occam:
Too many graduates in Business Administration, Accounting, Mass Communication, Law, Political Science etc that want to work in offices. This is the problem of our dysfunctional educational system.

Interesting.
Sometime ago, on one thread like that, I said there were way too many Nigerian graduates going to the UK to study masters degrees in one 'Management' discipline or the other. Received lots of complaints for my trouble.

wasn't it oceanic that was hiring masters degree holders as bank tellers or some such?

While u all argue and blaab!!
Can som1 give me the e-mail add 4 d submission of cv's.

Taiw: you are talking trash man. Is it not dis same Dangote that has forced many Pple out of business by bribing d govt to operate a monopolistic market?a drop-out asking a graduate to drive his trucks nt even cars?yes dere is dignity in labour but can u drive a truck knowing fully well d risk involved in nigerian trucks(one has to be strong n Alwz be high to do dat)?I'm nt sayin Pple Shldnt apply but I'm only shocked about d state of this country.don't even compare a truck driver in d u.s. With a truck driver here.if d person dies nw, is it not fools like u dat will say who send am?we all need to fight for our rights not accepting defeat.u can't even put such in ur cv as work experience cos it doesn't relate to any field at all in case u want to change jobs.

WHAT IS UR RIGHT THAT UR FIGHTING FOR EXACTLY

Olodostein: Do not hate the player, hate the game.

Many of these nowadays useless graduates that bribed their way through school are here complaining. A lot can't even make out anything with their heads.

Hungry nova catch una yet. Stay there to look for "white collar jobs".

This is just the beginning. Next will be asking Cleaners for Masters degree.

Welcome to the 21century Economy.

I THINK SAY NA ONLY ME WAN TALK DIS WORD FOR WORD BUT 8 PAGES DON REACH.TRULY NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN

dadaic:

You are a bastard young man...If nestle built a plant with 4.5billion naira and was able to employ close to about 1,000 graduates, why can't a so called billionaire do the same, how many trucks does he have? How many graduates can he employ? What happens to those who were driving the truck before? what experience can you learn from this? abegi, make una go kill una fucking billionaire wey dey only think of himself. would he let his kid work in a firm as a driver with a B,sc? Would you let your son do that? Go and die abeg

WHAT DO THE 'GRADUATES' DO NO BE TO DRIVE PICK UP WITH NESTLE PRODUCT.WETIN BE D DIFF.

May i ask a question? What kind of jobs do u think Nigerian graduates do abroad?, if they really re graduates with pride, aw will they cope over there?, i think we should give kudos to this man, do u know the number of graduates with 3rd class and pass that can't get jobs easily that will benefit from this? Lets stop living in dreams and wake up to reality. More lives will be saved on our roads if graduates take over. They will have a source of livelihood, and there will be safety on our roads.

This man Dandote has finally killed our education sector in Nigeria, now let look at it, if he now employ graduate as a truck driver in Nigeria what type of job are we going to be offered in countries like Ghana then they employ our graduate as leaner. Pls Nigerian should rise up and protest against this.

What may be the basic salary of a truck driver in dangote industries? I am aware of d basic salary of a fresh graduate his SBU's which is not up to 40k. Dangote allowance is too poor expect for his Head office staff dt he pays up to 100k. I am once his staff in the SBU

See pride. Okay then, graduate truck drivers to earn 600,000 per month. Are u all happy now or would rather continue to complain. NIGERIANS AND PRIDE!!!

samwale21@yahoo:
This man Dandote has finally killed our education sector in Nigeria, now let look at it, if he now employ graduate as a truck driver in Nigeria what type of job are we going to be offered in countries like Ghana then they employ our graduate as leaner. Pls Nigerian should rise up and protest against this.

you must be insane

What Dangote needs to do, if he knows he has too much money, is to sponsor Nigerian graduates abroad for postgraduate

AjanleKoko: What Dangote needs to do, if he knows he has too much money, is to sponsor Nigerian graduates abroad for postgraduate

Very useless and pointless recommendation from you... Smh in disapproval

driving a truck on the middle of the night with all kind of hazard on the road coupled with the death trap pot holes on our highway...please is a no-no ......goodluck to others

no dullin: While u all argue and blaab!!
Can som1 give me the e-mail add 4 d submission of cv's.

jobs@dangote-group.com

I'm sure most of these ignorant critics have sent their CVs, they are only trying to discourage others to apply so that they will lesser people to contend with. F0olish graduates, what makes Standard Chattered marketing job better than a common street hawker? Fo0ls!!!

Issues in Dangote’s graduate drivers scheme
Our Reporter August 21, 2012 4 Comments »
Issues in Dangote’s graduate drivers scheme

BY Suraj Oyewale

When I picked up a recent edition of Guardian newspaper and saw a full page advert by Dangote Group seeking to employ and train 2000 graduates for its newly established Drivers Academy, a number of thoughts raced through my mind. Expectedly, the initiative has started generating heated debate in Nigeria’s highly critical cyberspace. On the surface, one will be tempted to crash the roof on the Group for such a ‘demeaning’ offer to Nigeria’s legion of respected graduates.

But a deeper look at the issues surrounding the idea is necessary no matter the opinion one forms on it, ab initio; after all, lack of analytical review of policies and events, are at the root of the pervasive bolekaja criticism that has made public debate an exercise in waste of time and resources in Nigeria. The billionaire founder of the conglomerate, Aliko Dangote, is a man that is liked and loathed in Nigeria in equal proportion.

To some people, he is a business shark that doesn’t tolerate competition and uses his connection with political powers-that-be to tilt policies in his favour and reap billions in the process. To others, he is a diligent businessman in a capitalist economy that is passionate about his country, nay his continent, establishing factories across all regions and employing people. Dangote is the largest single employer of labour in Nigeria today and if the 2000 drivers join his payroll, he will widen the gap as Nigeria’s numero uno employer.

But what ordinarily looks like a noble idea is laden with a number of questions. According to Dangote Group, the initiative will ‘assist to uplift the operating standards in road transport industry’, amongst other merits. When one looks at the manner haulage drivers operate on our roads, one will easily agree that the industry needs serious reforms. Some of us still have phobia for long distance highway driving because of how these ‘Kings of the roads’ lord over the highways, without regard for other road users.

Not a few road accidents happen on daily basis due to the activities of these barely literate drivers. But for the grace of God almighty, this writer could have been consumed by their activities last year when on my way to my Kwara hometown for sallah, two heavy truck drivers were carelessly competing for space on a double-way road, at a sharp bend for that matter. The commercial bus that had overtaken me earlier was not as lucky.

Virtually every Nigerian road user has had nightmarish experience, even if of near-miss, with these ‘lions of the highway’. So I will be the first to agree that Dangote group’s attempt at overhauling its road transport function is a welcome idea. Other road transport business owners, especially petroleum products marketing and transporting companies, should follow suit. Indeed, the reforms should be nationally coordinated with the Federal Ministry of Transport developing the framework under which these operators operate. But a big question:

is illiteracy and lack of tertiary education the cause of this inhuman behavior of these truck drivers? If the answer to that is no, I’m afraid shoving the illiterates aside for the graduates in the business is not the magic wand to this monstrous attitude. It can be easily argued that one that passed through the four walls of a tertiary institution is expected to be more refined in attitude, but this is only partially true. After all, we will not look too far before we see OND holders, at least, in the current crop of highway drivers.

But this flaw notwithstanding, I believe formal training like Dangote Drivers Academy is expected to give its 2000 drivers will go a long way in instilling the needed expertise, and equally importantly, attitude, which can make a difference. There is also the question of whether someone that studied say Sociology in the tertiary institution now being employed as a driver is not underemployed. Well, everyone knows that the course of study at undergraduate level has little bearing with most Nigerians’ eventual career.

This is why an Engineering graduate will go on to become Bank CEO or CFO. Yet, some people have asked why they need to go spend four or more years in the higher institution, when they could have learned driving and become a driver in one week. But this argument misses the point when confronted with the fact that what one learns in the higher institution goes beyond the classroom teachings.

The exposure, the finesse, the interactions are meant to shape our being. This is why Dangote expects a graduate driver to make a difference. A bigger question –and the main point of the controversy – is: is it not an insult to the sensibilities of Nigerian graduates for a ‘capitalist’ Dangote to throw such a lowly job at them? This is a tough question for me, as I am not sure my answer will not be different if I were in the other side – the side of the unemployed army of graduates. Frankly, I don’t see this as an insult. I will explain.

Driving is a job long seen as meant for the uneducated class. I emphasized ‘seen’ because it is only a matter of perception, it is never a rule or fact that is cast in stone. Here is someone trying to revolutionize the job and give it a better public perception. If we look round, we should see that many of the jobs associated with the illiterate, lowly class in the society in the past are now being revolutionized.

Years back, we all saw farming as the preserve of the illiterate poor. Now, ex-presidents, retired Generals, and many well educated elite are into farming. Young graduates and upwardly mobile executives are also moving into the sector. I have a friend, a young guy in his early 30’s, that resigned his investment banking job for farming.

I have another friend, my room mate in the university, who, not waiting for any paid job after his youth service, went into small scale fish farming. So what are we talking about? It is all a matter of perception, driving job is seen as a lowly one because we all made it look it so, giving it a better perception is a matter of mental outlook too. If farming is no longer for the poor illiterate only, driving too is long overdue to be absorbed into the societally acceptable jobs, at least for anyone that couldn’t find a better job. After all, not a few Nigerians drive cab for a living in other lands.

I do not expect Dangote Group to pay its 2000 drivers less than N100,000 per month. If I guessed right, this is not an entirely bad idea. A lot of the formal sector jobs graduates die to get do not pay up to N50,000 per month.

I know banks that pay less than N50,000 for its HND staff. Now, questions for the Dangote group too: what is the career progression plan for these graduate drivers? Can a well-polished graduate driver ever become a Manager or Supervisor? Or will he remain a steering manipulator throughout his entire career in the organization? What are the incentives to make these drivers abide by the rules you teach them in the academy? I have some advice:

The drivers, upon completion of their course, should be absorbed into the company’s organizational structure like any other entry level graduate. There should be yearly appraisals and promotion for performing drivers like it would do to any other staff. Performance may be tied to number of accident-free journeys a driver makes, in addition to other measures.

The company may also consider as incentives hire purchase schemes for its drivers. Right of first refusal may also be given to drivers ahead of other staff when the company deems it fit to dispose a truck after a number of years of use. For a job that requires high level of energy and mental alertness like driving, adequate holidays should be part of these drivers working condition.

Of course, I am not unaware of the fact that, Dangote being a private organization, has the sole prerogative of drawing its internal policies, including driving policy, but this advisory from an outsider is not totally out of order, especially when we look at the fact that we are all ultimate stakeholders as co-users of the roads Dangote drivers will ply. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, Albert Einstein said many years ago, is insanity.

Dangote group’s initiative is a welcome idea if all the potential loopholes are addressed, and other heavy truck owners consider similar initiative (not necessarily employing graduates only) it may go a long way in bringing the needed sanity to our roads. Rather than descend heavily on the Forbes Billionaire, we should look at the bigger picture and encourage him. I fully endorse the scheme. Oyewale writes from Lagos.

houstonia: @blackbaron, you are definitely a blackmoron to me, @stagger, obviously you are a quarter to death, thus u are desperate. @goshen360, I'm still in search of someone more stupid than you are. I know what I'm currently studying in school, you don't expect me after all my candles, and midnight vigillance, to wake up one morning and pick up outta all kinda jobs , a "driving job" in which obviously I'm expected to risk my life by trvelling long distances that involves intra and interstate ventures. Omo I think three of you have to be blocked from nairaland entirely. Abi would he advise his own sisters son to even take up this kinda job. Dangote must be a fool. I no sabi the money wey him get seff. Common Mark Zuk don beat am without political attachment or govt interferance.

Hehehe...I'm just seeing this. The pride in Nigerian youths is just mind numbing.
Besides according to the company's requirement, I am 'underaged'

Naetoja: driving a truck on the middle of the night with all kind of hazard on the road coupled with the death trap pot holes on our highway...please is a no-no ......goodluck to others

I have read so many post. What additional professional qualification do u have ?, or is it that certificate that u blocked all ur way to get. To crown it , its not even a firts class or second class upper.
I interview people weekly in my office and I see the nonsense in nigeria graduate.
Guys u better go and apply cos I have reliable info that the graduate drivers salary is far better than the regular drivers.
Never dispise the day of little begining
I started working as a 2:1 graduate with 20k/mth 7 yrs ago but today I earn more than #4million p.a
Talk more of starting you as a truck driver with over#60k/mth and allowances
Remember the parable of the master that gave his servants talents to trade with.
The decision is yours

Hello everybody,

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regards,

przemek
www.impekstir.com

remmer56:
Send me the link.. I'll soooooo apply! It takes nothing from me, rather A̶̲̥̅ plus in my wallet.. Would - rather sit at home and check when PHCN takes or brings power!! Bleep those with too much pride, even with A̶̲̥̅ hungry family! If the pay is good, I'll drive 4 sef if possible..