PhD, MSc holders jostle for Lagos’ N25,000 jobs



General Manager of the Lagos Resident Registration Agency (LASRRA), Mrs Yinka Fashola, has decried the growing rate of unemployment across the country, saying 85 per cent of applicants for the resident registration exercise are PhD and MSc holders.

She said the PhD and MSc holders applied for jobs which were meant for secondary school leavers and a few National Diploma (ND) holders because of unemployment in the country.

Fashola, who until her appointment as the LASRRA boss served in the Office for National Statistics in United Kingdom, said the agency would have loved to increase the salaries of the applicants who obviously should have earned more because of their qualifications, but the agency was hampered by inadequate fund.

Speaking on the preparation to register Lagos residents, she said: “Yes, some of the applicants are holders of PhD and Msc as well as other qualifications. Where am I going to put them? But we have taken some of them as station manager; I can only choose 57 of them to work in the 57 Local Government and Local Council Development Area (LCDA). So, what would I do with the rest of them?

“Most of them are on contract for one year. I wish I could keep them, but we can’t. We are paying them N25, 000 per month. I wish it is more, but we did not expect that graduates and post graduates would be applying for the jobs.”

She, however, encouraged residents to avail themselves of the online registration in order to make the exercise easier.

According to her, the rationale behind the exercise is to enable the government allocate resources efficiently.

Fashola said: “The exercise will enable the government know what are the electricity needs, what are the water needs, which area need more schools and which environment requires more hospitals and other basic amenities. The only way the government can know this is through registration of residents.”

Asked if the 1,500 registration agents would be enough to register estimated 21.5 million residents, the LASRRA boss said the exercise was continuous exercise, saying all measures to ensure successful had been put in place.

Gbawe: How, as one example, can the SME sector grow when 70% of annual budgeted spending is used to recurrently fund governance and politics? Generally, far more help, as a matter of utmost urgency, should be available for the SME sector for a nation like Nigeria with a chronic and serious unemployment problem. This is not the case because spending the wealth of Nigeria profligately on politics, politicians and patronising offices/activities affiliated with governance is the self-destructive obsession of a myopic class of leaders Nigeria has had at the centre since 1999.

Gbawe: I think we read similar to this not too long ago when PHD holders were amongst those applying for driving vacancies in one of Aliko Dangote's companies.

Employment cannot be boosted appreciable if the centre remains unwilling to make efforts against current practices sabotaging the growth of the SME sector (the main employer of labour worldwide) and stifling economic prosperity of the nation.

How, as one example, can the SME sector grow when 70% of annual budgeted spending is used to recurrently fund governance and politics? Generally, far more help, as a matter of utmost urgency, should be available for the SME sector for a nation like Nigeria with a chronic and serious unemployment problem. This is not the case because spending the wealth of Nigeria profligately on politics, politicians and patronising offices/activities affiliated with governance is the self-destructive obsession of a myopic class of leaders Nigeria has had at the centre since 1999.

solidbroda: MSc I may believe. But PhD, I don't. Maybe these Ph.D holders are not intellectuals. That is just the way I see it. PhD holders are Hot cakes all over the world. Except maybe they have Ph.D in kitchen accessories. Media will always over hype things nonsense.

slap1: All these people screaming self-employment seem to forget that you have to start with something. Everyone is not equally blessed. You need money to start anything, no matter how little. Our youths are hardworking, but the government is not supportive.

PEREP:

Not in all cases. There are people who simply advertise shoes on BB only to go pick it from an aunt or a shop owner when a friend is interested. I also know of people who simply wake up, look around for addresses of houses that are vacant around lagos and propagate it via the social media and get percentage accordingly. This is not to talk of people who copy phone numbers on cars parked for sale and get a buyer while the seller simply pay a percentage. Some pple even start with counseling school pupils after a detailed research on choosing a career via the Internet and get the parents of those kids to pay as low as N500 to attend.

So many things around to do but most pple are waiting for one capital which is no where. Add value to existing structures and see if you will not make it VERY big.

All the best.