Our Pains, Our Frustrations —Nigerian Graduates In Odd Jobs!

PEOPLE disregard us when we put on this uniform, as if we are nothing. I am very ashamed of doing this job and I don’t tell people I do it. In fact, most people don’t know this is what I do.”

This was how Ibrahim Danjiba, a B.Sc degree holder in Mathematics from the Kogi State University, began the story of how his failure to get a job befitting his status made him to resort to doing an odd job just to make ends meet.

Before he graduated from the university, he had looked forward to working in a telecommunications company. After graduating, therefore, he applied to various telecommunications companies for jobs, confident that he would pass the interviews. After each interview, he savoured the joy of getting his dream job but his employment letter would never come. After years of combing the streets fruitlessly for a job, luck finally smiled on him. He got a job in the industry of his dream but not in a position he desired. Instead of being employed as a core staff of the organisation, he was employed as a security man. He has since manned the gates as a security man along with others who did not go beyond primary school.

In spite of his qualification, some of his colleagues who never attended a higher institution are his boss. Narrating his experience Danjiba said: “I have always loved to work in the telecommunications industry, but they say I can’t get it if I don’t know anybody. I applied several times and passed their interviews, but at the end of the day, I didn’t get any of the jobs even with my excellent result. So, I decided to humble myself by starting with a security job in the hope that I could get a better position later.

“I have been looking for jobs in accounting firms, banks, and so on since 2011 when I graduated. The frustration of being idle finally made me to decide to start with this. The job is not lucrative. I am paid N20, 000 monthly, with which I manage to feed myself.”

He regrets that the society still looks down on security men in spite of the fact that graduates are now taking up the job. “People disregard us when we put on this uniform. It is as if we don’t amount to anything. I am very ashamed of doing this job and I don’t tell people I do it. Most people don’t know that this is what I do. I am so sad with the state of employment in Nigeria. I couldn’t imagine myself being jobless after all my brilliance in school. Students should learn crafts and not rely on certificates only, because they may not fetch them anything in return.

“I am still searching for a job and would appreciate if I get one. I can’t advise people who have money to study here. They should rather go abroad and study. I am planning to see if I can travel abroad and do my M. Sc in Pure Mathematics because I want to become a lecturer, which I may not achieve if I don’t have a master’s degree.”

Tosin Olalekan Ogunseye holds a Higher National Diploma (HND) certificate in Business Administration from Ogun State Polytechnic now Moshood Abiola Polytechnic. After all the parents’ investments and several years of burning the midnight oil, Ogunseye is hustling as a commercial tricycle operator.

He also gave an account of his venture into the unskilled job: “I would say that my condition is a setback because I had once worked in a company before it collapsed. I then searched for a job for good three years before I decided to settle down as a commercial tricycle rider. The business is not lucrative at all. The proceeds are just meant to feed yourself and cater for your family needs. I make N3,000 daily and work seven days a week, from morning till night. My wife is a hair stylist, so she supports me.”

He told The Nation that he had not given up on job hunt, saying: “I am still searching for job in any accounting firm and still wish to further my education if the opportunity comes. It is good to go to school and be literate despite the problem of unemployment. But Nigerian undergraduates should not rely on their certificates to fetch them money, because they may likely find themselves in a field different from their area of specialisation.”

Godwin Elekpo, a native of Akwa Ibom State, has B.Sc in Accounting, but he works as a security officer in a bank in Yaba, Lagos State. He said he had to take the job in order to sustain himself and his family. He said: “There are no jobs, so this is what I have got to sustain myself. It is a shameful job and I keep hiding it from people because they all think that I’m doing well. I have been searching for job even before graduation. I searched for a job as a receptionist, marketer and so on, but I could not get any.

“I started this with the hope of becoming a core employee later. I took the decision because I may not easily get a job if I continue to search for Accounting jobs. It is not lucrative. I am paid N46, 000 monthly with which I manage to cater for my family. There is no prestige in the job; people just treat and talk to you anyhow because of the uniform.”

Owing to his predicament, he said his respect for tertiary education had waned. Obviously, I have a bad feeling for going to tertiary institution in Nigeria because after graduating, you can’t find a job if you don’t have connection, people or money. But I don’t discourage students from going to school. Even now, I am still planning to do my ICAN examination soon. However, students should learn to be self-employed by learning crafts and so on in order to be able to face whatever may come tomorrow.”

Aniete John Ubara, another B.Sc degree holder in Accounting, has a similar unsavoury tale. He had to settle for commercial motorcycle business popularly called okada in order to stave off hardship.

He blamed the rising problem of unemployment on poor management of the nation’s resources by successive governments. “Bad management of public resources by successive governments is the major cause of unemployment in the country. It is not favourable to the masses. This has led to a situation where many God-fearing graduates like us lay our hands on any legitimate job that comes our way because we don’t want to go into armed robbery or other criminal activities. That is why I am doing this today.”

Apart from his academic qualification, Aniete says he is also a professional cook. “I attended a catering school, but when I applied for jobs as a cook, they kept saying they would pay me N15, 000. It made no sense to me because the pay was nothing to write home about. That was why I settled for okada business. I also searched for job for about seven years without any luck. I am not able to fully sustain my family with this, except for my wife who supports with the income she gets from the petty trading she does.

“I still wish to further my education so that I can venture into lecturing. Young graduates should look up to God. After their NYSC, they should learn crafts so as to sustain themselves if they are not employed like me.”

While other respondents are ruing their plights, Nwaokoro seems to have accepted his fate and turned it to advantage. He has worked as a security man for more than 15 years and has no plan to seek employment elsewhere. He said: “I have been working as a security man for the past 15 years. Now, I represent my unit in our union, the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU). I have no regrets so far. I have served as a contract staff here in YABATECH for five years and as security operative for 10 years.

“I chose to do this because at the time I was looking for job, that was all that was available. I took in good faith and have today gone far in it. I was about looking for job before I saw it and took it up instead of roaming the streets. I was earning N8,000, when I started. It was later increased to N12, 000, but now, I earn far above that because I have been promoted twice since then.”

He spoke about the challenges he faces on the job, saying: “People put you down as if you have not gone to school. People who have criminal intentions also see us as enemies. Some of my colleagues who caught people with guns have had their lives threatened by the people when they saw them outside. They monitor and threaten us when they see us outside.

“It is good to go to tertiary institution in Nigeria. I encourage students to continue to study hard. Those who are jobless should not hesitate to apply for security jobs or other unskilled jobs if such are available. It is better to take up such jobs than remaining idle.”