Diary of an Unemployed Nigerian Youth #1

So my first story is just going to be a rant, basically me blowing off steam. I actually do not know the direction I am going with this but please tag along on this journey.

Being unemployed sucks. Being unemployed in Nigeria sucks even more. The pool of unemployed graduates increases by the second because more and more people graduate everyday with little or no jobs available. The thought of this alone is depressing. But then again, as a religious group of people, we are all meant to believe 'My case is different' and not fall into depression. "It is well!" they would say to you ......Hmmm okay.

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Guess what? After years of uploading my CV and sharing my CV like a Jehovah witness pamphlet to every Uncle, Aunty, Parent's colleague, Sister's friend, church member, Exes, Strangers, Uber driver and Great Grandfather's Cousin's Wife's Uncle's Nephew's Goddaughter's Spiritual Father's Illegitimate Unborn baby.... I am still UNEMPLOYED!!!

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So basically I graduated in 2012 with my first degree in Engineering. The next phase for me was to serve my beloved country (not like I had a choice). My national youth service year was such a lazy year, not much value was added to my life (story for another day). I completed my national service in 2013. No job so I decided to join the bandwagon and get a Master's degree to improve my chance of getting a job. I graduated in 2015 and still no job offer. At this rate, I might just agree that it is a spiritual case and go for deliverance to break this curse.

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From the moment I graduated, I have been asked for at least 2 years work experience. If you do not give me the opportunity to work, how on earth do I manufacture these experiences? I refuse to be dishonest and create some experience I never had which I would not be able to defend tomorrow. What if my manager says "Go take a look at the safety valve on the condensate pump for line B? It appears faulty". But then all I know is that a condenser transforms liquid to gas because I have forgotten the theoretical part I memorized to pass my exams 5 years ago and I never actually had the opportunity to work with one or any actual experience handling a safety valve. Imagine I actually screw things up and get my manager furious; "I thought you worked at Nonexistent oil rig as a control engineer?"…. then I have to stare back with a confused face.

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Speaking of confused, I'm literally now lost with where I am going with this rant and so I'd end this journey here….for now. Being unemployed hasn’t been a total waste of time as I have been going through some self-discovery processes and I believe these experience would also come in handy in the future. I have also taken this opportunity to achieve some certification courses I have always had interest in.

If you made it to the end of this rant, I want to say thank you and please stay tuned, I would be turning this into a series as I actually do have a lot on my mind to share.