PigTormentor:


You are mixing apples with oranges. What has the discussion got to do with the government providing an enabling business environment? NOTHING.
This discussion is about the reality of getting a college degree and expecting to be automatically hired simply because you went to college.
Getting a college Degree is no longer a guarantee of getting a job, that's all the point I was making. This is very true either in Nigeria or even in the US. Do you know how many people have MBAs and Masters in the US and still don't have a job?

MansoryMX:


I have a little company with 5 employees working for me, a Facebook and Instagram company page. Married, no kids yet and a personal house I live in. All these I achieved on my own without the use of certificate and even before I graduated from school. Don’t get me wrong but we deserved more in this country. All the 4am classes is just a waste of time. I know a lot of my fellow classmates who are security guards, Keke riders, kiosk owners, POS kiosk and hair makers. Is this the kind of life an average graduate with excellent certificates should be living in Nigeria? The only option a jobless graduate can venture into is entrepreneurship and it’s not cheap. Skill acquisition isn’t cheap as well. My comment speaks for thousands of jobless youth who have no means of getting capital even if they intend to go into entrepreneurship. As for skill acquisition through internet, forex, freelancers. You and I know that shiit ain’t easy at all.

Menesh:


Maybe it is your first time of hearing a motivational speech. They are all the same. Setting up a parameter that's virtually untainable, thus making you feel ashamed of yourself for not doing the best you could've.

MrAkata:


First of all it's a lie that majority Nigerians do menial jobs with their degrees. You need to add more context to that statement.

1) Are the degrees they have from accredited universities ? There is also a heirachy in degrees in America.

2) What you majored in plays a huge role also. Some degrees/majors in America are basically useless while others are like All Access VIP tickets.

3) Has the person completely finished his schooling. It's common to see a person w/ a degree working in Starbucks. The reason is because they may be working towards their masters or PhD. They would rather take a part time job with flexibility so that they are able to spend more time on their studies.

4) The person may very well be lying. A lot of Nigerians in the US lie about their credentials. That taxi man or security guard could very well be lying about his degrees. I've seen a lot of people with fake degrees in the US. A lot of people honestly were tricked and didn't know and some thought they could trick the system.

That leads me into the problem with this post and why this isn't applicable in the US. The biggest problem is believing you that if you are offered an opportunity and can't do it then you should lie and take the job.

1 ) This only bleeps it up for not only other Nigerians but black Americans as well. I understand Nigerians don't understand the concept of being black because you weren't raised in America. The reality is MOST white people could care less if u are Nigerian, Jamaican or Black American in their eyes you are BLACK. So that will affect the next black person looking for an opportunity.

2 ) It will only make it harder for you in the long run. You will constantly have to relocate yourself or reinvent yourself. America is a small place as big as it may seem. You screw up one place and it will haunt you forever. Everything goes off of resumes and referrals and they have databases depending on your industry. Once your name comes up in the BBB as being sheisty or a liar then you will have to change your name if u want anymore opportunities.

3 ) it's not necessary to lie. If you are honest a lot of people will still hire you. You may not make as much but they'll put u in a position to learn what they want to know. Some people like training you from the ground up because you won't bring your bad habits to their business. It's an "you can't teach a dog new tricks mentality " but you can train a puppy to your liking.

A degree is not necessary to succeed necessarily but this is bullshit. I just finished my degree and i made more when i didn't have it at. I was making 80k fresh out of high school with no degree and doubled that over the years.

The problem is when that industry slowed down and i was tired of it I was stuck. I pigeonholed myself and had to go back to school.

A good degree offers you longevity and security.

From your write-up, i believe you're very young possibly in your 20s or early 30s my only advise to you is that don't discount any advice given by elders. Wisdom come with age. What do you mean by a good degree?

childuptojoy:
This write-up was sent to me by one of my lecturers in school and I feel like sharing it on Nairaland

7 REASONS WHY DEGREE HOLDERS ARE POOR?
Writen by

*MALAM MAMUDA KABIR DUTSINMA*
1. I have a very painful truth to dish out to graduates out there: Your degree or certificate is not the cure to poverty; the cure to poverty is your ability to see and seize opportunities. In this Article, the word P.O.O.R means: Passing Over Opportunities Repeatedly.

2. Dear Graduates, if somebody offers you an amazing opportunity, but you are not sure you can do it, say yes then learn how to do it later!, never should you say you don’t know. School rewards people for their memory. Life rewards people for their creativity and ability to solve problems. School rewards caution; life rewards daring. School hails those who live by the rules. Life exalts those who break the rules and set new ones.

3. Being on top of your class does not necessarily guarantee that you will be at the top of life. The world is filled with poor graduates but rich opportunists! Kevin Ngo once said, “If you don’t make the time to work on creating the life you want, you’re eventually going to be forced to spend a lot of time dealing with a life you don’t want”.

4. Your certificates and degrees are meant to help you garner the experience and expertise needed to fulfill your dreams; they are not your destination! I have watched pitiably many graduates with degrees and certificates languishing in poverty looking for jobs that don’t even exist while people with keen eyes for opportunities reach the pinnacle of success in the most unlikeliest of ways.

5. Do you have a graduate or degree holder around you that is poor? I bet you have as they are everywhere! I have a very painful truth to dish out to graduates out there: Your degree or certificate is not the cure to poverty; the cure to poverty is your ability to see and seize opportunities.

BASICALLY, there are seven (7) reasons why degree holders are poor.

1. THEY DON’T THINK BEYOND THEIR CERTIFICATES

Albert Einstein said, “Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.” Have you ever heard creativity term “Think outside the box”? One of the major reasons why most graduates are poor is simply because they can’t see and think beyond their certificates.
I have seen engineering students work as bankers. I have seen medical doctors with great skills in web and graphic designs. I have seen lawyers that are very dexterous with finances. The list is endless!

The basic truth of life is that the skills that are needed to be much sought after and become more successful in life are not really found within the walls of the classrooms. Your certificate is just a proof that you are teachable, it does not suggest what you are totally capable of doing. You are full of possibilities when you think beyond your degrees and certificates.

2. THEY PRIORITIZE THEIR CERTIFICATES MORE THAN THEIR GIFTS AND TALENTS

I have often advised some of my colleagues, never to leave their gifts dormant while pursuing and hunting for jobs with their certificates. There must be a complementary balance in the pursuit of your passion and in the search for jobs.

Everybody is gifted for something, but the winning edge comes from our ability to work on our gifts and bless the world with it. The very best way to develop yourself is in the direction of your natural talents and interest. In order to live a fulfilled and impactful life, we need to work harder on our gift than our job. We need to discover our gift, develop it, and sell it. Don’t bury your TALENT with your certificates.

3. THEIR CERTIFICATES PREPARE THEM FOR A WORLD THAT NO LONGER EXIST

It has been found that most of the skills taught in schools are becoming obsolete in the present world. The world has changed a lot, and so are people’s need! It is imperative to know that the present form of university education does not prepare students for the future.

Graduates are becoming endangered species in the face of a changing world. Our archaic methods and approaches of learning are preparing graduates for a world that no longer exist, as we are churning out degree holders every year with certificates that have face value but no intrinsic worth. Most learning institutions are filled up with lecturers and pseudo-educators with lecture notes, methods and approaches that have lost relevance in a changing world.

4. THEY KNOW LESS ABOUT THEMSELVES BUT MORE ABOUT THINGS

Certificates and degrees don’t reveal people to themselves; they at most measure our IQ (Intelligent Quotient). I have often tell people that there is no Recovery without Discovery. A poor man is simply someone that has not discovered himself.

The more you discover yourself, the more you realize the treasures that are hidden deep within you. We carry inside ourselves latent treasures that can only be unveiled through self-discovery.

5. CERTIFICATES AND DEGREES CAN KILL INITIATIVES

Degrees and certificates can close up your minds to ideas while initiatives open it up. If you are not careful, your degrees and certificates can close up your mind. The purpose of education is to keep your mind perpetually opened towards limitless possibilities!

Fred Smith saw an opportunity for overnight delivery of anything anywhere in the USA, and ultra- fast delivery anywhere in the world, FedEx was born. It will be interesting to know that Fred Smith got a grade “C” in a Yale economics class for an idea that the professor belittled as unworkable.
Fred Smith’s company became the first American business to make over ten billion dollars in annual profit. Beginning with just 186 packages delivered the first night, FedEx now delivers in over two hundred countries using over 6,030 aircraft, 46,000 vehicles and 141,000 employees.

6. DEGREES AND CERTIFICATES POSITION YOU TO LOOK FOR JOBS AND NOT FOR OPPORTUNITIES

Our certificates and degrees prepare graduates to look for jobs and not open our eyes to life-changing opportunities. You are not poor because you don’t have a job; you are poor because you are not seeing and seizing opportunities.

Being POOR is simply Passing Over Opportunities Repeatedly! What keeps people ahead in life is not their education or degrees, it is simply the opportunity that they seized. Jobs may be scarce but not opportunities.

As long as there is a problem to be solved, there will always be opportunities. It is a waste of our education, exposure, and experiences if after we graduate from school, all we think about is searching for a job. An enlightened and educated mind should be able to see and seize opportunities.

7. CERTIFICATES AND DEGREES PREPARE PEOPLE TO LOOK FOR SECURITY AND NOT TO TAKE RISKS

We must be willing to make mistakes and take breakthrough risks. Taking risks and learning from mistakes help us in knowing what works and what does not! When Thomas Edison was being questioned by a mischievous journalist on how he felt for having failed for 999 times before getting the idea of the light bulb, his response stunned the whole world when he confidently said, “I have not failed 999 times, I have only learned 999 ways of how not to make a light bulb”.

Many graduates and degree holders are becoming progressively poor because the skills required in the modern world to get rich are not taught in schools and institutions. By 2025, we’ll lose over five million jobs to automation. This means that future jobs will look vastly different by the time many people graduate from the university.

Future jobs will involve KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION/CREATION and innovation, and people that are only equipped with skills found in the classroom will definitely be a misfit in an ever-changing world. Skills like critical thinking, creativity, people’s skill, STEM skills (e.g Coding), complex problem-solving skills etc. are central to living a more comprehensive and productive life.

8 THEREFORE, in conclusion, My humble and candid advice to graduates and students in institutions is to think wide, deep and outside the box. Take volunteer jobs, and don’t be afraid to navigate fields that are different from your field of learning. Your future career will require you to pull information from many different fields to come up with creative solutions to future problems.

Start by reading as much as you can about anything and everything that interests you. Once you get to college, consider double majoring or minoring in completely different fields. Trust me, it’ll pay off in the long run.

Don’t limit yourself to the classroom. Do something practical. Take a leadership position. Start a business and fail; that’s a better entrepreneurship. Contest an election and lose. It will teach you something political science will not teach you. Attend a seminar. Read books outside the scope of your course.

Think less of becoming an excellent student, but think more of becoming an excellent person. Don’t make the classroom your world, but make the world your classroom. Step forward and try something extra. Invest in something you believe! Real financial security and freedom is not in your job, but in your passion, gifts, talents, and your ability to see and seize opportunities.

Writer by
MALAM MAMUDA KABIR DUTSINMA

GoodBoi1:

Skills will not kill me. While in university I was also learning programming and software development, it is the skill that I use to bring in the money today and I work for big organizations with good pay. My certificate is still there, I hope to make good use of it, till then let me keep profiting with the skill I learned.

MrAkata:


First of all it's a lie that majority Nigerians do menial jobs with their degrees. You need to add more context to that statement.

1) Are the degrees they have from accredited universities ? There is also a heirachy in degrees in America.

2) What you majored in plays a huge role also. Some degrees/majors in America are basically useless while others are like All Access VIP tickets.

3) Has the person completely finished his schooling. It's common to see a person w/ a degree working in Starbucks. The reason is because they may be working towards their masters or PhD. They would rather take a part time job with flexibility so that they are able to spend more time on their studies.

4) The person may very well be lying. A lot of Nigerians in the US lie about their credentials. That taxi man or security guard could very well be lying about his degrees. I've seen a lot of people with fake degrees in the US. A lot of people honestly were tricked and didn't know and some thought they could trick the system.

That leads me into the problem with this post and why this isn't applicable in the US. The biggest problem is believing you that if you are offered an opportunity and can't do it then you should lie and take the job.

1 ) This only bleeps it up for not only other Nigerians but black Americans as well. I understand Nigerians don't understand the concept of being black because you weren't raised in America. The reality is MOST white people could care less if u are Nigerian, Jamaican or Black American in their eyes you are BLACK. So that will affect the next black person looking for an opportunity.

2 ) It will only make it harder for you in the long run. You will constantly have to relocate yourself or reinvent yourself. America is a small place as big as it may seem. You screw up one place and it will haunt you forever. Everything goes off of resumes and referrals and they have databases depending on your industry. Once your name comes up in the BBB as being sheisty or a liar then you will have to change your name if u want anymore opportunities.

3 ) it's not necessary to lie. If you are honest a lot of people will still hire you. You may not make as much but they'll put u in a position to learn what they want to know. Some people like training you from the ground up because you won't bring your bad habits to their business. It's an "you can't teach a dog new tricks mentality " but you can train a puppy to your liking.

A degree is not necessary to succeed necessarily but this is bullshit. I just finished my degree and i made more when i didn't have it at. I was making 80k fresh out of high school with no degree and doubled that over the years.

The problem is when that industry slowed down and i was tired of it I was stuck. I pigeonholed myself and had to go back to school.

A good degree offers you longevity and security.