TRAVAILS OF AN UNREPENTANT JOB SEEKER
Ketu!!! Ojota!!! Berger!!!!, the hoarse voice of the wiry looking conductor bellowed out. Another day gone in this unending rush of getting employment in the country we find ourselves. Tales of woe abound everywhere from graduates all across the country, all raising a silent agreement on the fact it is not easy to be a youth in this "Change" era that has swept our country for the past year and some months. I sit back in the bus and reminisce on my undergraduate days, the days where we sauntered into lecture halls with an air of unabashed arrogance, with the impermeable belief that after graduation, we could have our pick of jobs available in the country. My time in FUNAAB should have taught me a bitter lesson, as hordes of lecturers used the lives of their students as though it was a deck of hands in which the most astute player often, more than not wins.

The Computer Science department at the famous university in Abeokuta placed more premium on establishing a servant-master relationship than the excellence of teaching, yet the world I find myself now has placed in me a belief so strong that while the past doesn't inspire confidence, yet the future can be shaped by our hands, as a potter would mould clay into beautiful artifacts. In this world where the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Barr. Solomon Dalung said that over 38 million youths are jobless, it is easy to lose the plot and get frustrated in the quest of getting a job. The vast majority of youth corpers being accepted into the NYSC scheme still continues to befuddle me, with the government seemingly enticing corps members with a paltry 19800 naira, which feels like a bribe to me as they continue to wallow in abject frustration after service.

My phone has become my best friend. Text messages must turn to test/assessment invites, e-mails are being constantly perused for any whiff of good news, the likes of , Nairaland.com, have become my most visited sites everyday in search of jobs that ultimately one doesn't meet the criteria as the University system doesnt empower one to truly understand basic principles unless you develop yourself,yet I wonder, when did it turn to this. Although, I will not waver in my pursuit of a better life, yet I wonder what will become of the hordes of people remaining in the "labour market" as it really a market of exploitation of labour. Imagine a graduate being persuaded to accept N30,000. Pittance for a person that spends over 5 years in a higher institution, with the constant threat of carry-overs, extra year and all sorts of threats from school authorities, and yet strives to make ends meet in this "diversified" economy we find ourselves in.

I believe so much in the power of choice, as I believe what everyone turns out to be is determined solely by God, and also primarily by the individual. Like the famous Invictus poem, "I am the master of my fate, the captain of my ship", it is imperative to note that you have two choices as you search gor jobs. You either sit back and watch others claim the few available jobs, or take it as a battle you have never fought before. I have heard people say, Learn entrepreneurial skills, go for business strategy meetings. All these point to the fact that we must constantly update ourselves in this ever-changing world as there are more and more obstacles in the quest for the acquisition of that dream job. But, dont despise the days of little beginnings as what you face is what will shape you into who you are.

Like the Who Wants to be a Millionaire, employment is a game for the fastest finger, endeavour to be that fastest finger, and people will stand and applaud you when you succeed. The choice is yours.

Written by:
KADIRI Ademola A.

I rush to my phone any time it rings hoping it would be a resumption mail or interview invite.

Those days I see graduates walking around with files from gate to gate in the streets of Ketu, Lagos. I would wonder why they do that.

After Nysc, I found out that all the promises made by my so called connected uncle was a big joke.

Most time I ask myself, when would my childhood dreams be fulfilled.

I need a Miracle now.

Hmmm

*God will not forget us*

Help me say Ami o ....

It's not easy at all...am just tired of everything