The tenacity of Hope
By Folarin Samson
I dedicate this to all the Nigerian youths out there struggling to survive. I hope you would find comfort from this little effort at reinventing in print the common experience of societal disappointment and elusive expectations.
From childhood, we all had dreams. We wanted to hit the ground running from birth; we aimed at setting the Thames on fire. Out of sheer exuberance, we built castles in the air through fanciful dreams and wishes that left the older generation jealous of our innocent delusion of grandeur. Even when we had no idea of the entrails of our lofty ambition, we thought we would blaze through with lightning speed.
Then as we grew older, the reality of societal restrictions began to dawn on us and shrink the size of our vision. Your Parents must have enough money to send you to school and when you get into college, the teacher will have to like your face before you can earn good grades. At this stage, you will begin to realize the actualization of your childhood dream does not lie squarely on your shoulders; environment is a powerful determinant factor.
The deciding moment comes when on the verge of entrance into higher institution, you will need to write an exam that most times displaces and replaces many a youth ambition with undesirable discipline. The young man who wanted to study medicine had to settle for Yoruba science because the examination process did not favour him (research has shown many people in education found themselves there by accident rather than design, and that’s why the educational sector reeks of discontent and the resultant labour inefficiency that translates into students poor performance). The beautiful lady who all her life had hoped to end up an engineer had to opt for Igbo Technology because she’s tired of repeating the entrance exam.
But people in this category always find solace in religious and parental exhortations that situate their predicament in fate and irreversible acts of God. After all, nothing happens without God’s knowledge. Hence they must take whatever life throws at them and carry their cross dutifully. Not many find it easy coursing through the tertiary institution with this yoke. For me, at the earlier stage of my studies there were times I had to go to a popular Lagos market to carry loads for people so I could raise money for my upkeep. Afterall, I had raised money through the same medium for past exams. Some sacrifice study time to go work as bus drivers and conductors. Some who cannot stoop low to conquer, take to anti-social vices such as prostitution and thefts to make out for the deficiency of parenting. And all in a desperate bid to become a graduate and eke out moderate livelihood. The belief is that your school certificate is your passport to becoming a respectable and responsible Nigerian. How true?
Babadara (not real name) is a personal friend. He graduated as the best student in his department. He almost swept all the prizes and awards during the school’s convocation which was attended by friends and distant relatives and celebrated with much funfair. He got his first job with a little difficulty, thanks to his phenomenal show of intelligence with which he marginalized myriads of other highly qualified applicants for the same job. He would be paid fifty thousand naira (N50, 000), although he has to take transport of about a thousand naira every day. And he wakes up early, kits up in his well ironed suit to join the morning rush for transport.
But Babadara must consider himself lucky because Eliot, another first class student with a cumulative GPA of 4.97 out of a possible 5.00 who studied Food Science, months after his graduation is still ‘job hunting’. A colleague decided to remain in Yola where he had his youth service and teach in a primary school since there’s no guarantee of automatic employment upon his return to Lagos. Another friend since he returned from service has been home for years, still submitting application letter and probably having ceaseless vigils of prayer for deliverance from unknown family curse and satanic jinx. Many youths who burnt the candle at both ends in campus days are still searching for the reward of their hard labour. The product is an aggravated generation of youths, desperate to get back at society for the delusion of childhood dreams, the refashion of ambition during admission process and the frustration of unemployment.
My eyes got opened to the perplexity of a fresh graduate when I finished youth service. The two world of work opened up before me with astonishing effect. I discovered the stints and strictures of the private sector and the boredom and uninspiring tendencies of the civil service. It occurred to me that not all those in the early morning throng, drabbed in executive shirts and blouses are happy people. They are merely complying with forced rules of office. They are merely window dressing for the genuflection of people who can’t see the fire burning beneath.
The government should create more jobs. President Jonathan promised to create 370, 000 jobs upon the removal of subsidy, where are the jobs? The government is trying with a few commendable initiatives, but the impact is too minimal. In 2006, unemployment rate pegged at 5.30 percent, but as at December 2011, we had steeped to 23.9 percent. Current economic indices show the unemployment rate has worsened. President Barack Obama promised to reduce unemployment in America. Their unemployment rate as at August 2012 stood at 8.1 percent. Whither Nigeria? To re-echo the cries of the Nigerian Trade Union in a communiqué cited recently in the media, the federal government need to create an enabling environment for businesses and industry to thrive and create new workplaces for greater employment opportunities.
The government should be genuinely bothered about the economic conditions of its citizens. The world record book says an average Nigerian lives below a dollar per day. That’s nothing to be happy about. The situation may have grown worse with recent data release. A situation where a graduate earns twenty to forty thousand naira per month does not commensurate with the huge investment in payment for school fees and textbooks. It’s a mockery of hard work and it makes absolute nonsense of education.
The new graduate may consider gleaming some instruction from here. We now live in a different society that is far from those days of yore when there’s a plum job awaiting every graduate after school. To use Biblical parlance, if the first class, masters degree holders are scarcely saved, where will the second class and third class job applicants appear? Bank jobs used to be the rallying point for all comers, but the commercial houses are bursting at the seams and shutting down as evident in the massive lay-offs that now dominate news items. Equity aids only the vigilant. To be relevant, you must make yourself indispensable to society, then you can break the rules and set your wages. While waiting, invest in yourself. Further studies will help, private personal development and acquisition of relevant skills will make a great difference. Not having a job is no excuse for anti-social behavior because the chicks will one day come home to roost and you may end up spending the rest of your life in regrets and belated repentance. We have nurtured great hope and faith since birth and we have carried on even until now despite the environmental limitation, so this is not the time to lose heart. Better days are ahead.
Folarin Samson
Folarin who just finished serving in Ebonyi, now resides in Lagos
No comments:
Post a Comment