Courses that really matter in the Nigerian economic system

The general ideology in the society today is that everybody should (some would rather say MUST) go to school. That is, acquire formal education irrespective of background, tribe or race, in order to allow the modern man interact better with fellow men and his environment at large. This, many believe will enable the civilized man understand the lessons of history through streamlined intellect, function favourably in the present, predict and plan for the future through skilled and brilliant manipulation of the environment to provide his needs and fantasies.

Globally, there are a handful of tertiary institutions offering a catalogue

of choice courses covering different areas of study and human endeavours. These courses respectively carter for different sectors of economic and social development such as in politics, healthcare, agriculture, industry and ICT, where skilled knowledge on these sectors propagate complete well-being of the human race.

However, in many developing nations, the economic value of some courses have been  whittled down and their roles toward national growth made redundant due to corruption, governmental mediocrity and lack of patriotism among stakeholders coupled with disproportional population size over scarce and mismanaged resources. This condition has perniciously downplayed the education system in these nations. In Nigeria for instance, most of the affected courses can be found in Faculties of Life Sciences, Social Sciences and Arts. Consequently, this aggravated the problem of unemployment, as well educated graduates are churned out every year into the labour market with insufficient or no industry or job sectors to apply their knowledge making room for fierce struggle for survival at all cost. Some abandon their initial certification for second degree, others upgrade to Masters and PhD, while many others become self appointed politicians or join business way off the hook from their academic qualifications.
More so, this was perhaps more of the reasons entrepreneurship as a course was introduced into tertiary institutions in order not to produce a totally economic misfit graduate. Unfortunately, the aim of entrepreneurship seems to have been defeated as risk bearing business people have limits within which they can operate successfully and break even in business. Such limits are guaranteed not only by aids to trade but also by government policies and provisions such as security, power and taxation. There is no gainsaying that the policies and regulations surrounding these provisions are nothing more than infringement of fundamental human rights, epileptic power and undue exploitation of entrepreneurs. These factors therefore, make the job of entrepreneurship a task for the affluent. The one million dollar question now is what percentage of the populace is affluent?

Nevertheless, in spite of these issues, most Nigerians ever remain dogged while some who could not beat the system have joined in. It is the writer’s intention to advise prospective students of Nigerian tertiary institutions to choose courses that still have economic relevance in the country such that, come rain come shine you will not be subsumed by the brunt of corrupt dysfunctional government. Such courses include all professional courses as Medicine, Law, Engineering, Building, Nursing, Ophthalmology/Optometry, Medical Lab Science, Estate Management/Surveying, Computer Engineering, Agricultural Engineering, Industrial Chemistry, Radiography, Architecture, Fashion and Designing, Food Science Technology, Pharmacy and Accountancy. Other courses not mentioned perhaps are only as good as securing a federal or state civil service jobs, police, military, paramilitary or lecturing job(with master’s degree or a degree in Education) or perhaps luckily landing a job in any of the scarcely available industries, private or public establishment either by hook(man-no-man) or by crook. And when none of the options is attainable, your best bet would be to travel to developed countries where such courses still have great impact and relevance in their economy.

Except you have the wherewithal and the right connections to get you whatever job placement you want regardless of your field of study, do not join the ratrace of looking for scarce employment. Go on now, access yourself and not by parental or peer compulsion choose courses that would get the society seeking for your services and not the other way round within a community who have helplessly placed premium on the academic skills they need or now.

Little wonder then, graduates who can provide any pertinent skilled service survive the struggle better than their counterparts who have only certificates to offer. For Human Resource Managers they simply lookout for first degree candidates who have undertaken courses in graduate programs such as Masters, HSE, Project Management, HRM, or certificate holders with practical skills such as Computer skills. In this present political and economic dispensation, the country needs more of production workforce than white collar personnel with their flamboyant consumption of foreign finished products. In essence, there must be increased financial security, protection of live and property. More so, the government must ensure to infuse policies which encourage local production and exportation in addition to insuring a level playing ground for private sector driven economy