PROF. C.P. ALOAMAKA
Today, insecurity in Nigeria has
become so much that most people feel so frightened ,even in their homes. The
insecurity comes in various form-much earlier than now it was so serious in the
Niger Delta region, due mainly to the activities of militants, who feel that
the nation was exploiting their resources, especially crude petroleum oil at
the expense of their well being.Recently,it
has assumed more devastating forms such as Boko Haram
killings,kidnapping,armed robbery,assassination.It has become so serious that
one is no longer safe anywhere-be it at your office, on the highway,at home.The
question is –what is responsible for all these? The answer to the question is
not far fetched.The root cause of the
threat to peace and living is the extreme poverty prevailing in the country. A
situation were very many persons can no longer have their essential
requirements of life e.g.-decent meals,shelter,clothing,and up-keep for
families is detestful and should be rejected.
A recent evidence for the extreme
level of poverty in the country was the death of about 100 persons who were
burnt to death while they were scooping petrol fuel that spilled from a fallen
truck at okogbe, 60 kilometers from Port Harcourt, in River State. This is not
the first time people were roasted in petrol fuel fire in Nigeria. The question
still remains, why, despite the ugly experience, people still go ahead to risk
their life in similar situation? It is simply because they have been blinded by
poverty. A similar situation was barely averted at Aba, Abia State, just seven
days after the okogbe calamity, when large number of people trooped out to
scoop kerosene from a fallen truck .It is not that the people were ‘’blind’’ to
the likely risk of being burnt if engulf in a likely fire incidence. It is just
that their poverty had reached a level that was worth the risk. In such a
situation, there is hardly time to think, as the act will be spontaneous. He
sees such as an opportunity to make quick money, and be able to solve some
lingering problems. Perhaps his family has not had breakfast by 12.00 noon, and
may be their children have been out of school for being able to pay school
fees.
It is rather very disturbing that such level of poverty
exists side by side with stupendous wealth among very few corrupt persons who
divert the wealth of the nation to their personal treasuries. They deliberately
malgovern the country so that they will create avenues to corruptly amass wealth. The
obvious consequence of such activities is denial of our youths of employment.
THE REALITY ABOUT SECURING EMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA
The few jobs available in Nigeria are in most cases taken up
before the vacancies are made public .The adverts are mere fulfillment of due
process. The ignorant prospective employees will respond to advert and if in
fact shortlisted and invited for interview will be wasting his /her time appearing,
because no matter the performance at the interview he will remain hopeful
indefinitely. What guarantees getting employed is having ones person in very
high position in the government or having sponsorship from a politician since
you may be having none, it will pay off to start thinking of some other ways of helping yourselves. If
you develop the right attitude, you may at the end regret the whole years you
wasted waiting to secure employment,as you may turn out to be a proud employer
of labour.If the experiences of others
should be the basis of one’s action, then the earlier the decision to be self
employed is made the better , especially
where there is none to guarantee your getting employed.
SELF- EMPLOYMENT
The fact here is that our unemployed youths, despite the
prevailing setting, should be able to face the reality and change their
fortune-by employing themselves. For how long should one remain unemployed, and
must you be employed by others while
there is nothing wrong about securing an employment, if one can, there is
everything wrong about remaining unemployed and idle. Since getting employed by
someone else has become almost a mirage, it should not be impossible to get
employed by oneself. Unfortunately , and until now , the products of our institution of higher
learning are usually not having
that attitude necessary for job
creation .That is why they are
usually helpless after their NYSC programme.Many are now
forced to go back to school for further
training ,believing that the acquisition of additional
qualification will improve his/her
chances of securing a job. At the end of the day, the story may remain the same.
Some tips may well change the situation, hence I will want to discuss them.
1.
HAVING THE RIGHT ATTITUDE
You should commence your journey towards
self-employment by having a positive disposition towards it. It is not an issue
of giving it a trial . You have made up your mind and that’s
all . The word failure should never come to your mind. According to a
television programme director,Mo, ‘if you can think it,you can make it’ . As long
as other persons have gone
into such business ventures
successfully ,you will succeed .The success of
others should be the right
stimuli you need to start off and keep
going on. You only need to be reasonable and take the right steps .Those you know that failed in their business
venture were unreasonable and took the wrong step at some time, and were not
ready to retrace their steps promptly .Once the right
processes are followed , failure is impossible . Successful business men / women should be your
mentor. Associate with them, read their biographies and learn from their
experiences.
2.
HAVING A
BUSINESS VISION
A business vision is not
just identifying business venture you
like .There are very many likeable business projects. You do not
just get involved in a business because of the success story of others. It requires more than just likeness .It has to do with what you are happy doing. The likeness
must be associated
with passion. Having identified the area ,you extend the likeness into a goal , which must be really big .The goal must be big enough to incorporate what
you want to do ,and where you want to be .Do not be content with just any level of achievement. Do not allow your
fear of failure or wish to avoid risk limit your goal .sometimes people deceive
themselves by feigning contentment in order to avoid too much work or for reason of avoiding risk .Note that it is the dream
you have for yourself that drives you into greater achievement .When your goal is limited in scope ,your achievement will also
be limited .See yourself as
having already achieved the height
you set
for yourself , and you will be
there.
3
WASTE NO USEFUL TIME
It has always been said that time is
precious .In fact , I say time is gold , and the earlier you
realize this , the better for you . Any
one second , one minute or one hour that is lost can never be recovered .People who succeeded
in creating wealth to the extent that
they are at the top recognized
this fact , and did not play with time. So if you must join them ,you must
adopt the attitude.
It is not only good to take the right
decision , such decision must be
taken timeously .The cost
of taking decision s late is high. In short, do not procrastinate, even
in taking decision to stop
remaining unemployed . A ‘good ‘ decision taken late is no longer good . It remains good only
when the time component of the decision
is right.
One of the reasons why the time element of decisions must be taken seriously is that
there is time for every thing . It is well known that there is time to
plant and time to harvest. If one
planted at a wrong time , the yield will
be poor, whereas the reverse
will be the case if planting was
done at the right time-the harvest will be abundant.let us then learn to appreciate time and respect it . it is supposed to be , and it
is , God’s gift for our control of circumstances. Many have been ruined in life
for just not recognizing the value of time.
3.
GET YOUR PRIORITIES RIGHT
To be continue in next edition.
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