What it means to be a graduate in a third world country.

Summary

Graduating in a third world country like Nigeria often leads to a struggle with unemployment and underemployment due to an economy that is not conducive to job creation or entrepreneurial success.

Abstract

Graduation from a university is a significant personal achievement globally, often celebrated with great joy, especially in Nigeria where it may represent a family's or community's first academic milestone. However, the post-graduation reality in countries like Nigeria is stark, with a high rate of unemployment and underemployment. In contrast to more developed nations like the US, where job creation aligns with the number of graduates, Nigeria's economy and educational system are not equipped to support the labor market or encourage entrepreneurship among graduates. The challenge is not due to a lack of competence or brilliance but stems from systemic issues such as the difficulty of doing business, lack of access to resources, and an unsupportive business environment. This situation leads to a daily struggle for graduates who are eager to contribute but face a system that seems to impede their progress.

Opinions

The author believes that the Nigerian educational system does not adequately prepare graduates for the harsh realities of the labor market.
There is a sense of frustration that the potential of graduates is wasted due to the lack of structural support for entrepreneurship and employment.
The article suggests that the Nigerian economy underperforms in providing opportunities for its educated youth, which is not a reflection of their abilities but of the economic and bureaucratic barriers they face.
The author implies that the joy of graduation is quickly overshadowed by the daunting task of finding employment or considering alternative paths such as emigration or further education.
It is highlighted that the struggle is not unique to Nigeria but is reflective of the plight of graduates in many underdeveloped countries.

Using my Nigerian Experience to cast light on the plight of graduates in underdeveloped countries around the world.

Photo: Joshua Hoehne, from Unsplash.

Everywhere around the world, it is still considered a thing of pride and personal achievement to conclude one’s studies and graduate from a University. In many cases, the accolades are even more pronounced when the University one graduates from is considered an ivy league or some world renowned one.

I know for certain that the feeling one experiences on the day of graduation is exhilarating. The excitement is electric and contagious to all who care enough to pay attention. In the Nigerian setting — what I’m most familiar with — many times the event of graduation is packed full of a lot of emotions. Sometimes, a graduate is the first to achieve such a height in his family or even community. Hence, to all those not fortunate enough to have ever had any form of formal education, to one’s old parents who gave their all to ensure they had the better life associated with having a Uni degree, to the community youths to whom such a person now represents a hope they can aspire to; that graduation would herald a kind of celebration they could have never anticipated.

After all is said and done, when the merriment is over, one settles for life after graduation. In more civilized countries like the US, where the overall rate of Unemployment (using facts from 2019 before the Coronavirus) is 3.7% and the unemployment rate of recent college graduates at 2.1% with an estimate of about 2 million first degree graduates produced each year, there is certainly a lot of hope on the horizon. Looking at the last decade between 2009–2019, an average of 2.6 million new jobs were created in the US economy each year according to FOX Business. Those statistics hold a promise of employment which at the barest minimum, match the qualifications of those graduates, for approximately 1,958,000 of them.

However, in a third world country like Nigeria, the economy isn’t well suited to provide hope to university grads. In fact, many would prefer to remain actively invested in academia for a much longer period of time than they initially planned for, than to go into the labor market and face the odds stacked against them. The statistics that glares one in the face can be demoralizing. According to a piece written in the Lagos vanguard on the 17th of December 2019, about 25 million graduates in Nigeria are unemployed and of the few thousands that are employed, a large percentage of them are actually underemployed.

Hence, for a lot of Nigerian graduates, the concept of scarcity in economics is relived every waking day; too many qualified people scramble for too few jobs. The dire plight of these young energized, idealistic and eager graduates is further exacerbated by the inadequacies of the educational system that prepared them for a depleted labor market, while neglecting to provide them with the requisite tools to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities. It is an open secret that a lot of these third world countries are ill equipped to adequately compete in a world fast becoming a capitalist system. Were the case different, more of these countries would focus more on educating their students to be more pro risk by embracing entrepreneurship rather than be averse to it.

Interestingly, the question posed by the underperforming economy and the challenge of these unemployed graduates creating more jobs through entrepreneurship, isn’t one of competence, merit, brilliance or even networks. It is a question of ease of doing business, equal opportunities to getting factors of production, conducive business environments and structural incentives for startups expected to be provided by such a country, one is forced to contend with. It is a question of how many brick walls one could literally run through without a safety helmet, before a concussion renders such an effort a complete waste.

I would argue that the whole point in reference to creating happiness and value as a direct result of becoming a graduate, is often lost on the average graduate in a third world country. Therefore, with the thoughts of what comes next, come a lot of heart palpitations and worry. The real tragedy is that for many of these young people, they have to live every day in a system built against them, knowing full well that they have too much to offer but unfortunately, might never get the opportunity to do so.

It’s true that thousands of us are euphoric on that special day we finally join the league of people considered learned. Each of us proudly wielders of one of the world’s most monumental achievements; our degrees. But it is also true that hours after that feat, many begin the journey into the labor market that only seems to keep going uphill. Some will reach their desired goal of becoming employed. Sadly, too many more will have to consider emigration to countries with better opportunities, settling for jobs way below their qualification or return to school for advanced degrees in a bid to out-qualify their peers in the labor force. The gains of becoming a graduate in an undeveloped country is not nearly proportionate to what comes afterwards. The latter far outweighs the former. Trust me I would know. I am after all a graduate from a third world country 😁.