Nuggets for Gainful Youth Employment in Nigeria

Adewale Kupoluyi

Despite political independence from Great Britain on October 1, 1960, and its rich, abundant human and material resources, Nigeria has been struggling hard to become a force to be reckoned with among the comity of nations.

To move forward, the country needs to take a look at critical issues strategic to national development, some of which were brought to the fore by a former Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Tunde Lemo, while delivering the convocation lecture at the 28th and 29th Combined Convocation Ceremonies of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State titled, “Nigerian Youths: Opportunities for Gainful Employment Inspite of Economic Circumstances”, at the Oluwafemi Balogun Ceremonial Building of the 34-year-old specialised institution.

Lemo noted that many people are unsure of what the future holds for young graduates, especially now that the situation in the country is completely different from what was experienced about 40 years ago when top employers of labour such as oil companies and top international accounting firms would usually visit campuses and arrange for interviews for brilliant students and got job offers, even before they proceeded for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, but today “many young people have lost hope. While some have left for other countries in Europe and the Americas mainly, many in Nigeria are pursuing the foolish and deadly get-rich-quick options like yahoo, yahoo plus, ritual killings, kidnapping, armed robbery and hard drugs, to mention a few”.

In the 25-page convocation lecture, he defined entrepreneurship as the capacity and willingness to develop and organise a business venture with its inherent risks to make a profit.

On the other hand, relying on the American Heritage Dictionary, he described an intrapreneur as someone within a large organisation, who takes direct responsibility for turning an idea into a profitable and finished product through assertive risk-taking and innovation. Hence, intrapreneurs behave like entrepreneurs, only that they operate within defined boundaries of a corporate environment. Lemo, a first-class Accounting graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), and Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIBN) gave examples of individuals, who have flourished from intrapreneurial activities. They include the founders of Adobe Systems Incorporation, John Warnock and Charles Geschke, initial employees of Xerox, but today, drove Adobe’s capitalisation to $219 billion, amounting to the world’s 44th most valuable by market capitalisation.

He added that intrapreneurial activities are also found within government circles through pioneering ideas and changing the way government does business for effectiveness and efficiency. The lecturer lamented that nearly 60% of those that are unemployed are youth between the ages of 15-24 and mainly graduates, saying youth unemployment is like a ticking time bomb, even though many people believe that Nigerian graduates are unemployable due to lack of employability skills, and failure of school curriculum to place emphasis on practical concept of entrepreneurship, among other reasons. Lemo, an Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) and Chairman, of the Federal Emergency Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), makes a case for vocational training, skills development and work experience to enhance the employability of such young people while there must be intense interaction between the Town and Gown, institutional frameworks and capacity should be put in place to enable young people to have access to information and knowledge that can help them navigate the labour market, and having job-friendly policies and demand-side measures that can help them gain valuable work experience, just to mention a few.

He explained that the apex bank (CBN) continues to sustain its interventions in priority sectors and segments of the economy with the potential for delivering economic growth, job creation, food and industrial raw materials self-sufficiency, and economic diversification. The accountant-cum-banker also talked about the Boost Africa joint initiative, between the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) aimed at harnessing the continent’s potential and creating opportunities across the various components of the initiative, which is expected to be around €250 million, leveraging €1 billion in investments, supporting 1,500 SMEs, creating 25,000 direct jobs and at least, 70,000 indirect jobs. He stated that Nigeria’s huge population provides a virile market and dominant role in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region that accounts for 40% of contribution to the body, as of 2020.

Not only that, it allows for natural resource endowment because Nigeria is blessed with a variety of natural resources that could serve the course of intrapreneurship in the areas of crude oil, gas, and solid minerals in commercial quantities. Lemo, however, believes that even though, the current climate for employment and entrepreneurship in Nigeria may not be ideal, he is optimistic that the country would get over it, just as China did through an uncommon transformation, which has assumed the current status of a manufacturing powerhouse and a net lender of capital to the global economy. And the way forward? The former CBN Deputy Governor concludes by charging all stakeholders to endeavour to rise up to the challenge by making the university system undertake a comprehensive review of its curricula with a view to meeting the developmental aspirations of Nigeria.

Furthermore, there is a need to re-order priorities and dedicate more resources to research and development to generate ideas and innovations, as universities partner with the industry to generate the required funding for teaching and research. In the final analysis, beyond Lemo’s nuggets on how youths can be gainfully employed, it is important to equally look at the debilitating factors that continue to inhibit the development of Nigeria, which the countries cited by Lemo, such as the US and China have been able to tackle to a large extent. These include the menace of corruption, nepotism, tribalism, godfatherism, and religious bigotry that have become a recurring decimal in Nigeria. Meanwhile, the Visitor to the University, President Muhammadu Buhari, has charged graduates not to see their degrees as a meal ticket, but as something that would equip them to properly face the challenges of life.

Buhari, who was represented at the occasion by the Director, Directorate of Accreditation, National Universities Commission (NUC), Dr Biodun Saliu, said the inability of the government to provide jobs for all graduates was not peculiar to Nigeria alone, stressing that no country has all it takes to do so. The Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun disclosed that the Gateway State was proud to be home to FUNAAB, as a leading citadel of learning and centre of excellence in agriculture. The governor was represented by the state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammad Abubakar, who was represented by the South-West Zonal Director of the Ministry, Mrs Folashade Abimbola, admonished the graduating students to take everything that portrays the institution in a positive light.

The Chancellor of FUNAAB, His Eminence, Edidem Ekpo Okon Abasi-Otu V, who chaired the convocation lecture, appealed to President Buhari to reconstitute the governing council of the University, saying FUNAAB had been operating without a council, even though the situation is the same with other universities of agriculture in the country. On his part, the Vice-Chancellor of FUNAAB, Prof. Kolawole Salako, said the convocation would be the last that would be held during his tenure as the sixth substantive Vice-Chancellor, gave his report of activities bordering on administration, academic, staff development, infrastructural development and provision of teaching and research facilities, staff promotion and welfare, and students’ welfare, and community relations, among others. Out of the 3,202 graduating students for the 2018/2019 set, 106 recorded first class and for the 2019/2020 set, 95 bagged first class out of the 2,696 students.

A total of 450 postgraduate awards were recorded for the 2018/2019 set while 272 were awarded for 2019/2020 set with 123 and 75 doctoral degrees, respectively. Earlier held were Jumat and special Sunday services; novelty match between the management staff and FUNAAB Falcons; film show, press conference; research and agricultural fair; among other programmes while some buildings were named after a former Nigerian President, Chief (Dr.) Olusegun Obasanjo; Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka; immediate past Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Prof. Suleiman Bogoro; former Vice-Chancellor of FUNAAB, Emeritus Prof. Israel Adu; and a former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. T. O. Tayo.

Dr Kupoluyi writes from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State.

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