10 LIFE WAY-FORWARD FOOD FOR THOUGHT FOR A NIGERIAN PARENT: WHEN RAISING A FAMILY

These are the reasons why you should start creating an entrepreneurial capacity framework for your next generation. Below are 10 reasons why one may not get a job in Nigeria or somewhere else. 1. Lack of Required Skill. Employers continue to complain about a dearth of skills among graduates. Employers are obviously tired of seeing same set of individuals with same set of qualifications springing up for interviews daily whereas they are in need of someone that will stand out. So ask yourself, what employable skill do I have? 2. Lack of Personal Capability To Deliver: I think many graduates believe in their certificate and not in their individual capability, which would make or mar their pursuits of employment. Many lack self-development and I belief you belong to that category. What have you done since you graduate to develop your personal capability? 3. You Are a Product of a Bad Educational System: Poor funding and management of our Educational system in addition to strike has made our institution products a laughing stock. In fact, the curriculum of some studies in the institutions are not in demand. Failure of school curriculum to place emphasis on practical concepts of entreprenuership and too much emphasis on theoretical education than entreprenuership exposure is a major problem. 4. You Can't Meet Employers’ Unrealistic Demands: Employers stating job experiences as much as 3 years for fresh graduates. Age restriction, height, gender, language and many more, under these tense conditions, hardly will you see a graduate that will scale through and qualify for job application requirement except those who want to cross-carpet.. 5. Lack of Digital Skills: In this digital age, if you lack the digital skills and creativity to thrive in relation to your profession, you will surely be chasing a ghost if you are looking for a well paying job. 6. You are one of the Educated Illiterates: Every employer wants beyond just a certificate. Every employer is out to employ someone with reasoning and intellectual might, not someone who cannot play with a full deck. Someone who knows how to and wants to learn more than what they studied in school and on the job. Someone who can readily bring ideas to the table on how the company can forge forward. Not someone with low reasoning capability who won’t even be able to answer extremely trivial questions. However, guess what, that is what many of our graduates are. 7. You Want The Pay But Not The Work: Many Nigerian graduates think of getting employed today and get a car or probably buy a mansion in the next month, based on their salary. You and I know that such only happen in dreams. Success is built over time and with hard work, perseverance, dedication and being focused over the years. Are you willing to make the sacrifice? 8. Too Much Ego with Empty Pocket: I have had the privilege to present some business opportunities to some graduates and all they can say is they can only do administrative work where they sit in an office to be answering yes sir or yes ma. It took someone who is not a graduate to embrace the same opportunity. Today these uneducated persons are 50 times better than the graduate in terms of personal capability, income, value and the calibre of people in their connection. 9. Companies Are Downsizing: I remember visiting a couple of industrial estates in Lagos recently. You will see busy security men at the gate, but when you approach them that you want to go in, they will tell you the company has folded or the workers are on strike. The story is the same across the state and I belief same thing is happening in other part of the country. 10. There Is No Job Out There: Investors are not bringing in money, which means no new job opportunity is being created. There is economy recession in the country. Even the companies that are retrenching, what do you think will happen when they become financially buoyant again. I can bet they will simply recall their sacked workers. The reason is simple, it cost more to hire a new staff than to recall an old staff. So, where will you be then? The Way Forward Possible only way forward I see is for you to start something on your own. Do not despise small beginning. If you are going to start a business though, I will advise you focus on evergreen product or services. Those that are always in demand such as Agriculture, Health, Real Estate, ICT, Environmental services, Retail, Travel, Real Estate and maybe some few more. However, to embark on this journey to discover your true potential, you require a lot of exposure to relevant data. This kind of exposure will only come from highly powered network of individuals, which we lack in reality. It then means you need to bridge the gap between achieving this potential and your hard-core realities; requiring a lot of hard work and daunting sacrifices to be made. This is not scaremongering but a reality recognition. You may have to rethink and re-design the kind of educational training you must offer your children to counter this ugly reality I wish you luck.