Nigeria: Where Dreams go to Die
By Chisom J Omeokachie
As children in Nigeria, we were told that our dreams will come true if we believed. We were also told that we could be anything we wanted to be as long as we work hard towards it. That may be true in the developed countries with set standards waiting to recognize talents and develop dreams into reality. But growing up in Nigeria, you realize the system is set up for you to fail, because of lack of proper governance.
It all starts when you discover your dream, what you want to be. As a child you want to be a doctor, you admire doctors in their official coats and their stethoscopes. You dream one day, that could be you. Then you go to secondary school, you find that you excel in the sciences and the arithmetic, which are very good for your dream of studying medicine. Your teachers encourage you, your parents motivate you and provide you with the best they can afford.
You write your SSCE and pass with flying colours, at this point, there is no going back. You will become a doctor. Now all that is left is to write your JAMB, get admission and prosper.
But hold on. No one told you JAMB has the power to delay and alter your destiny, no one prepared you for the emotional trauma and fatigue that comes with being denied admission even though you were qualified. At this point, you have written JAMB 3 times, you feel like you are running out of time. Your mates are in their 3rd or 2nd years in the university. The pressure is on for you to change your preferred course and just go to school. So you do just that. You settle for zoology or maybe microbiology.
Now everyone is telling you that this is Nigeria- it doesn’t matter what you study, just make first class. So you put your back into it. You attend all lectures, deny yourself any form of social life, and subject yourself to Night classes all through. You somehow manage to overcome cultists as well as some university staff looking to exploit and then end up finally graduating with a 2.1.
Which is still good. But where is the job? You waste one year of your life in youth service. Then a couple extra years searching and failing to secure a decent job because you do not have a ‘god father’. You come to realize sadly that in this country, people get employed based on who they know, rather than what they know. Sons and daughters of the elite get the juiciest jobs with no regards to their qualifications, while the rest of you are left to squirm for the low grade jobs.
Now people are telling you that in order to get a decent job in this country, you need at least 2 degrees, a master’s degree or some programing skills. So you apply for a second degree, enroll in computer classes. Nearly empty your savings just to give yourself a better chance at securing a decent job.
But then, you soon find out that employers want you to work like a donkey for little or no pay at all. At this point, you feel like you are running out of time. You are willing to settle for whatever just to have a reason to leave the house every day. And then before you know it, you are working in a bank as a marketer, or a math’s teacher in a secondary school, or maybe an Instagram vendor selling shoes.
Not that there is anything wrong with these jobs, they pay the bills after all. It’s just that this wasn’t the life you wanted. This isn’t your dream.
Chisom J Omeokachie is a student of Mass Communication with the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka and can be reached on [email protected]