Unemployment of Nigerian youths and entrepreneurial skill acquisition

As a University teach­er since 1980, one has watched with sadness the encumbered thousands of young men and women turned out as graduates from Nigeri­an tertiary institutions all over the country out of which only a very few of about 20%, even­tually-get employed while the rest suffer in extreme jobless­ness and painful penury. These potential future leaders are left like sheep without shepherd to roam the streets/corners of urban and rural areas to soci­etal peril: they may be turned into night marauders, thieves, armed robbers, kidnappers, hustlers, gigolos, fraudsters, prostitutes, 419ners, vagrants, belligerents, political jobbers/thugs etc. in their desperate efforts to survive. In fact, with the good education acquired, these youths can be turned into anything that is good or bad! But entrepreneurial-skill ac­quisition may provide the so­lution of the unemployment malaise. An entrepreneur is a financial-, social-, economic-risk taker. He/she must be cou­rageous and audacious with drive and initiative, focused, imaginative, cautious, intel­ligent, self-confident, cheer­ful and calculated with a good conscience. He/she must be en­dowed with the paraphernalia of self-sustenance and self-sur­vival. He/she must decides not to fail but to success as the goal. He/she must always be ready to take risks to succeed and always never taking No for an answer. The risk-taker must have clear vision, mission and goal of ac­tion and successes that are al­ways well-defined and set-up ab initio. 

 

Natural education laced with minimum prima­ry/secondary education is a fair foundational drive for at­tainment of the set-out goals al­though higher educational op­portunities acquired earlier or later may give some advantage but should never to be a sine qua non.

 

The naturally-hewn-out en­trepreneur usually-begins de­velopment from the home through family activities/ex­perience that spreads through peer group effect and related socioeconomic factors.

 

Modern education is good and of advantage but it does not supplant the ingrown ancient skill that may run in the family blood or that can be acquired through training or acquisi­tion. In such situations, higher education may enable the en­trepreneur improve on his/her skills/tools through moderni­zation. Higher education, mod­ern science and technology assist an already successful en­trepreneur. We have such pris­tine successful entrepreneurs in the world including Nige­ria. Modern entrepreneurial education is carried out at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria. The University is at the forefront of promot­ing this brand of education be­cause most people of her catch­ment area survive through the acquisition/practice of one en­trepreneurial skill or the other. Students pursuing undergrad­uate and diploma programmes in different areas of studies are compulsorily-exposed to ac­quire practical skills in what­ever area of study they are in­volved.

 

Unemployment is a great problem for the youths while unemployability is a major sickness but entrepreneurship would be for both answer and cure. Where the jobs are avail­able or are made accessible, people can become employed to manage their lives’ needs and opportunities but where there are no jobs, people in need suffer. In Nigeria, ample job opportunities for self-em­ployment for youths abound. There are virgin-land employ­ment opportunities all over the country in: business/educa­tion industries, oil companies, agricultural farms, mining in­dustries, water/food security industries, the Armed/Secu­rity Forces etc. but officials-in-charge fail to open up the doors to employment. So far, they have failed to create jobs as they ought to do. Rather, these conscienceless officials are claimed to have unfair­ly-given job opportunities to their protégés, relations, sib­lings, children, friends etc. Eve­ry year, thousands of graduate products are turned out from the tertiary institutions and it is reported that only about 20% of them are exposed to job se­curity. The rest of this high-lev­el manpower end up uncared for. But there is the issue of the National Youth Service Corps where our graduates have to compulsorily-serve the coun­try for one year. Many of the employers of labour misuse this NYSC that ought to enable our youths secure opportuni­ties to concretize their nation­alism and love for their country by giving a continuous oppor­tunity to serve. Rather they are being opportunistically mis­used; some are sometimes be­ing killed for no reason just like that. Since the Youth Corpers are supplied every year, many narrow-minded employers see no need for the employment of regular/permanent staff from among the serving Youth Cor­pers. They just replace them from one batch to another vis-à-vis the assured different con­signments that are dispatched to each State yearly. They sadly serve as use-and-dump mate­rials. 

 

The Universities and Pol­ytechnics that graduated these products are not given the op­portunities to watch their prod­ucts perform in actual regular jobs in order to assess their per­formances in situ. Rather, what is unfairly-bandied about is a brazen and false accusation of falling standards of education by people who do not under­stand or have any facts to prove their weird accusations and in­nuendoes.

 

Right from time immemo­rial, entrepreneurship as a way of living, subsistence, suste­nance and existence is care­fully-embedded in all ancient cultures of different nations and climes. The manner of liv­ing, eating, farming, fishing, housing, medicare, dressing, marrying, child upbringing, applied sciences, engineering and technology etc. had en­trepreneurial skills, schemes, policies and programmes that guided and guarded the man­ner, ways and means of plan­ning and executing the various aspects to a successful living. In Nigeria, our forefathers had ad­vanced entrepreneurial skills that enabled them to survive since ancient times. They did their agricultural practices to produce food; checked floods to control erosion and land­slides; had their shrines and be­lieved in their gods and God. They went through the forests and selected the right medical herbs. They chose the different crops, fruits and vegetables and established the techniques for cultivating them from year to year and from season to sea­son. They selected the differ­ent foods and established the ways and methods of prepar­ing them for consumption.

 

They devised farming, fight­ing and hunting tools and de­signs; they survived with them till today. There were institu­tions for cultural displays, mer­ry-making, celebrations, mas­querading during festivals etc. This socioeconomic life suste­nance had/have inbuilt entre­preneurial skills and oppor­tunities for employability and service within them that were taught to operators for normal practices, trad and commerce for existence and survival from generation to generation.

 

We are not to allow modern civilization of today to continue to kill these virgin skills which are already embedded in our cultures; but we should rath­er improve upon, if not, polish them for a better performance and acceptability. Why cannot tertiary institutions or oth­er training centres document these skills, improve upon them and pass them down to our children; that is, the aspects of life on how we farm, feed, hunt, work, make merry, com­bat and check disasters etc. In addition to ensuring our sur­vival and existence, these can show up a people of what they are and what they believe in as well as making money for their pockets and sustenance. As at now, it is unacceptable for us to concentrate our education looking at and aping Europe and the Americas on what ob­tains there.

 

The dangerously-high load of unemployed youths-popu­lation in the country now, is a great menace to the society.

 

There are all sorts of strange crimes in the society (armed robbery, kid/adultnapping, child trade/abuse, sale of hu­man parts, riots, cultism, base-sex abuses etc.). These societal problems shall increase in geo­metrical progression with time as more and more young men and women graduate from high institutions and are turned out into the streets without assured future livelihood.

 

The Local, State and Fed­eral Government authorities through their different Min­istries and Agencies, ought to create job-opportunities, de­clare such vacancies and ad­vertise them publicly for every­one to have equal opportunities of competing for employment with one another.

 

One wishes that our elec­tricity supplies problems can be solved by the governments to provide opportunities for the take-off of small- and medium-scale industries. Young entre­preneurs should be supported by the governments through provision of soft loans from banks and finance houses. The governments should be sup­ported by individuals, groups, religious bodies and associa­tions, NGOs etc. in assisting our youths to secure job oppor­tunities. The Federal and State Ministries of Labour and Pro­ductivity should come out with nationally-accepted/approved policies and programmes on job creation and opportunities of employment for our youths immediately in this country. All Ministries and Agencies of governments should always advertise their job openings to allow fairness and equity to po­tential job seekers to compete with one another.

 

Prof Egboka was a former Vice Chancellor of UNIZIK, Awka, Anambra State