Let’s try the Igbo way to cut the number of jobless graduates

It’s graduation season in the US and an upbeat President Donald Trump tweeted the following message to graduating students on May 19:

“With the wonderful college, university and other graduations taking place all over the USA, there has never been a better time than now to graduate. Best jobs market ever, great housing and financing. Go out there, work hard and have a GREAT life. You deserve it. Congratulations!”

The US Labour Department corroborated this position by the president, adding that 263,000 new hires took place in April while the unemployment rate fell to 3.6 per cent—the lowest ever in a generation.

Closer to home, the Nigerian Universities Commission records show that the country has a combined 170 universities—federal, state and private.

Only 26 per cent of the 10 million applicants for university education get admitted while less than 50 per cent of those who graduate will get jobs.

According to the Stutern Nigerian Graduate Report, which provides insights into graduate employability, 60 per cent of new graduates earn less than 50,000 naira ($139) as a first job salary.

A closer look reveals that one in five graduates earn below 20,000 naira ($56) as a first job salary. Less than three per cent earn 200,000 naira ($556) and above.

So among the 40 per cent who get jobs, the majority or receive a salary that cannot lift them out of poverty.

With the national population growing faster than resources, these numbers for tertiary education will continue to expand and the number of unemployed will continue to increase. What then is the solution?

Sadly, this scenario is not exclusive to Nigeria. It is a reality for most countries in Africa.

Is it not time for us to begin to think differently about how we will capture the future and ensure that our investment in the schooling of the next generation is not in vain?

Every election cycle, politicians promise more schools. Through my work with the youth of Kenya, I get to hear a lot of their views.

They constantly say that for each politician that promises more schools they will show the hundreds of jobless graduates!

During the post-election violence in Kenya in 2007, I invited youth from trouble spots for a meeting and asked why they were destroying amenities that were provided for them—amenities which none of the politicians would ever use.

We asked them for the policies of the different political sides and none of them had an answer.

We then asked why they were fighting for something that they did not know and again, their answer was troubling. They said that election unrest provides a golden opportunity for them to loot. This in turn provides them with a little money that will last them for a few days.

These are actual accounts and not things that I read about somewhere. These answers came from interacting with the youth in these places directly. It is also important to point out that not all of them were unschooled. Some were even graduates.

The reality is that organised schooling cannot do the job. We need more people to present themselves as mentors for a younger generation.

We need to gradually begin to look at the apprenticeship model again. The Igbos of Nigeria perfected this model in a way that I think should be studied.

Every Igbo trader who has a shop has a number of younger people learning the trade and serving the master. Once they have spent a specified number of years, the master then sets up a similar business for the apprentice and hands it over to them. This way the Igbos have penetrated every nook and cranny of Nigeria.

Personal social responsibility

How about if we begin to look beyond corporate social responsibility to personal social responsibility? Do not take social responsibility as a photo opportunity. Do not just take it as a way of doing something that will give you good publicity.

Social responsibility can start with simply deciding to mentor someone and help them till they become the best version of themselves. This is something we can all do.

The failure of the system and the impending catastrophe that accompanies a society with well-schooled but idle youth will affect us all.

If the schools are not enough and if they are releasing people with no jobs waiting for them, we need to change our approach and pass on what we know and create opportunities for the new generation. A society without mentors is a society doomed to fail.

Wale Akinyemi is the chief transformation officer, PowerTalks