THE EXPECTATIONS OF A GRADUATING STUDENT AND WHAT THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY HAS IN STOCK FOR HER DISCIPLINE

        Relying on the principles of division of labour  as enunciated in elementary economics, which stipulates that production process is to be divided into parts or stages, to be handled by different professionals, Nigerian graduates from various disciplines in this circumstance undoubtedly, will have high hopes while graduating. Specifically, he/she will expect that:

i.                   Jobs/employments must be waiting for him/her to take up since the various production processes are fashioned out for diverse professionals to man. Every discipline could therefore be accommodated within the production processes.

ii.                That there will be abundance of opportunities for self employment and development backed with cash/finances waiting for him/her, going by the oil wealth that we have discovered and been relying on since the early sixties.

        Whereas the Nigerian graduate’s expectations are as summarized in (i) and (ii) above, hinged on his/her perception of how the situation outside school should be, the current global realities present something different from what the ordinary belief of the Nigerian graduate would be. The current realities are as listed here-under:

i.                   The world has moved to the Information age where the success or otherwise of any citizen of a society depends on how deep and diverse his knowledge is of a variety of issues. In the world of today, the more a graduate knows, the higher the chances of his/her success in the enlarged society.

ii.                Vocational Skills are now the fast becoming lucrative ventures. We now live in a world where people make millions on just a simple skill as make-up. You can imagine how much Mrs. Tara Fela-Durotoye makes from her knowledge of make-up, quite a common skill amongst women you would say!

iii.              Emphasis has shifted from job-seeking to entrepreneurship, from work-for-pay to work-for-profit. As Bill Newman wrote in his book ‘The Road to Success’, “it is better to work 100 hours for yourself than work 40 hours for someone else”. It means the recent global reality is that of people working for themselves and for nobody else – self employment.

iv.              It is now economically unwise for the government of any country to employ all her graduates and school leavers. This fact is premised on the fact that government relies on Internally Generated Revenue to continue discharging its functions. However, this IGR is raised from taxes paid by corporate bodies, import duty, foreign exchange etc. We could say, the cause of the recent global economic crisis was basically over-burdening of governments. America had Social Security and a lot of other responsibilities to her citizens and this resulted in a geometric increase in the country’s debts. You ask me why? The country’s IGR could simply not withstand her burden. Thus, all nations of the world are currently encouraging their citizens to look the way of investment and entrepreneurship so that government can earn more from taxes paid payable by such establishments.

        Based on the aforementioned global realities, the Nigerian economy has in stock for graduating students, things different from the graduates’ original and ‘ideal’ expectations. These are:

i.                   That graduating students will abhor career immobility and swing into a state of career mobility which elementary economics describe as ‘occupational mobility’. This concept preaches inevitable need for every individual to be broad-based in skill acquisition rather than confine self to a single profession. This means, the success of a graduating student in the Nigerian economy will require more than the knowledge of his course of study alone. In the event that he/she can not secure employment in his/her area of specialization, he/she will become unemployable in other areas of the economy if his/her course of study is the knowledge he/she carries. Aside that, all establishments (government and private), now require ‘utility staff’ i.e. an employee that can be effective even in other areas aside the area to which he was employed.

ii.                The Nigerian Economy has in stock for a graduating student – CONDUCIVE ATMOSPHERE FOR INVESTMENT which is the global phenomenon. Governments at the three tiers are focused on provision of conducive atmosphere for investment, self employment and job creation for others. This is in a bid to ensure the employment of her teeming graduates while simultaneously increasing revenue for the government. Thus, they are wooing foreign investors and sensitizing their to engage in self employment and job creation, promising financial support or guaranteeing bank facilities/micro-credit loans.

iii.              The Nigerian Economy also has in stock for her graduates, OPPORTUNITY FOR SKILL TRAINING AND RE-TRAINING in all areas, to further equip young graduates for self employment and job creation. It is now expected that an individual with Higher Education Certificate could be equipped with skills in other fields of human endeavor within the shortest possible time and at lesser cost. This explains the huge presence of various training and professional organizations in the country, aiming at human capacity development for graduates.

iv.              That graduating students should only apply in hope for only few jobs that may become vacant in government rather than in unfailing expectation. The current economic situation is such that government is heavily relying on the citizens for its continued success and so, citizens can not so heavily rely on government. A testimony to this fact is the increasing presence of billboards reading “Please Pay your Tax” in every nook and cranny of the country. Sign posts to revenue offices are so conspicuous that even a blind man can see them, this simply because government relies more on the people than the people can rely on her.

v.                 The Nigerian Economy welcomes graduates into a field of practical as the principles required to succeed in the enlarged society are deeper than the theoretical lessons learnt in the institutions of learning. A graduate thus have to buckle up and integrate him/herself into the world of reality.

WHAT SHOULD GRADUATING STUDENTS DO?

1.                      Graduating Students must first conduct what is referred to in management as SWOT-Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats). The Strengths of a graduating student are those skills and knowledge he has acquired that stands him out as someone the society needs. Weaknesses will include the shortcomings in his know-how, what and what he does not know as much as he should. Opportunities will include the chances available for him based on the strengths that he has and threats will include the chances he might lose by his inability to master certain skills and overcome his weaknesses. The SWOT-Analysis is quite important for a graduate to identify the exact position he stands in the Nigerian economic situation.

2.                      Graduating students should strive to enlist self in skill acquisition programmes and professional courses to further boost their capacity.

3.                      Identify potentials, generate business and entrepreneurial ideas and sought for financing.

4.                      Graduating students must give themselves to extensive reading to tap from the experiences of such writers in economic and financial issues (books by Robert T. Kiyosaki, Richard Templar, Dale Carnegie, Ben Carson, Bob Eldridge, Dave Ule etc are good sources of knowledge for graduating students).

5.                      Look for and attend workshops relevant to your interest.

6.                      Conduct a personal 4-P (Price, Place, Promotion and Product) analysis on self. The price in this case refers to how much value the graduating student places on him/herself, talking of self esteem, human capacity etc. I should let you know that the difference in levels attained by various individuals is marked by the difference in their value system, while some aim for ultimate success, some only value stipends that will come from menial jobs, a graduating students should check his value system. Place refers to the location which the graduating student feel is most conducive for him/her to achieve his set targets. A good target in a wrong location is like a shoemaker producing shoes in the country of the lame. Promotion refers to how well the graduating student presents himself. A good idea presented badly or rather ‘packaged’ badly will fail. This packaging even includes mode of dressing, manner of speaking etc. Product refers to the capacity of the graduating student himself. A bad product (an ignorant graduate – by ignorant I mean lacking the knowledge of the current global realities as have been discussed earlier) can not get a job nor succeed in business no matter the location or value or dressing. An empty barrel is empty no matter the paint on the outside. Thus, graduating students should seek to stuff as much knowledge as possible in themselves to stand a chance at success in the Nigerian and global society.

        It is my honest belief, that Nigerian graduates and graduating students will take the bull by the horn and utilize the lessons inherent in this concise article towards achieving success in their labour market endeavors.

        Thank you.

http://www.google.com