Idleness leads to abject poverty and retrogression. Last year, a graduate of the Ladoke Akintola University (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, Oyo State, made lamentations at the main gate of the institution. He was on a quest to collect all the tuition fees he had paid for his course of study for five years as he couldn’t secure any jobs.
He stated further that he wanted to retrieve the money so as to start a business. The truth of the matter is that the victim had become totally frustrated as age was no longer on his side. Large numbers of students from the various tertiary institutions are graduating every year but they do not have any hope of securing a job.
The proliferation of private universities in the country is another issue on its own as those who have spent colossal sums of money to train their wards in such private schools are still struggling to secure jobs for them.
Those who have struggled to train their children from creche to the university education are seriously lamenting, as some of the graduates concerned cannot live independent lives on account of their joblessness! The crime rate is high everywhere as a result of unemployment in the country.
The future of the youth in Nigeria is in danger as they are advancing in age everyday without having anything to survive on. The age limit for securing good jobs, especially in the private organisations, is another factor that causes unemployment in the country.
In some organisations, the age limit for fresh graduates could be 25 years old whereas we have many job seekers who are over 40 years. The most paramount issue that should be prioritised by our leaders and those who are contesting for the elective positions in the country is the provision of good jobs for the masses. Companies that have collapsed should be resuscitated in order for the young graduates to be gainfully employed.
- Reverend Oladimeji Michael Olalekan, Ibadan.
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