PEOPLE disregard us when we put on this
uniform, as if we are nothing. I am very ashamed of doing this job and I
don’t tell people I do it. In fact, most people don’t know this is what
I do.”
This was how Ibrahim Danjiba, a B.Sc
degree holder in Mathematics from the Kogi State University, began the
story of how his failure to get a job befitting his status made him to
resort to doing an odd job just to make ends meet.
Before he graduated from the university,
he had looked forward to working in a telecommunications company. After
graduating, therefore, he applied to various telecommunications
companies for jobs, confident that he would pass the interviews. After
each interview, he savoured the joy of getting his dream job but his
employment letter would never come. After years of combing the streets
fruitlessly for a job, luck finally smiled on him. He got a job in the
industry of his dream but not in a position he desired. Instead of being
employed as a core staff of the organisation, he was employed as a
security man. He has since manned the gates as a security man along with
others who did not go beyond primary school.
In spite of his qualification, some of
his colleagues who never attended a higher institution are his boss.
Narrating his experience Danjiba said: “I have always loved to work in
the telecommunications industry, but they say I can’t get it if I don’t
know anybody. I applied several times and passed their interviews, but
at the end of the day, I didn’t get any of the jobs even with my
excellent result. So, I decided to humble myself by starting with a
security job in the hope that I could get a better position later.
“I have been looking for jobs in
accounting firms, banks, and so on since 2011 when I graduated. The
frustration of being idle finally made me to decide to start with this.
The job is not lucrative. I am paid N20, 000 monthly, with which I
manage to feed myself.”
He regrets that the society still looks
down on security men in spite of the fact that graduates are now taking
up the job. “People disregard us when we put on this uniform. It is as
if we don’t amount to anything. I am very ashamed of doing this job and I
don’t tell people I do it. Most people don’t know that this is what I
do. I am so sad with the state of employment in Nigeria. I couldn’t
imagine myself being jobless after all my brilliance in school. Students
should learn crafts and not rely on certificates only, because they may
not fetch them anything in return.
“I am still searching for a job and
would appreciate if I get one. I can’t advise people who have money to
study here. They should rather go abroad and study. I am planning to see
if I can travel abroad and do my M. Sc in Pure Mathematics because I
want to become a lecturer, which I may not achieve if I don’t have a
master’s degree.”
Tosin Olalekan Ogunseye holds a Higher
National Diploma (HND) certificate in Business Administration from Ogun
State Polytechnic now Moshood Abiola Polytechnic. After all the parents’
investments and several years of burning the midnight oil, Ogunseye is
hustling as a commercial tricycle operator.
He also gave an account of his venture
into the unskilled job: “I would say that my condition is a setback
because I had once worked in a company before it collapsed. I then
searched for a job for good three years before I decided to settle down
as a commercial tricycle rider. The business is not lucrative at all.
The proceeds are just meant to feed yourself and cater for your family
needs. I make N3,000 daily and work seven days a week, from morning till
night. My wife is a hair stylist, so she supports me.”
He told The Nation that he had not given
up on job hunt, saying: “I am still searching for job in any accounting
firm and still wish to further my education if the opportunity comes.
It is good to go to school and be literate despite the problem of
unemployment. But Nigerian undergraduates should not rely on their
certificates to fetch them money, because they may likely find
themselves in a field different from their area of specialisation.”
Godwin Elekpo, a native of Akwa Ibom
State, has B.Sc in Accounting, but he works as a security officer in a
bank in Yaba, Lagos State. He said he had to take the job in order to
sustain himself and his family. He said: “There are no jobs, so this is
what I have got to sustain myself. It is a shameful job and I keep
hiding it from people because they all think that I’m doing well. I have
been searching for job even before graduation. I searched for a job as a
receptionist, marketer and so on, but I could not get any.
“I started this with the hope of
becoming a core employee later. I took the decision because I may not
easily get a job if I continue to search for Accounting jobs. It is not
lucrative. I am paid N46, 000 monthly with which I manage to cater for
my family. There is no prestige in the job; people just treat and talk
to you anyhow because of the uniform.”
Owing to his predicament, he said his
respect for tertiary education had waned. Obviously, I have a bad
feeling for going to tertiary institution in Nigeria because after
graduating, you can’t find a job if you don’t have connection, people or
money. But I don’t discourage students from going to school. Even now, I
am still planning to do my ICAN examination soon. However, students
should learn to be self-employed by learning crafts and so on in order
to be able to face whatever may come tomorrow.”
Aniete John Ubara, another B.Sc degree
holder in Accounting, has a similar unsavoury tale. He had to settle for
commercial motorcycle business popularly called okada in order to stave
off hardship.
He blamed the rising problem of
unemployment on poor management of the nation’s resources by successive
governments. “Bad management of public resources by successive
governments is the major cause of unemployment in the country. It is not
favourable to the masses. This has led to a situation where many
God-fearing graduates like us lay our hands on any legitimate job that
comes our way because we don’t want to go into armed robbery or other
criminal activities. That is why I am doing this today.”
Apart from his academic qualification,
Aniete says he is also a professional cook. “I attended a catering
school, but when I applied for jobs as a cook, they kept saying they
would pay me N15, 000. It made no sense to me because the pay was
nothing to write home about. That was why I settled for okada business. I
also searched for job for about seven years without any luck. I am not
able to fully sustain my family with this, except for my wife who
supports with the income she gets from the petty trading she does.
“I still wish to further my education so
that I can venture into lecturing. Young graduates should look up to
God. After their NYSC, they should learn crafts so as to sustain
themselves if they are not employed like me.”
While other respondents are ruing their
plights, Nwaokoro seems to have accepted his fate and turned it to
advantage. He has worked as a security man for more than 15 years and
has no plan to seek employment elsewhere. He said: “I have been working
as a security man for the past 15 years. Now, I represent my unit in our
union, the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU). I have no regrets so far. I
have served as a contract staff here in YABATECH for five years and as
security operative for 10 years.
“I chose to do this because at the time I
was looking for job, that was all that was available. I took in good
faith and have today gone far in it. I was about looking for job before I
saw it and took it up instead of roaming the streets. I was earning
N8,000, when I started. It was later increased to N12, 000, but now, I
earn far above that because I have been promoted twice since then.”
He spoke about the challenges he faces
on the job, saying: “People put you down as if you have not gone to
school. People who have criminal intentions also see us as enemies. Some
of my colleagues who caught people with guns have had their lives
threatened by the people when they saw them outside. They monitor and
threaten us when they see us outside.
“It is good to go to tertiary
institution in Nigeria. I encourage students to continue to study hard.
Those who are jobless should not hesitate to apply for security jobs or
other unskilled jobs if such are available. It is better to take up such
jobs than remaining idle.”
Culled From Nation Newspaper
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