What every Nigerian Student should know before it’s too late
By: Praise Ifetogun
Tags: Pandemic, Strike, Nigeria, Undergraduate, Student

Hi there, what’s up?

To be honest, I can guess!

If you’re reading this article during the dreaded strike + pandemic, you have definitely experienced a lot of emotions and you can only hope that there will be light at the end of the tunnel. Sorry to be quite negative, but, there’s no light at the end of the tunnel, except you start creating the light.

This article is a guide that I realized early enough as an undergraduate years ago. There will be a couple of additions that I also realized as a graduate for current undergraduates.

Every Nigerian undergraduate has definitely heard two types of “graduates stories”. The “ What did I even go to school for?, this country is such a mess” and the “I have started my career journey and I am making goals to keep advancing”, or sometimes a mix of both, because, Nigeria is Nigeria! (You are chasing your goals, but Nigeria is just making life difficult for you!). But it's essential that you learn to make lemonades out of lemons — this has to be the Number 1 skill for every Nigerian undergraduate.

Even if things might be tough, maybe even tougher now because of the realities of the pandemic. I am here to tell you some tips that you will never regret you got to know as an undergraduate (not a lot of students are aware, If you’re reading this, or you were referred to this article, you just discovered Gold)

1. School Grades do not Equate to Real-Life Success

Maybe you have heard this before, but I am saying it again, it's no joke! School grades do not equate to real-life success!

I am not telling you to fail!

I am an advocate for all-round excellence, and if you’re thinking of getting a Master's, you definitely need certain grades, so please excel in your studies!

News flash though!

In applying for jobs, sometimes you are advised to leave your grades out! (Meaning, the company is saying; “we don’t care about your grades here, what are your skills?”)

As you chase good grades, please chase certifications, chase advancing your skillset, chase knowing what your career map is (i.e what you really want to do after school and where you see yourself at various space of years)

It’s very important! Despite the fact that I was one of the top 10% highest graduates in my class, I will still say this anytime any day — Pass your exams, and develop your expertise as an undergraduate!

2. Don’t Delay to be an Expert at Something

I know your question is, How can I already be an expert as a student?

It’s 2020 dears (in Falz accent) It’s not difficult to be an expert at anything anymore, all you need to do is want to be an expert, there are resources everywhere to put you on this path.

There are internships, freelance jobs, volunteering opportunities; thanks to the pandemic (we are making lemons out of lemonades right?), there are now more virtual opportunities!

Climb to the expert stage fast, you have all the resources around you, especially online. Harness these resources and become an expert student in a field.

Opportunities will chase you!

3. Be Glad to Volunteer

I know you don’t like ‘free things’, but a couple of free things till you start making huge bucks is definitely worth it. Volunteer jobs (especially as a student) will allow you try your stuff and advance your skills.

You can volunteer with individuals or organizations that you believe will give you the experience for your career path (truth is some organizations would insist you get paid a token) but, even if an individual or organization allows you get on board for just the experience (you want it anyway), give it your all!

You can also volunteer on social projects too; contribute to humanity, and gain experience in your field of interest on the team.

Volunteering gives you a platform to put your learning and passion into action.

4. Have a Tech Skill under your sleeve

2020 has shown us that the future is tech, digital, innovation!

You probably don’t think you need it, but there are a few tech or digital skills that will be substantial to your field in the future. Get ahead, make your research, and start building your skillset (You will continue to stand out if you have that extra spice). The truth is, sometimes people realize along the way that they want to eventually venture into tech. If this eventually becomes you, — ta-da! you already have the foundational knowledge.

Tech doesn’t always mean coding, it could be expertise in digital marketing for your side hustle or main business, and so on, Here are a couple of tech skills that don’t require coding.

Don’t be afraid to also venture into coding and hardcore tech if you have the slightest interest in it too.

5. Build Your Own Stage If You Need To

If the opportunities do not come to you, create your own stage, and show that you are great at what you do!

By building a stage, I don’t mean it literarily, duh, except that's what your passion and career interest is though. What I mean is, you can create opportunities for others and yourself, and practice your skillset to advance your expertise and help others advance theirs.

It might not be clear enough till I give an example, If you love to sew but didn’t get an opportunity to work in a company, you can start creating content showing people what you can do. You can start an initiative to teach beginners or maybe even teenagers on fashion design basics. That’s it, create your own stage!

Nigeria might be tough and opportunities might not be flying around, but you can create the opportunity yourself, help others, and watch how more people will trust your abilities and want you on board!

Let me tell a personal story, storytime (drum roll..) I love media, I realized it as a student, God used people to bring opportunities my way, I learned a lot, even beyond just media; a lot of skills that I even realized are a part of my current Media and Marketing Communications Profession.

As a student, I was a hustler, I didn't want to wait till after school to succeed, I just wanted to get on my passion “ASAP”, and build my expertise. I was doing this when I realized that there are a lot of students like me that also need the tools and empowerment to achieve the dreams they are so enthusiastic about. I started an initiative called The Studentpreneur Initiative with the aim to celebrate student entrepreneurs, empower and equip students and fresh graduates to achieve their dreams, and be relevant in the 21st Century through digital content and physical or virtual training from experts. (You can subscribe to our channel here and follow us across our online platforms)

I put skills I had amassed to practice and it built my expertise. I was glad to be able to build my expertise and empower students and fresh graduates alongside. A lot of soft and technical skills amassed doing this accelerated my career proficiency. I built a team of amazing people who joined me to execute various projects to drive impact. Up until now, I have the levity to practice some skills first with my initiative, build my expertise, and apply the skills to my job and other external projects.

I talked in length about this because it really works! You don’t have to start a business if you don’t wish to right now, you can create valuable content for an audience showing your expertise or build a community online or offline.

Just show your skill, make an impact and you are on are making a great investment in yourself and others that will eventually pay off.

. . .

There’s definitely a whole lot more, but I want you to digest this and get to work!

I will drop more of these tips moving forward because it's not a great thing to finish school with “had I known” regrets.

Glad to connect with you on this article, because this is definitely a “from my heart to yours” kind of article. I wish I had known some of these too, and I am glad I am able to share with you so you get on things fast and be a different type of graduate.

Peace & Love.

Praise Ifetogun.

Photo by Ahmed Nishaath on Unsplash