parents is to see their children through school and they, in return, take care of their parents. They place much hope on their children to get good jobs after graduation. This is the reality of an average Nigerian family. However, it is quite different from the real-life situation where getting a job or engaging in entrepreneurship is not as easy as should be.
Additionally, the bitter truth is that graduating, even with the best result in Nigeria, does not guarantee any hope of landing a well-paying job. Most times those who are lucky to get jobs are being underpaid or are working in sectors where they were not prepared to handle. In this situation, most of them take to teaching, even though they do not possess classroom skills. Thus, the cycle of producing another set of low-quality graduates starts again. To what end would this be?
What do you have to say in this context? Do you think otherwise? Or do you share the same view? Well, we would love to hear from you. Share your comments with us below this post.
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