While waiting to watch the Euro showdown between Italy and Croatia, I decided to flip channels and got hooked to “Moments with Mo” on AM Entertainment – the theme was “Unemployment”. I was more furious than enlightened – I guess the aim of the program was entertainment because the “unemployment” syndrome was totally trivialized and they made a caricature out of a serious issue for the amusement of the middle to upper class Nigerians.
They created the perfect Nollywood story except the people they were trying to inspire cannot cough out 10K per month to view this exclusive station: A guy wakes up in the morning to read his Bible – he goes to the Newspaper stand and flips through for vacancies, he then goes to the cybercafé to browse for more vacancies and ends his day going to Church. He has been going through this cycle for 5 years and when asked if he shared in the responsibility, he said “NO”.
The program neither offered a particular solution nor did it cast or allot any blame. In essence, the program was meant to enlighten the enlightened about the ugly situation he/she finds him/herself. I guess I expected more – maybe a wake up call to the youth – maybe a constructive criticism of the stakeholders – maybe the program should focus on someone who did it differently and found himself in a job. It may be stiff to get a job through the traditional way but people are still doing it.
The truth is that apart from limited opportunities (which is not akin to Africa alone), a sizeable number of youths in Nigeria are unemployable – they believe they are entitled in some sort of way like the citizens of Emirates. Companies in Nigeria still go abroad to look for Nigerians schooling abroad. There is only one reason for this unusual behavior – they cannot get quality resources in the land. Lets call a spade a spade; entrepreneurship is not for everybody – it requires a certain set of attitude and aptitude for sustainability.
I would neither blame the school system nor the government since majority of the blame lies with the youth. Taking the blame for any situation you find yourself is the first step towards freedom. The same youth in the program who demeaned the job of a supervisor in a Pure Water company would gladly wash dead bodies in the city of London: The same youth who finished in a half-baked school system without a standard Practical Science Laboratory in Nigeria would become the top science student in a university abroad. There lies the contradiction.
I remember vividly walking the street of Lagos in 2003 looking for a job after failing about 8 Aptitude tests I previously attended, the Holy Spirit nudged me to a book by Myles Munroe; “Burden of Freedom”. This book totally changed my life; it taught me how important the mind is in changing my situation. I realized after many years of studying the book that if I wanted to change any situation I found myself, I needed to change my mindset. It’s not the situation that needs changing but the mind.
After this particular episode, I have since moved from unemployment to employable to employment and now to employer of labor: Traveled to 11 different countries on my own funds: Wrote a fast selling book on the Aptitude Test that I failed continuously: “Engraced” by God to be a blessing to my generation: Married my best friend and blessed with 2 children. Not bad for a man living in a perceived hopeless situation in 2003.
In the light of the above, I would like to show 25 unemployed graduates a step-wise solution to salvaging their unemployed status. I would like to personally mentor each of them till they are able to mentor others. On Saturday 23rd of June 2012 from 10am to 3pm, I will be hosting an exclusive practical workshop completely FREE in Lagos titled STEP-WISE SOLUTION TO UNEMPLOYMENT. I have already chosen 10 NYSC members for this practical workshop leaving 15 vacant delegate positions
Now this is where it gets tricky; how do I choose? If what I wrote above resonates with you and you believe I can help you succeed, then simply send an email to “me[at]dipotepede[dot]org” stating one reason why you believe I can help you achieve your dream. I will choose 15 delegates from the pool of emails that I receive. All emails must be submitted before 10pm Tuesday, 19th of June 2012. All successful applicants will receive an email by Wednesday, 20th of June 2012 concerning venue, scope of the workshop and schedule.
N/B: If you are unemployed, this is a great opportunity for you and if you know anyone that is unemployed, kindly refer him or her to this page, you will be doing him or her a great favor. In the past, I have referred so many people to the book “BURDEN OF FREEDOM” but I realized that this does not work as people are in different stages of their spiritual development.
WORKSHOP THEME: Once a mind is expanded, it is difficult to return to its original size.
