Why I Believe Nigerian Graduates Are As Employable As Ever (Part 1)
By: Joseph Anwana
Tags: Education, Africa, Jobs, Nigeria, Productivity

Wrongs diagnosis, misconceptions, and myths

There is no way you can effectively cure an ailment without an accurate diagnosis. Nigeria cannot solve the unemployment problem without thinking long and hard about the issue. The assessment of the plight of the Nigerian graduate has been wrong and sometimes outrightly malicious.

Some people talk about meeting or interviewing candidates who were not up to par. Let’s face it. If you are recruiting for a role anywhere in the world, you will meet such candidates. If you as an individual did well in all the interviews you’ve ever attended, you should probably be somewhere else by now. The truth is, you cannot generalize the quality of a Nigerian graduate because you interviewed one or two candidates who failed to meet your expectations.

Are we saying there are no sub-par graduates? Absolutely not.

It’s not possible for every student to achieve distinction, merit, or whatever the highest grade happens to be. But it is a mistake to deride an entire cohort of decent people because of a few who happen to fall below the required standard. We can’t even deride those who fail to meet standards. There are so many reasons people go through university without being fully engaged. If the system is fair and equitable, everyone should find their place either in the formal or informal job market.

I have heard people say they’ve met Nigerian graduates who could not write an essay. Again, over-generalization is written all over this kind of thinking. As a former British colony, Nigeria is an English-speaking country. A Nigerian university graduate would have been taught in the English language for at least 16 years. Some of the countries the world is turning to as talent hubs do not speak or write as much English as we do in Nigeria.

By the way, why should all jobs require the ability to write an essay? If essay writing is the only skill that is assessed during recruitment processes, then it is more likely the problem is that of the scarcity of diverse opportunities.

Many years ago, I had a neighbour who was a senior engineer at a manufacturing conglomerate. He was one of the big landlords in the neighborhood and was living the Nigerian dream. That man graduated in the 1980s when the standard of education was supposedly better. His spoken English was not the best, but it didn’t matter. My elderly neighbour joined the workforce when Nigerian graduates still had options. He got his job based on his ability to deliver as an Engineer and not how impeccable his essays or language skills were.

Let’s just assume the Nigerian job market can only accommodate essayist, why not start by providing job opportunities for those who can write an essay? This will take care of at least 80% of the graduate population. That will be a good start.

Some have also argued that Nigerian graduates don’t stick to their calling. “How can an Engineer be working in a bank?” they ask. The question should be, does the so-called Engineer have an alternative? Do you know an Engineering firm that is hiring 1000 graduates in Nigeria? Even in the United States, about three-quarters of college graduates had jobs unrelated to their major. The reason for this may be that there are so many career paths that are open to diverse fields of study.

Volunteering has also come up in many discussions as a way Nigerian graduates can acquire relevant skills. Sounds like a great idea but there is a problem.

How many years do we want a young Nigerian to volunteer his time for free before we consider him or her experienced enough? A Nigerian graduate would have already put in one year of mandatory service to the nation (working for almost nothing) before hitting the job market.

But let’s agree that volunteering is the way forward. Do you have a system where people can volunteer their services in an organized manner free of exploitation? This is a labour market that largely discriminates against experience gained from temporary or contract roles and will not consider years spent in contract positions as relevant. How do you ensure volunteer experience counts during recruitment and selection processes?

Many people argue that entrepreneurship should be part of the school curriculum. I believe this is already happening for so many years now, at least for those studying management sciences. But is the classroom really the place to learn entrepreneurship?

Education generally conditions people for specific roles in society. Education structures an individual to get the right answers and avoid failure. Jon Brosio, an online entrepreneur argues that the education model creates a relationship with failure that isn’t aligned with the fundamentals of entrepreneurship.

No doubt, education has its place. But the issue isn’t a lack of entrepreneurial training or skills. Nigerian campuses are full of young entrepreneurs. Some of them are funding their education from their businesses — trading, fashion, photography, IT, and even educational services. Before startup even became a word, a group of students at the University of Calabar pioneered a campus-based internet services business in the early 2000s.

There is a need to tackle issues of infrastructure and access to finance. This way, small businesses conceptualized on campuses or off-campuses by university students can scale sustainably.

Overall, I think it’s high time Nigerian leaders in the public and private sectors did away with these excuses. If you are looking for talents in Nigeria, you will find them. As a matter of fact, evidence suggests that the job market is saturated with talent far beyond the demand.

End of Part One

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