The narratives surrounding unemployment and underemployment among the youth as well as the jaw-dropping statistics, is indeed frightening.
Today, the pursuit of knowledge has been outrun by the acquisition of vocational and entrepreneurial skills. Young university graduates and undergraduates have started a train of sole-proprietorship owing to the unavailability of jobs in the country and to also erase the perception of laziness from the society.
According to her, “A lot of students have opted to learning skills to fall back on, since the story of unavailability of jobs. We also heard that connection is now prerequisite for employment and this have dissuaded many graduates from the corporate world.” But Peace Oyovbi, a student of the department of mass communication, UNIBEN, said, “The relevance of degree honours will not be replaced by skills and businesses. Being educated will help a business-oriented mind. To a large extent, making high grades is not enough to obtain a well-deserving employment, thus, nursing the idea of becoming an average student may come to play.”
“The kind of business I have ventured into will fetch me more money in a matter of weeks. Nonetheless, I will go job-hunting but not very soon,” he added. For Aruna Azeez, a student from Kwara State Polytechnic , “The craze for certificate is not worth it, because we struggle to attain good grades, in the end we do not get a deserving pay.”