Kicking, screaming and largely against my will, i was shipped off to England at the tender age of 15 for college/A-levels. Most of my counterparts were sporting admissions into UNILAG, Covenant, Babcok and naturally i wanted to attend those schools.

In the opinion of my parents, Bless their souls, sending me abroad would give me access to world class education and set me up for a lifetime of great career opportunities. They wanted me to be outstanding at any cost. My move to England was trailed by wistful gasps of ‘you’re very lucky’ by friends and adoring glances by class mates who badly wished they were me. I was a truly lucky girl…or so i thought

An undergraduate degree, masters degree and a lot of years later, i am finally sitting on the other side of the foreign education fence and i can say without a doubt that everything is not what it seems and contrary to popular belief, a foreign degree is not the golden ticket to fame, fortune and a guaranteed seat at the table, that it is assumed to be in the Nigerian job/careers market.

As a product of a very middle class family, unlike most of my contemporaries who were privileged to study abroad, there were no summer vacations to the South of France or Weekends in Paris with the girls or Fancy designer clothes or business class trips; Every penny was well and truly spent on my academics.

The entire cost of my fancy British education, came to an estimated £100,000 (translating to upwards of ₦50 Million), excluding the cost of accommodation, books and other living costs. ₦50 Million is not chicken change by any standard. It can buy you a really really nice house in a choice area, start up a large scale business, yield groundbreaking returns if invested right, buy a fancy car and a pretty decent lifestyle. So, why spend that much on an education alone?

In the words of the phenomenal Benjamin Franklin, “If a man empties his purse into his head, nobody can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest”.

Education is a major pillar of the Nigerian Society. Countries like the UK, have perfected the idea of Educational Tourism, hence, hundreds of thousands of Nigerian hopefuls troop to the UK annually to get a British education, damning the exorbitant cost. The UK has done such a good job of convincing the world that a degree from their country gives you the keys to the world, so much so that on average, International students are now worth more than £25 billion annually to the British economy.

Armed with my foreign certificates and a head full of dreams, i arrived Nigeria, eager to start adulting. Job application after job application, ‘send me your CV’ after ‘send me your CV’, an endless trail of cover letters, prayers after prayers, 100+ job applications and countless emails later, i have concluded that the key to achieving career success in Nigeria is as far from a foreign degree as you can come, at entry level at least.

I discovered that at entry level in Nigeria, with the exception of the lucky few who get jobs purely on merit, the 2 (two) major keys to securing a good entry level job in Nigeria are:

An Average to Excellent first degree from ‘any’ university. Emphasis on the word ‘Any’. Which simply translates to: You can sit at home for years, with your 1st Class foreign degree waiting for your dream job, While your neighbor with a 2.1 or even a 2.2 from University of Abuja will resume work at NNPC, 2 weeks after graduation. E dey happen.

The Right Connections/network (professional, personal & most importantly political), Your network is truly your net-worth in the Nigerian Job Market.

It really is that simple.

A standard entry level job placement in Nigeria, recieves an average of 2000+ job applications weekly. With the more popular/sought after organisations and NGO’s, that number drastically goes up. The supply for jobs is not meeting the demand by a mile.

If you throw 20 stones in the middle of a ‘millennial’ gathering on Lagos Island, odds are that at least 2 of those stones will hit a foreign degree holder.

Thus, a foreign degree, especially from the UK, US & Canada, is no longer the novelty it one was. You will struggle for employment and opportunities with the same intensity, success/failure rate as your home schooled counterparts. I will also add that foreign degrees are more valued in the Private Sector/ Multinationals/ International NGOs, while also stating that the sheer volume of job applications received per position, makes it difficult for you stand out simply based on your alma mater or class of degree.

So, in a nutshell and in my humble opinion the cost of a foreign degree does not in any way justify its benefits.

On the other hand however, i would be doing a great disservice, if i don’t state that a foreign degree is not without its pros:

Access to world class/international network
International exposure and awareness
A broader world view
Good quality education, which gives you very strong independent thinking, critical analysis and research skills that will come in handy when you eventually get the job
University alumni activities that allow you fraternize with the best of the best & gain access to opportunities
A respected degree, as most employers are aware that foreign degrees more likely than not, give an accurate depiction of the knowledge of its owner, as opposed to Nigerian degrees, where degrees are haunted with allegations of ‘money for marks’ or ‘sex for marks’ or plagiarised projects and a host of other shortcomings.

So, do you believe a foreign degree is worth its cost in the Nigerian Job Market?

YellowIboGirl
Read more: https://yellowibogirl./

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