I woke up around 2.30am filled with the thoughts of mass exodus of Nigerian youths to foreign countries in search of quality education and economic survival. The attendant issues surrounding the subject is mind boggling. On my radio programme few days back, I had raised the issue with my guests concerning the report that Nigerian youths had contributed over two billion pounds to the United Kingdom’s economy in their search for good tertiary education. This revelation is not only staggering, it is a source of worry. With this mass exodus of the youths out of Nigeria, I am worried about the future of the country, the way of life of a people, worried about the quality of the workforce, what becomes of the economy in the nearest future, quality of productivity, and several other issues. No thanks to the work attitude of the leaders who think more of the different shades and sizes of the ceremonial dress (babanriga) that they daily put on at the expense of giving quality governance. Their focus and values are different, and the youths could not wait any longer.
The youths’ immediate reaction is to abandon the land, and they are doing so in droves, popularly known as “Jaja”..
In one of the past editions of “The Economist’s Management Thinking” focused on a subject: “The Great Skills Mismatch.” The piece delved into issue of skills shortage that is getting worse even as youth unemployment reaches record highs. The article again emphasized the concern of many and corroborated what we have so far been discussing. We are quick to blame the working class for skills gap and incompetence but, to be sincere, we should not have placed this blame solely at their doorstep. In Nigeria, there are several factors that contribute to the noticeable skill deficiencies. These factors are environmental in nature, some are economic, some are political while some are self-inflicted. If we are quick to see the rot in the education system and we blame the sector for the rots noticeable in present day graduates, we should also be super-quick to notice and shout it loud and clear the magnitude of decadence caused this country by bad governance.
What Nigerian youths and the entire working class are passing through in Nigeria – the lack of skills and competence, the systemic failures, endemic corruption and diminishing capacities – are all proofs of the damage incompetent and bankrupt managers that fill the three tiers of government in Nigeria had done, and keep doing, to the country. Examining Nigeria’s situation through the glasses of ‘absolutism’ and ‘comparativeness’, the former is delusional while the latter tends toward unassuming meekness.
Quite frankly in entrepreneurship and ability to notice and establish value, Nigeria, through the handful of people exercising power in governments, had chosen to walk the absolutism path where, despite their high mobility and unbridled recurrent spending patterns, had chosen to gloat in nothingness rather than see clearly the extent of their nothingness in the committee of value-giving nations – and be sober. Like, Ephraim, Nigeria seemed to have chosen her way and we would say ‘leave her alone’, until perhaps the country realises its folly and chooses to be truly sober – if it will never be too late. And where this is the case, the people living in this kind of a country need to rise up and take their destinies in their own hands to work for their individual own economic and political survival.
With the state of things, everybody must stand up for his or her life. You need to stand up for your life. We can’t over-flog youth’s employability challenge and high rate of unemployment on this page. However, whether you are a business owner or someone looking for employment, it is your duty to stand up for what will make you become outstanding in what you have identified to do so that you don’t end up among the dregs of the society. Don’t wait for anybody to develop your skills and never wait for anybody to give you everything you need to succeed and thrive. Stand up for your life: develop your own positive, value-giving strategies and deploy the strategies. Unusual situation requires unusual approach. With challenges we face in Nigeria, it will be foolhardy for anyone to wait on another entity to help him pursue his or her well-being. It is your responsibility to pursue your own greatness and well-being and ensure that you don’t remain confined to the fold of ‘has-been’ or become relegated to the background.
As we negotiate the turn to take on the new year, you need to give this a serious thought: what are you going to do to position yourself better, to ensure you are not condemned among the rejects of the society, in the coming year? Remember, your time is your life and how you spend it or what you get out of it sums the totality of your life – your existence. In this regard, you cannot leave your personal development to another person: not to a system or an institution or this government. You owe it a duty to develop yourself, you owe it a duty to work on your skills and your capacities so that you can become an outstanding personality – a phenomenon.
Can it be said of you that ‘they are bunch of incompetent men and women but we found one person who is unbelievably outstanding, a great material, a promising star who we believe has what it takes to take an organisation to an enviable height’ and that one person happened to be you? Stand up for your life and economic independence. It is your duty to build your brand, it is your duty to build your business, it is your duty to develop your competence, and it is your duty to make yourself become the most sought-after.
. Ola Emmanuel is a business planning and cooperative consultant. He works with a team of international consultants to conceptualise and plan agribusiness and housing projects. As a certified trainer authorised to use the International Labour Organisation’s enterprise development modules, he trains entrepreneurs and organises workshops and seminars for potential and practising entrepreneurs as well as business managers and cooperatives. He also speaks and facilitates at leadership and management workshops on invitation. His book, Business Planning Made Easy: Step by Step Guide On How To Turn Your Idea To Profitable Business’ is the latest of the books authored by him. Tel.: +234(0)9068602954 (call and sms), +234(0)8023257707 (WhatsApp only).
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