Unemployment is a global challenge faced by governments and societies the world over. In Nigeria There has been a steady increase in the number of unemployed youths in recent years.
It is a fact that it takes years after graduation for the average Nigerian graduate to get a job. Official numbers show that the rate of unemployment amongst the youths in the country currently stand at 27%. But if you factor in employees who are under paid and or over skilled for roles they currently fill you will see that that number is a lot higher.
Why Do Graduates Find It Hard To Get Jobs?
To answer this question we would first need to know and understand who the average Nigerian graduate is,and what sort of training receive in our universities.
It is well know that most individuals go to universities to “just get the certificate” that proves that yes i went to school too and then probably get a job in a government owned institution afterwards. This is a mentality that is shared amongst a large number of youths who go into our university system.
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It is a sad truth ,but apart from lacking the necessary amenities and conducive environment for learning ,the average Nigeria university does not really teach students skills that are relevant to the current prevailing situations in our society.
lecture notes are not updated, lecturers tend to take more joy in failing students than actually passing knowledge, instead of teaching students to be innovative and think for themselves, students are forced to follow archaic methods of teaching and the knowledge that is passed was only valid or important some five or seven years ago.
This caused the system has continuously churn out graduates that are unskilled and unprepared to face the challenges that our society presents.
So who is is the average Nigerian graduate? The average Nigerian graduate is an under skilled, underprepared individual who thinks that because he/she has a university degree he deserves a Job. And this has led to an increase in the overall amount of of unemployed youths in the country.
Yes the government has a very big role to play in curbing this trend ,by making sure that our university system is conducive enough for students to learn, but it is certainly not totally up to them, innovation and self sustenance should also be nurtured and promoted on the part of the students.
Private organizations like Andela and HNG are doing a great job to help reduce the skill dearth but a lot more as to be done by every individual involed if we are going to surmount unemployment as a society.