According to the National Bureau of Statistics, unemployment and underemployment in Nigeria continue to be highest for persons aged between 15-34, which represents the youth population.
Disaggregating this into age groups, unemployment rate was highest for those within the ages of 15 – 24 (25.2% in Q4 2016, 25.0% in Q3, 24.0% in Q2, 21.5% in Q1,and 19.0% in Q4 2015), while the underemployment rate for the same age group increased to 36.5% in Q4 2016, up from 34.9% in Q3, 34.2% in Q2, 34.6 in Q1, and 34.5% in Q4 2015.
Even in the face of increasing exposure to technology and the internet, which to me screams an exposure to more opportunities, the Z Generation in my dear country seem the most hit when unemployment is considered. Please note that most of the Generation Z (people born from mid-1990s to mid-2000s) have “used the Internet since a young age, and they are generally comfortable with technology and with interacting on social media.”
It is however appalling to see the height of unemployment, especially with the availability of digital skills waiting to be acquired. It brings me to enquire if the “internet” of an average Generation Z youth does not exceed whatsapp and Google.
Writing for World Economic Forum, Gbenga Sesan Executive director of Paradigm Initiative stated that he was “no stranger to how technology changes lives, having positively changed my own career path thanks to an opportunity to learn how to use computers, and rare (at the time) access to the internet, which exposed me to career options no teacher could have suggested.” How much more ye members of the Generation Z that have all the access to the internet from an early age.
What is your own “internet”?
The internet to me is an aggregation of opportunities, some I have explored, many others I haven’t and want to explore. But the good thing is that the opportunity keeps expanding. Well, I am from the Generation Z and admit that we have sinned [covered in sack clothes and ashes] but I cannot guarantee that we would make amends.
Since a large chunk of these are still in tertiary institutions, I suggest you choke on this tweet.
My estimate is that >95% of all top tech engineers in/from Nigeria got skilled via self-development + proper use of the internet.
Its important we let other Nigerian students (who are undergoing our "poor" education system) know that:the Internet is your "real" University!
— Adeyemi Fowe (@Fowe) December 4, 2017
The internet as your real university
At certain times, i am bewildered at things I find online, things I learn online and most bewildering, the ones I’m yet to learn.
To the Generation Z in Africa, the internet should be viewed as a “university” that can teach you everything. You can learn several skills – website design/development, graphic design, digital marketing, copy editing or any other hardware or software skills – in this university. The tuition fee is as low as the price of data.
P.S – This rant addresses the writer too.