When Preparation Meets Opportunity

With the high unemployment rate in the country, participants at a youth forum have been urged to take advantage of the few job opportunities available, through personal development and willingness to add service to the society. Martins Ifijeh writes


It was a familiar scenario. Many Nigerian youths do not miss the opportunity of attending fora where they can seek answers on how best to soar in a country where the chances of living the Nigerian dream is growing slim due to few job opportunities and poor economic strength.

Recently, participants who gathered at the monthly youth forum organized by the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Flourishland Assembly, Ilupeju, focused on getting themselves polished and positioned ahead of the pack where their preparations can finally meet the opportunities they need to live their dream life.

They were out for two reasons: Getting their dream jobs or leading a successful business life. From one speaker to the other, the messages were the same; Any Nigerian youth can be whatever he or she wants to be if they continually add value to their own lives and are patient for the outcome to manifest.

Speaking at the forum, tagged: ‘Get Polished’, the Commercial Director, Pfizer Nigeria, Mr. Olayinka Subair, who shared his life history with the participants, said he was ‘officially’ from the poorest family in Ojuelegba in Lagos, but that through personal development and insistence on adding value to the society, he was able to mould himself into what he has become.

He also revealed that most Nigerian youths looking for the perfect, multinational and watery paying jobs would be grossly disappointed as no serious-minded successful company would give priority to people who were not busy with their lives while waiting for the big jobs to come.

He said times have changed when companies recruit based on certificates, stressing that most human resource personnels and organisations these days were only keen on what candidates can offer, which he termed competence-based knowledge.

“Only someone who has been busy with his or her life can really meet the requirements.
I have employed several people in my lifetime, and I know what are often looked for. All what employers want to know is how much value you can bring into their organisation, as that will determine what value they in turn can place on you,” he stated.

He said once people begin to get idle, they start losing relevance. “Never ever attempt to be idle in your life no matter the situation you find yourself. While waiting for the government to fix its issues and give you the desired life you want, or while waiting for that dream job, find something to do and get busy with your life.” Adding that with such attitude, “one was likely to get a paying job in no short time.”

Subair, who believes manna do not come from heaven, said as youths sought to do things important with their lives, they would indirectly be preparing for opportunities, which often in no time meets such preparations. “A man who is busy adding value to the society in one way or the other is indirectly preparing for that big opportunity that will sell him to the world,” he added.

But how can people become busy with their lives when they have no income to start small jobs, or when there are so much competition in the business space, coupled with the unfriendly economy; dwindling power supply, harsh business policies, among others?

Subair, had this to say: “How many Nigerians are willing to walk into a firm and ask to be employed to work for free? Considering the country’s high unemployment rate, this method can be considered a critical process of finding that dream job,” adding that since the individual’s aim was to get busy with his or her life, while adding value to wherever they were, that in no time the free employment would be translated into full employment as long as the person continue to add value to the firm.

The trained pharmacist cum administrator said: “Anyone who really wants to work in a multinational or a successful firm can achieve that desire by simply walking there and ask to be offered opportunity to add value without first thinking of employment. As you are adding value, you are more likely be converted one day to a staff than that person at home who is waiting to be called to the same company for employment.

“For those who would not want to kick-start job seeking process by working free for any company, they can start up businesses that require very little income, but with plenty of unique ideas that can whittle down strong competitors around them,” he noted.

He added that when people complain that there is no constant electricity and their inability to start up businesses, he wondered why such people do not see other types of businesses that do not require electricity.

Subair who noted that even in the bible, that God never worked with idle people because He referred to it as the devil’s workshop, stated that anyone who was busy with himself was indirectly building his mind prior to the real job or contract sort after.

He also queried youths who when they have striking ideas, or design a unique service they believe they can offer the society, first of all think of selling those ideas to multinational, or rich companies, without thinking of affecting their immediate environment first.

“No rich, successful firm will take your innovation seriously if you have not used that innovation to affect people around you. And most times, this tells the firms that you are after money, not service. It is easier for successful organisations to buy into ideas sold to them if such ideas have been tested within the person’s immediate environment.”

He used the life of Innocent Idibia, a Nigerian musical artiste, popularly known as 2 face, as a case study, stressing that he did not become big all of a sudden. “He must have begged countless number of people within his immediate environment to listen to his music. He must have gate-crashed in birthday parties, weddings and other types of events, just for people to hear the way he sings, without thinking of them paying him in return. He must have offered a lot of such services before people started taking him seriously,” he said.

He also warned that those who leave a particular organisation to another must never close the door of their former organisation against themselves. “You find out that as some people are leaving a firm, they write strong worded resignation letter. Life is very fluid, we should never slam the door on our previous organisations because nobody knows what life will bring in future. The relationship maintained in the former organisation may be all you need in future,” he said.

He therefore advised youths to first think of service before thinking of money, as service is what it takes to make the much needed money everyone seek to have.

He also called on the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to focus on addressing the embarrassing youth unemployment in the country as well as address issue that makes starting small businesses difficult in the country, especially the pathetic power supply and lack of level playing ground for businesses occasioned by corruption.

Also speaking at the forum, a Pastor and a human resource consultant, Mr Seun Ajibade noted that millions of Nigerian youths were unemployed because they do not have a winning curriculum vitae and the carriage that can win over any employer.

He said people must understand that when interviewers are with potential candidate, all what they look out for is that conviction that could eliminate any doubt about such candidate meeting the required job specification and that he or she was appropriately fit for the job.

According to him, “the primary concern of more than 80 percent of employers is finding employees with good work ethic and appropriate social behaviour, good attitude, pleasant appearance, good personality, good communication skill, among others.

But how can Nigerian youths meet these specifications in order to get their dream jobs? Ajibade explained that people should cultivate the habit of acquiring information about what the interviewer want, what the proposed job entails, as well as show confidence that they can deliver.

As a human resource person, Ajibade said some of the reasons he ends up not employing some people include; poor attitudes, lack of self-confidence, lack of goals, lack of enthusiasm, little evidence of leadership potential, lack of preparation for the interview among others.

For a computer expert, Mr. Victor Oti, every Nigerian youth should have knowledge of the computer if they must go ahead of the pack of millions of Nigerians aspiring to live their dream life.

He said gone are the days when organisations do not care whether the potential job candidate had computer knowledge or not. “Irrespective of the skills acquired, one added criteria every organisation want is to know whether the job candidate can use the computer; at least the basics, which are power point, Microsoft word, the internet, among others,” he said.

He implored every Nigerian youth to seek computer knowledge as there were boundless opportunities that may result through the acquired knowledge.