http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=107379

Frustration, anger and hopelessness are familiar rhymes in the world of Nigerian jobless graduates. Millions of jobless youths struggle for space in the nation’s labour market, fighting for non-existent or limited job opportunities. Day by day, anxious job seekers bury their forlorn faces in the pages of newspaper, in their search for vacancies, while others visit, on hourly basis, various job websites for the same purpose. Their endless search for job had forced many to lay aside their certificate to humbly pick crumbs from the roadside.

Frustrated by the sad fate of Nigerian graduates, Udeme Johnson (not real names), confessed that his degree certificate has brought him more distress than fulfillment. According to him, he had suffered untold hardships and humiliation since he graduated from the university five years ago. His age-long dream of becoming an accountant while in secondary school, and climbing the ladder of success with ease seemed to have crashed hopelessly. Today, he works as a casual staff, carrying cement and stone for a building and construction company.

May you never see your mates and hide, says Yoruba proverb. Ask Udeme and he would tell you that he would not be proud to face his colleagues, with an iron pan on his head. By bending his back to labour all day he cannot raise his head with pride. He admitted that he had eaten the bread of sorrow, working his hands to the bone for a pittance, under the supervision of inconsiderate foreign taskmasters.

He told Campus Sun that his younger ones at home looked up to him for financial support shortly after his graduation but there was nothing he could do. Although he bagged a Bachelor of Science degree Second Class Upper Division (B.Sc.), and successfully passed out from the compulsory National Youth Service Corps programme, his joy suddenly turned to sorrow after applying for jobs, several times, without success. In some of the firms that he applied to, he was required to scale difficult hurdles, while others demanded for five years experience and above, a condition he couldn’t meet as a young graduate.

Udeme said he was shocked when some of the organisations demanded that applicants must possess Masters degree before they would be considered for employment. After hunting for job for more than two years without any luck, age stole the shine on his face. As the first child in a family of eight, the anguished faces of his parents whenever he asked them for money further reminded him that he was old enough to shoulder some family responsibilities.

“Where do I get the money for the Masters programme?,” he asked rhetorically. “My parents sacrificed a lot to train me in my first degree. They expect me to support them in training others. I needed to work but there was no hope for me.”

Life became so tough that Udeme opted to work as a cement mixer for a building and construction company, where he earns a beggar’s wage at the end of the month. From dawn to dusk, he lives with the burden of doing a job that undervalues his degree certificate.

Like Udeme, Johnson Adebayo, 36, graduated from the university five years ago as a civil engineer but could not get a job. He sought employment in many construction firms but without success. His saving grace came with his decision to start a small-scale construction company, where he was lucky enough to get small contracts.

The above experiences are snippet of the predicament of most Nigerian graduates, who had to face the grim reality of joblessness. They struggle for space in the labour market overflowing with millions of new entrants each year from different tertiary institutions across the country. These tertiary institutions churn out an estimated 1.8 million graduates across the country.

The situation has become so critical that cities like Lagos, Abuja, Calabar, Port Harcourt and Aba, graduates become keke (tricycle) and motorcycle riders to earn their daily bread.

Efforts by the federal government, through the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), to address unemployment in the country through the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) and the Youth Enterprise With Innovation in Nigeria (YouWin) initiative seemed like scooping an ocean with spoon. The programmes were aimed at empowering and re-positioning youths to become self -employed and job creators but the limited carrying capacity of each of the programmes had left millions of desperate job seekers grinding their teeth in penury.

Speaking to Campus Sun, an unemployed graduate, Inyali Peter, frowned at the increasing rate of unemployment in the country. According to him, life has not been easy since he left school without getting something to do to set food on his table.

Inyali, who graduated from the Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) with a B.Sc in Mass Communications, said: “I wished I was still in school because then I get some money from different sources but now as I speak to you all doors are closed. While in school, I heard of the increasing unemployment in the country but I was optimistic that shortly after my service I would find a good job in my area of service but the reverse is the case.

“I am a regular visitor to . I have applied for so many jobs but none of those firms had ever called me for interview, I have also tried the YouWin but luck have not come my way. I only hear testimonies of those who have benefited from the scheme. I am calling on government to do something urgently because we, the unemployed graduates, are really suffering in this country.”

Another unemployed graduate, Felix Ukam, maintained that youth unemployment fuels most crimes in the country. “Most of these crimes we hear or see are perpetrated by unemployed graduates because they don’t have anything doing. So, that is why they resort to committing crimes to survive. I graduated eight years ago but haven’t earned salary from any job and when I sit in my quiet place so many negative thoughts runs deep in my mind.”

Asked why he is not self-employed, he responded: “Will I use my fingers to start doing business? I can create a good job for myself but I do not have the start-off capital. I have tried to access loan or grant but I have not succeeded in any way. With N100,000, I can start my own business.”

Another jobless graduate, who pleaded that her name should not be mentioned, told Campus Sun that the “YouWin” programme was more of a lottery game, where only lucky winners were empowered.

She said President Goodluck Jonathan acknowledges the fact that unemployment had become one of the biggest challenges in the country, and urged the government to address it with innovative ideas that would empower jobless youths.

Eight yeaes without a job after graduating...... Wicked...

If after 8 yrs of graduating from the uni you couldn't get a job, it's either you are unemployable, you are too dull to start something or the witches in your village are feasting on your matter.

A Story like this just makes you

One can comfortably sit and say 'They are Lazy, they are dumb' blah blah....

Thing is, iv been there,,,,pray that you and all you know are favoured, its not a good place to be...

so sad....people like the OP are many in my area....some have turned to barbers,car washers and okada riders.....

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AwesomelyMade:
If after 8 yrs of graduating from the uni you couldn't get a job, it's either you are unemployable, you are too dull to start something or the witches in your village are feasting on your matter.

or maybe the person don't have capital to start a business.