The Plight of the Nigerian Graduate: remembering Benbe Aladisa's dirge

Sayo Aluko

These last three months have been a time of both healthy and unhealthy reflections for me; it was in this period that my year-long nysc-induced pilgrimage to a distant terrain in river-rine Bayelsa ended, a moment where being a young man, the curiosity of the unknown is sandwiched together with the higher urge/demand for responsibility.

But, the truth is, despite the fact that this particular thought is quite virgin and challenging, I actually still find it healthy for the sane mind. But, unfortunately, there has since been a premature end to the course of my healthy reflections, simply because the unhealthy one, (just a singular ONE!) has taken over; and that ONE thought is the mentally-deranging debacle of "Living in Nigeria (especially as a youth)". Are you surprised? Well, I know you aren't. 

It is already a clichéd response of the average post-nysc nigerian youth(s) to say "I'm job-hunting" as the answer to that "common query"; so was I on my job-hunt traipse, and it happened that I strayed inside the University College Hospital, (UCH), Ibadan, south-west, Nigeria, to visit a fine friend of mine. And that was how the cycle of the unhealthy soliloquy began.

As I was navigating through the reticular architecture of the UCH premises like a lode runner, I stumbled on a gaze-worthy sight, which was a group of youths, numbering over 2,000, receiving a Bio-statistics' lecture and parked to the brim in a lecture hall without electricity. (one would be tempted to think it was a Nazi gas chamber due to the congestion and the ensuing lack of cross-ventilation). The strain and pain and grin that oozed from this sight was palpable enough. As I was wondering who these youths could be, thinking what level or grade they were, my dear friend, who was in accompaniment at the time, simply busted my bubble and she told me with unfazed eccentricity, that those youths were Nigerian graduates receiving one of the prerequisite lectures to obtain a Masters degree (MSc) in their chosen field. I got stunned and felt stoned immediately. 2000? Wheew!

I was stunned, not because I have a problem with knowledge acquisition, I was stunned, not because I think getting a MSc degree is a taboo, rather, I was stunned simply because I sincerely knew deep down in my heart that these graduates are "just here", just here again for the credentials, just here again neither with real verve nor defined vision , they are just here again like a flock of hapless sheep tossed back to the same classrooms and non-conducive educational systems that initially produced them, tossed back by the whirlwind of chronically cancerous unemployment and the avalanche of dashed high hopes. (the high hopes these youths had while securing their first degrees). Tossed back to be "just here" by their Nigeria, by this highly uncaring and wicked and plan-less government. This was why I got stunned. I then asked myself, "How did we even get here? How?" Why is this government, past and most especially, present, so ill and non-creative? Why have they chosen to be blind to this pitiable plight of 90% of Nigerian graduates? Why have they chosen to give lies in the guise of political propagandas and money-siphoning committees set-up to address the dearth of unemployment. Why is this government so insincere?

The stance of systemic unemployment in present day Nigeria has reached its climax, in fact,it has toppled it. I call it systemic simply because it has taken a malignant form and it's now like a grand and incurable virus that has gotten so rogue to the extent that it can even mimic or camouflage itself and take a form as "employment". In yoruba language, these kind of camouflaged employment are called "a shaa jeun" jobs, translated as " Man must at least eat something". A vast number of Nigerian graduates, out of both psychological frustration and clinical depression, have had to persuasively dance to this unpalatable tune of the "a shaa jeun" macabre dance.

What I mean is this, and I'll give a common example --- Can it be called suitable employment when a graduate of computer science or accountancy without any knowledge of criminology, is trained for a meagre three months, after which he/she is given a uniform and a club to curb crime in the polity, all for a miserly pay? I'm sure your answer is as good as mine. Asides from the effect of the miserly pay which further festers poverty, one other important thing that these "a shaa jeun" jobs do is the murder of productivity it eventually causes in a supposedly vibrant youth. They tune the frequency of a youth's vibrancy towards daily survival only, making the youth forget the true reason of existence as touching the ethics of work, a true reason which is the ability to thrive well in one's area of interest for good influence to ultimately achieve enviable fulfilment; fulfilment which can only be derived through productivity. It's all just a pity that we find ourselves in this mess.

In my reflections about this whole conundrum through which the Nigerian graduate lives, which I term as a  vicious duplicate of either running back the classrooms (to be temporarily hidden from the unemployment hurricane) or running "into" the 'a shaa jeun" jobs, I made an assumption as I peeped through the minds and intents of these our wicked politicians who have since created this mess. And so I assumed that if I sincerely have true and defined intents of securing a Masters degree after NYSC for knowledge"s sake, I will need to cough out a minimum of about 350,000 naira in tuition and project fees, but then, this government paid me a sum-total of 237,600 naira for a 12-month national service as a graduate, while the same government pays 900,000 naira to a witless illiterate in the mould of a niger-delta militant and 1,200,000 naira to crudely devilish animal in the mould of a boko-haramite, for the same 12-month period. I guess you can now see how counterproductive and counter-thoughtful and counter-sincere this present government is.

Something occurred recently in a south-western state of Nigeria, that typifies how this government thinks only "politricks" and propaganda at the expense of true governance. This state government reared a new policy that will henceforth entail conducting uniform and state-wide End-of-the-term assessment for all the state-owned schools; by uniform, they mean uniform in time, in content, in conduct and in purpose. But, unfortunately, the insincerity in these people in "power" made such a nice idea implemented extremely badly. Instead of setting up a wholesome digital machinery to make this idea work-out seamlessly, they opted for the quite burdening manual approach which involved daily ferrying of examination materials in cars from the state's central Ministry of Education, to be distributed each day across the whole state comprised of about 20 different local governments and an about 1,000 schools. This puerile method led to the starting of the examination at different but generally late times across the state, as late as deep into the evening, pupils and teachers had to wait till the papers came in, no matter how late, hence, using kerosene lamps as light source at times; to cut a short story shorter, the intent of uniformity was not achieved simply because of insincerity on the government's part. If it were a government who was sincere, the birth of such idea should have been a vehicle of employment generation for a mass of graduates. A digital approach would have entailed setting up a mast/server for internet connectivity for that purpose, the schools in the different LGs would have been grouped into districts using their proximity to each other, with a computer port and a sub-server (and probably an electric current Generator) assigned to each district. The questions for each day should have been simply sent with a password to each portal from the ministry every morning, then downloaded / printed from such portals, and then photocopied in each school to suit their population. Time and money would have been saved, risks of travels would have been cut, and uniformity would have been achieved. If these were done, the government would have achieved a good lot, and a major one, which is employment of an average of about 400 computer scientists or literates that will even outlast the purpose at hand and further into instilling computer literacy in the schools indeed, about 20 server analysts, quite a number of engineers, some stationery personnel, etc. The government would have gainfully employed close to a thousand fresh plus "unfresh" graduates in such process. But, .............(Fill the gaps).

Sometimes, there are many outcries rang out from some coffers that Nigerian graduates are unemployable. I find this claim true but also laughable. The employability of a youth should be derived from two major sources which are; 1. Good and sound education(60%) and, 2. Self-development (40%). And, from personal experience, I have found out that these two work like a cascade reaction, that is, one functions best dependently on the other. Only very few of us have been exceptionally graced to manage what we got from schooling to develop the self; and even most of these very few graced ones have flown out, yes, they have flown away to climes where they'd grow the more and get much better per time. So, I laugh because wherewithal shall the Nigerian youth get sound education; is it in these our ivory dungeons? I calmly say "NO" . This denotes that the unemployability of my dear Nigerian youth still boils down to yet another ill of government. I actually don't know what knowledge those over 2000 Masters' students would muster inside such damning heat. Hmmmn.

Some also say that Nigerian youths need to be more entrepreneurial and develop their talents, and not just wait on the government to do "everything". Another true but laughable stance. I boldly affirm that our youths are talented. I've met quite a number of them; one of them, who also doubles as a friend, published a wonderful book recently. But the challenges that choke-out these vibes in the youth are replete. Electricity, Conducive atmosphere, Capital, to name a few, are all lacking. It is known that the Federal Government introduced the teaching of entrepreneurial skills into the NYSC scheme, which prompted them to also increase the monthly allowance from 9,750 naira to 19,800 naira; with the purpose that a corps member should save 10,000 naira per month (120,000 naira in total) for the sake of starting-up any income generating business after service with any entrepreneurial skill learnt. But, it is also known that there's no way any idea will thrive well without stable electricity, so if out of 120,000 naira, a youth procures a Generator worth 60,000 naira, abeg, wetin remain. All na wash!

All these thoughts and more then brought me to Benbe Aladisa. He is, or permit me to say,was an Ogun state-based and Egba-tribed Nigerian musician, who about 11 years ago (2003), at about the sunset of the first four-year phase of this present democratic regime, sang a quite funny song in Yoruba language about his compounded frustration on the comatose that the Nigerian state was at that time...11 years ago oh! Read the lyrics below:

"Eyin Eyinbo, e wa fun mi li Visa *2

Ilu yi suu mi, e wa fun mi li Visa

Esi ise gidi, e wa fun mi li Visa

Esi fuisho, e wa fun mi li Visa

Esi sikioriti, e wa fun mi li Visa.

Ki n ma a ku o, e wa fun mi li Visa

Ani ki n ma a ku o, e wa fun mi li Visaaaa"

(White people, come and give me visa *2

I'm tired of this country, come and give me visa,

No good jobs, come and give me visa,

No future, come and give me visa,

No security, come and give me visa,

So that I won't die, come and give me visa *2 )

I was 15 years old at the time this song was released, still dependent and quite inexperienced like most of the present day youths too; and while the song lasted on both TV and radio, all we all did then was just dance to the melody of the tune and laugh our bellies out. Yes, the tune, the rendition and also the lyrics of Benbe Aladisa's song were quite so funny, but while Sayo the Teen, saw a melodious tune , Sayo the Nigerian graduate of present day, sees a tearful dirge. A dirge that makes the mess sink in, even when you wanna just let is pass. A dirge sang from the grin on the faces of those over 2000 MSc-chasing youths I saw at UCH. A dirge of the countless "a shaa jeun-nians". My dirge.

In writing this piece, I use all the strand of indignation in me right now to summon the power of the most merciful Divinity, to help provoke a sense of guilt in these politicians, to let them govern indeed. To let them just be human and not the animals they've made of themselves. To let them actually act on the plethora of solution-driven ideas that have been given by wiser people over the years to quench this whirlwind of unemployment. ...ideas I don't have to repeat here again....ideas that I'm sure they are not oblivious of. I don't really know how we got here.

Well, when all is said and done, I just hope there's hope. Thanks for reading.