A Memo To Nigerian Youths: Get Shameless And Dirty -By Adetayo Omotoyosi Adeolu

The Nigerian Youths carries within them enormous responsibilities especially the graduates who just finished NYSC. This is the period where all their plans and solid blueprints you once had could vanish in your very own eyes.  With the unemployment situation taking its toll every day in the country, these youths are at the crossroad of their lives.

Now to even think that few of these graduates are lucky to get a job with the rest left to do a menial job or start a business. While others sit at home and do nothing to remedy their situations.

The Nigerian society has wired us to believe that getting a job and sitting in an office is an achievement after years of struggles in school. So, many graduates go to school with one thing in mind, which is to get a job to fend for themselves and their parent.

But that can only be changed by what I refer to in this article as “Mental Reconstruction.”

DEPRESSION STAGE

Depression sets in after the completion of the mandatory NYSC programme, which if you are not careful, it could eventually lead to suicide contemplation. When you look at your mates which you finished school or service together, riding big cars and working in big brands.
This is the period to pick up your clothes, rub your shame like a lotion to your body and get dirty.

As a focused youth, there should never be a time, as a matter of fact, you should never sit at home for a week without doing nothing. I have been there, I have gone 6months without doing nothing. That was during the ASUU strike years ago. I paid heavily for that, but that was before I discovered purpose.

This year, I was privileged to be part of a seminar, which the popular leadership organisation, LEAP AFRICA sent in some of their trainers. One of them by the name Daniel Emeanahor re-echoed the above statement.
He said that even if you did not get a job, make sure you don’t stay at home for a week doing nothing. He told us that we should rather go to companies, eateries and ask to work for free.
In order to gain the needed experience to function in the same working environment. If you want to make a living, you need to get your hands dirty.

The 21st-century philosophy is no longer about the popular maxim “Work Hard,  it is now “Work Smart.” Technology has changed the face of the earth and how we relate with ourselves. It is only through capitalizing on the use of technology, particularly on Digital Marketing with key focus on Social Media that you can sell your products to thousands and millions of people without owning a physical store. It is time to be dauntless in your strive for success.

Yearly, the Nigerian higher institutions churns out thousands of graduates who are hoping and praying to get a job in the already saturated labour market.
What is the way out?

It is time to get dirty.