I need a job

- Misheal S.N

That the NNPC job I learned was given out already. That the recent public invitation for interested candidates was just formality.

That CBN and NDIC jobs are reserved jobs, hence you wouldn't hear when they recruit, but if you keep your ears on the ground, you will hear people celebrating their luck with those money making institutions and agencies.

That FIRS, ITF, Nigerian Port Authority, Nigerian Shippers Council, the National Communication Commission, EFCC, NIA, DSS, National Assembly, Foreign Missions, and some "lucrative" agencies and ministries of government jobs are now hot cakes and the competition is survival of the fittest. I wish!

The University said you need a First Class or better a Master's degree. You see, lol. Na second class I get fa.

So I spent my 1st year serving this nation. The only thing I got free was Iya Sheyi's Ijebu Garri. (she said COPA, Let me bless you) and she gave me a Derika of garri, not all of you will get this concept of measurement of grains it more than a measure (mudu). Not because I have any expectations from anyone ooo; but I used to know how Corps members enjoy good reception in their host communities, how when they visit the market they get favours and don't have to pay transport fare, since they are serving everyone in the community. This has changed totally. The experience of Corps members today is like living in the jungle,  everyone strive for survival on their own.

My PPA collected my bank account details at the end of my service year, in order to later pay me arrears of my stipends for months, it never arrived and truly after one year I stopped hoping to get anything from Mr. Akintoye. (Daddy as we used to call him).

But truly, which other country does that? Which country treats her citizens as second class? They make people pay huge school fees, then compulsorily make you to serve the country, then just give you a discharge certificate, just like that? There are no plans by government to expand their employment frontiers (capacity) in order to be able to absorb the millions of graduates churned out yearly from universities, colleges, polytechnics and other institutions of higher education.

The orientation I got before camp was that prospective employers will look for "us", fresh blood,  fresh graduates, they supposedly go round on the day of POP (Passing Out Parrade) offering Corps Members various juicy and sometimes not so juicy employment opportunities. It's far from reality please. If you served and you served diligently and patriotically, and the workload of NYSC ppa didn't kill you or make you dropout, then you're a survivor especially when you serve in the type of place as my PPA. I used to joke about it to fellow Corp members that I love my PPA, that was the way I succeeded without becoming depressed. I had options to ask for rejection since my employer wasn't going to provide any form of accommodation or relief in form of allowance, I could just obtain a note then proceed to my L.I, without a doubt, I'll be redeployed somewhere else. But I was not raised to run away from my challenges. I went to Mowe, I saw Ijebu land and it did not consume me. I wouldn't say I conquered, cos I was stressed all the time. I have to trek for 40 to 45minutes on days I don't have the #100 transportation fare to work. That was how I lost significant weight through that year. I recall how sometimes I will have to rest along the way and then proceed home, to NCCF family house where I share a room with other people, I don't want to say how many we were in one room. But that was part of my survival story. In NCCF I found a family. I must say the experience was that of a mixed emotions. You know how everyone comes with their own way of life and upbringing and you keep getting wowed all the time, but when we pray, a divine relief was in abundance. Let me not bore you.

The truth is I need a job and I am sure there are so many out there who right now like me who are leaving below board and crave for a change of status. At least to get to live Just Over Board (JOB).

Seriously, the Journey Of the Broke (JOB) search is not a funny experience.

Recently, leveraging on my experience, I have turned myself into an Apostle of "Life Skills", "self empowerment..." Anywhere I meet young undergads, I preach one sermon. Get a skill(s), don't be me.
There are no jobs out there to go round. Sure, some people are getting employed every day in all "manner of places", with both public and with the private sector.  But the truth is, those who work for themselves are the happiest.

Today I survive on hustle, if you have the slightest idea of my hustle, you will pity me and get me a job. I then would be able to save from it, and talk of investing a portion. I pay my tithes though. I don't play with that part.

Don't expect that your uncles will continue to support you financially until you blow or secure a (just over board) means of survival.

Bills must be paid, your uncles have their own bills, they have their wives and children to look after. Don't think they are wicked when they were unable to respond to your needs as you expect them to. Some of your uncles will say send your CV, (Nigerian uncles do that)  at least it tells you they care. The truth is, in cases, they dump it somewhere and when you call they will assure you that they are on it. Or have given it to some of their friends. And they go on to say you should keep praying and keep trying. Sometimes we bank on them and when nothing is forthcoming we complain and accuse them of not doing enough especially when they are (presumably) well connected with government or other personalities in the corporate business world. The reality most times is that their relationship or connections hasn't reached that level of placing such a sensitive request. Some other times their friends or connections are overwhelmed with similar requests from others including family, their village head or community members and when it comes to prioritizing these requests, even if your uncle managed to forward your documents (credentials) you don't get to top the list and you will certainly hear that someone, perhaps familiar, has landed themselves that job you were eyeing. Don't despair. Don't swear for your uncle. Pray like you were counselled to.

(remember, while you read this that I need a job biko)

This is serious ooo.
*I can do practically any kind of work that is legal.
*I can be your personal assistant and more.
*I can travel to any part of the country and within West Africa too (for some reasons).
I am very serious about this.

Okay, we are back.

I was gisting you about uncles. Uncles are like our potential saviours until reality dawn on us on how powerless they could be. If you have people looking out for you, not necessarily related to you, maybe a church elder, a neighbor or just some elderly person man or woman who shows interest and genuine concern at any time by asking about your education or inviting you to give them your CV to help with the job search,  or you even approach them for help, those are our uncles. We call them so because they are already performing the role(s) uncles do play under normal circumstances. Don't forget they have a life and bills to pay and they are first of all uncles in their right.

If you are a faith person like me, then it is easier for you to understand when I encourage you to trust God and wait for His time while you do what is possible within your powers. God has a plan for you. He said to Israel his inheritance once at Horeb to break camp and move away from the mountain. For details, read Deu. 1:6-8, may God bless you with understanding.

Many a job search ends with a deadlock because the mountain is full. When I see people "moving", I am always excited because God did not create us to stay in one place.

Note: I don't support the trans Saharan migration that almost always ends in slavery in Libya or sudden death at the Mediterranean Sea or the Transatlantic to Brazil or USA and Canada illegally. The idea that all those who go to the abroad after spending a better part of their productive years comes back to Nigeria rich is a big fat lie. The lessons from those who dare and repented or are deported suffice to serve as an eyeopening lesson. Just read about experiences of Nigerians in those countries. But not to discourage you totally, if you have something legal to do there, why not? That's part of globalism.

If you decide to start a family today, without any form of income,  reliable source of income in this case, you will be doing a disservice to whoever's daughter you take for a wife. I am not saying you shouldn't dare. Marriage comes with blessings and responsibilities too. Nobody's daughter deserves to suffer with you. However we are made of different materials. You may also be drawing inspirations from somewhere. (I have plans for next year) You see. I need this job.

An advice:
A job is not a destination unless it offers you a career opportunity. If you decide to join the private sector, be certain there's a time you will have to leave, willfully or forcefully. Please choose the former.

What the private sector (the capitalists) does to you is that it (they) saps your energy and take your most productive years and dump you almost immediately as you show any weakness or inadequacy resulting from ageing or some challenge or just like that, perhaps to make room for others, much younger and fresh hands. The private sector fires and hire as fast as they wills. The survival instinct is for you to gain as much experience as the boss himself so that when you're fired, it wouldn't take long to start your own company or even start consulting in that area.  Two things you must do after gaining as much experience, make sure you love your job as well as save a 10% of what you earn while in active work for whoever. Even governments have a time they will ask or force you to retire (retirement age)  the difference is that in the private, unlike the public sector, there is no pension. If you have been able to sign-up a retirement insurance or pensions insurance -good for you. But have a date in mind to leave the job no matter the benefits. Take not, you're in all honesty not under any obligations to collect loans to buy a car or bicycle from your company,  not even shares, doing so prevents you from leaving when you wish to. These private organizations offers their employees mouthwatering packages, but it doesn't change the fact that you need a plan for transition in the future. Some private sectors will give you shares as benefits or opportunity for a good investment and it will make you a co-owner of the business, but it is not compulsory and be smart enough to know the terms attached before signing for any bond or shares.
I wished I had known what I now know before graduation from the University.

Let me round up by sharing my thoughts with you about the NYSC scheme. I wrote this as a reply to someone who thinks of the scheme as a slavery. He likened it to the recent Libyan modern day slavery or the reemergence of the slavery as it were. I believe this may help someone think twice. Lol and hopefully generate ideation for solutions and further discovery of other bedevilling phenomenons that advent from the NYSC scheme.

To me, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is an embodiment of the good, the bad and the dangerous. So many lessons to learn, so many opportunities for an individual to be made or marred.

Good or bad, the scheme is today compulsory for everyone, it is important that parents and schools along with civil society organizations and religious bodies join in the orientation of the intending CORPS member, especially the young, naïve and innocent ones.

I'm of the opinion that the orientation offered by the establishment is grossly inadequate and so permissible to the extent that it impacts negatively sometimes on the experiences of the young adults in the service year. Therefore, the burden of preparing the prospective Corp member lies on anyone that has gone ahead in life or have undergone the process; teachers/lecturers alike, parents, civil society organizations and religious bodies and the military guides all have critical role in the life of this lone servant in a strange land.

The next thing is to curb the negative influences and activities that serves as initiations to these young graduates which allegedly are subliminally supervised by the camp officials, (military and non military elements) they should be intentionally stopped/prevented from corrupting these innocent boys and girls. If that is done, which sure it is doable through insistence on what is formal, acceptable and in according to the books in terms of discipline for and from all stakeholders, we will certainly make a greater good from the scheme.

NYSC is Afterall not an accurate metaphor for a Libyan experience by its own making.

You should understand that there's a law that govern everything under the sun. I am talking about natural laws and principles that are inevitable as no one is above these laws.

Wealth accumulates, you need to pay the price of working for it and deferring gratification in order to enjoy your "hard earned" wealth after it must have accumulated. If you don't want to work there's the easy way, I must alert you that it has it's own price. It may even destroy you beyond recovery. You might have heard about cashflow, or fadama, or MMM, or recently "LOOM" with its looming character and how it vanished.

Finally know yourself!


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