Many Nigerian graduates doing menial jobs have narrated their experiences to our correspondents: why they are doing such jobs; what led them to it; how much they are making; how long they have been on the job, and how they are being treated on the job.
EBONYI: Graduates work as bar attendants, motorcycle and tricycle riders
In Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital and its environs, it has been observed that many graduates engage in menial jobs such as bar attendants, storekeepers, commercial tricycle and motorcycle operators, and bus conductors among others.
Some of them who spoke to LEADERSHIP Weekend said that they decided to take up such jobs just to put food on their tables, cater for their younger ones and parents, and also avoid the temptation of getting involved in criminal activities, fraudulent acts, prostitution, and other social vices.
A female graduate of Mass Communication, Ebonyi State University (EBSU), Miss Ifeanyinwa Oforbiike, who works as a bar attendant in a 2-star hotel in Abakaliki, said that her take-home pay per month is N30,000 and expressed regret that often, she is owed for a period of three to four months before she would be paid one month in arrears.
She maintained that on graduation, she sought jobs in different government agencies and private sector firms but to no avail.
“I later went into shoemaking but, regrettably, there was not much capital to sustain the business. Hopefully, if I am able to raise enough capital, I will go back to the business.”
Miss Oforbiike lamented the harassment, intimidation and abuse she faces while carrying out her job.
“What we, the young girls, go through is so disheartening and humiliating, and it’s a job I don’t wish for any young girl. Young and old men who naturally should not talk to us will harass us, and you can’t complain to avoid losing your job.”
‘I make more money driving keke than civil servants’
Another graduate of Ebonyi State College of Education, a commercial tricycle operator, Mr Celab Ogodo, said, “I don’t see my work as a menial job because I make more money than those in the government sector.
“Those who see us riding keke as doing menial jobs should also know that we make more money compared to the minimum wage they are agitating for. A tricycle operator makes a minimum of N15,000 per day after expenses.”
Miss Chioma Nwagu, a graduate of Sociology from Ebonyi State University, works as a storekeeper.
She said: “I get a monthly pay of N25,000. I resume duty by 7am and close by 6:30pm. As a storekeeper and salesgirl in a beverage shop, I have to bring the cartons of drinks outside and take them inside every day. The health challenge is also a major issue.”
AKWA IBOM: Graduates work as bus drivers, fish sellers
Even as an oil state, underemployed graduates eking their living from inadequate earnings from menial jobs are many in Akwa Ibom State, especially in the transport, judiciary and petty maritime businesses in the riverine areas.
Some of them, who are into commercial transportation business, while casually sharing their ordeals, lamented that they completed their university education more than 10 years earlier “but with no better jobs.”
Ekene Stephen, a Philosophy graduate, said: “I finished at UNIUYO (University of Uyo) since 2011, but could get no quality job. I tried joining the civil service as a teacher, but no luck. I was offered a job as a private school teacher at God’s Power International School, but with little pay of N35,000, which they can’t even pay regularly.
“That was why I brooked shame, dropped my certificate and took to the transportation sector. Now, I can go home daily with as much as N15,000 from the mini bus I got through a hire-purchase agreement. I have fully repaid the owner,” he explained.
For Inemesit Effiong, a graduate of English, it was the same experience.
He conducted private tutorials for JAMB and WASSCE candidates before venturing into the judiciary as ad-hoc staff, dealing with affidavits and other small tasks within the Barracks Road, Uyo judiciary headquarters that fetch him about N130,000 combined earnings monthly.
ImaAbasi Inyang, a Botany graduate of UNIUYO, told our correspondent: “I graduated about a decade ago and tried to lay my hands on civil service work to no avail. I was living on handouts from family members and friends. I sold a portion of my family land to go into fish and crayfish business – from Ibaka and Oron beach to Aba, where I trade them off for quick cash.
“I could make good cash to the excess of N300,000 monthly depending on the season, but not all the time, especially the thick rainy season when thunder strikes always scare fish to the base of the ocean, and so no good catch.
“Before now, I was working in a law chamber where I was paid only N25,000 monthly and what helped me was that the place was close to where I lived, and I walked there and back every day, except weekends.”
BENUE: Varsity graduates sell snacks, sachet water
In Benue State, some university graduates are riding okada and selling sachet water and snacks, among others, just to make ends meet.
In an interview, a 2007 Geography graduate from Benue State University, Ijiir-Iter Thomas, said since he came back from National Youth Service (NYSC), he has applied in many places within and outside the state but to no avail, and now he has decided to engage in selling snacks (shawarma) at the roadside, a business he learnt while in the NYSC camp.
Initially, I was afraid of what people would say – Commercial Motorcycle Operator
On his part, Friday Okopi, a motorcycle rider popularly called okada, said he graduated from the University of Jos in 2014 from the Department of Political Science.
After unsuccessfully applying for work in many organisations, both public and private, he decided to use his savings during the NYSC period to buy a motorcycle which he is now using to fend for himself and his aged parents.
He said, “When I started initially, I was scared about what people would say and usually went out at night to do the okada business, but as time went on I told myself it is better for me to do what I am doing than engage in drugs and other social vices. Now I am proud of what I am doing. I even bought another motorcycle and gave someone else, who is also bringing returns. But my going to school was to get a good job, not to ride okada.”
Doolumun Nyebe, a 2016 graduate of Sociology from Benue State University who sells garri (a cassava product) in Modern Market, said she became tired of applying for government work.
“I graduated when I was 27 years old from Benue State University. I served in Lagos. I am 36 years going to 37. I have been applying for jobs after my service till date, but I discovered that it is only those who have influential people in their families that get employment in Nigeria, and I took a bold decision to start this business. I am done searching for employment; my certificate is at home.”
RIVERS: Graduates as pump attendants, private school teachers
Many graduates in Rivers State are doing menial and low-paying jobs ranging from serving as pump attendants at fuel stations and working as private security guards to becoming makeshift teachers in private schools.
Speaking with LEADERSHIP Weekend, Ifeoma Cletus, a graduate of Philosophy who teaches at a private school in Port Harcourt, said inability to secure government employment pushed her into teaching.
“After several attempts to get employed in the state civil service without success, I had no other choice than to accept this teaching job. Although the salary is too small, just N25,000 per month, God has been faithful,” she said.
Another female graduate, Gloria Robinson, who works as a computer operator in a business centre in Port Harcourt, also cited unemployment as the reason for going into menial work.
Robinson said: “I searched for work everywhere with my certificate as a Computer Scientist but it didn’t work out. So, instead of staying idle, I accepted to work in this business centre. I receive N30,000 as monthly salary. I have been doing this job for the past five years.”
KADUNA: Graduates as hotel cleaners, okada riders
In Kaduna State, some of the graduates who spoke with LEADERSHIP Weekend identified lack of decent jobs and the present economic realities as the main reasons why they engaged in menial jobs for survival.
A graduate of English at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Mark Bala, a commercial motorcycle operator popularly called okada rider, said he spent six years searching for jobs without finding one.
“After my NYSC in 2019, I searched for government and private sector jobs and I didn’t find any. I am now a commercial motorcyclist, known as okada. I have to feed myself and my family and this is my job at the moment. Sometimes I go home with almost N10,000 per day after repairs and buying of fuel.”
Another graduate, Benjamin Taran, who works as a cleaner in one of the hotels in Kaduna, said, “Under this economy, if you stay idle and wait for government and big jobs, hunger will not pity you. For the reason I stated above I decided to take this cleaning job in this hotel to earn a living. I have spent three years here as a cleaner. Before, my pay was N17,000, but now I’m collecting N30,000 monthly.
“Even with this work, it is not enough but I am managing. How much do I pay for transport fare from my house to work and return, and how much does the hotel pay me monthly? I spend almost N1,000 every day coming and going back. But it is better than staying idle; I thank God I am not in the hospital.”
Taran, however, advised government at all levels to sit up and tackle high unemployment in the country:
“Both the federal, state, and local governments should declare a state of emergency on unemployment and create massive jobs for the youths and unemployed graduates,” he said.
DELTA: Graduates as automechanics, bouncers, rat killers
When Kareem Usman arrived in Benin City in 2015 after his NYSC, he thought he had found stability. After years of moving across Nigeria in search of work, a job with a Chinese-owned tile company in Utesi community seemed like he was the most fortunate.
“I came to Benin City for a job with a Chinese company that’s producing tiles,” he recalled in an interview. “The company is in the Utesi community.”
But his optimism soon gave way to disappointment.
“The salary was too meagre to sustain me,” he explained. “I spent five years there before leaving. With my former employer, if I went on leave for five days, that month’s salary was forfeited.”
His journey as a mechanic began far from Benin.
“I learnt mechanic work in Ajaokuta. When I got my freedom, soon after, I secured a job with Tata in Lagos around 2009. I was paid a paltry sum of ₦25,000. It wasn’t enough. Not long after, I left for Benin and started work with the Chinese company I mentioned earlier.”
One of his biggest ambitions is to acquire a diagnostic machine.
“If I can have it, I’ll seriously move forward,” he said. “The government’s support would make a huge difference.”
By 2021, he was married and determined to forge ahead. Despite the difficulties, he remains resilient, grounded in his work and personal history.
“My parents are late,” he reflected quietly. “I’m the second to the last born out of nine siblings. I’ve seen many struggles, but I thank God for where I am today.”
Also, the livelihood of Festus Okpara depends on sanitising homes and gardens. As a Chemistry graduate from the University of Benin, he resorted to self-employment after years of fruitless job search.
According to him, every morning he would blow a whistle to wake up landlords who want to rid their compounds of reptiles and eliminate weeds.
With his pump strapped to his back the way a mother carries her baby, Okpara is always ready to start work once there is agreement on the payment, since the chemicals are already mixed in the sprayer.
“I graduated in 2010 and searched for a job everywhere to no avail. When life was becoming very unbearable, I decided to put the pride of being a graduate aside and took up a career as a sanitary operator.
“I was able to raise money from a security job (bouncer) to buy the sprayer and chemicals,” he said.
He blamed government apathy and godfatherism in the country for the growing rate of unemployment.
Though Daniel is not totally happy with his present job, he said it is not a bad idea because it is better than getting involved in criminal activities to survive.
To him, being a “rat killer”, as he is popularly known, is better than being a criminal.
He says he makes no less than N5,000 daily, depending on the patronage.
“The only luck I have now is that I have been able to secure 10 houses and three schools which pay me N10,000 each weekly. I spray their houses and the schools four times a month,” he said.
ANAMBRA: Graduates as bus drivers, traffic controllers
Chidiebere Chibueze, 31, and Chioma Ifediorah are among several university graduates in Awka, Anambra State, doing menial jobs to survive.
While Chibueze graduated from Imo State University in 2015 with a marketing degree, Chioma graduated from Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, in 2009 with a Financial Management degree.
Chibueze combines a graphic designing job with driving a commercial shuttle bus just to make ends meet.
According to him, in 2016 and 2018, he applied for employment in the Nigerian Immigration Service and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) but was not successful.
He later got a job with a private company on a N30,000 monthly salary, but he had to quit after three weeks because the amount couldn’t pay his transport fare alone.
On her part, Chioma is working with the Anambra State Traffic Management Agency (ATMA) as a traffic controller.
She declined to mention the salary package but said what she gets as tips reduces the regret of standing on the road to direct traffic.
She, however, said that she was getting ready to relocate to the United States of America.
“I have already applied for a visa, and my younger sister, who is already in the US, is helping me process it. I hope to leave this country as soon as possible,” she beamed.
Chibueze narrated his experiences to LEADERSHIP Weekend at Solution Bus Terminal, Awka.
He said: ‘‘I graduated in 2015 from the Marketing Department at Imo State University.
‘‘I do graphic designing, and also do this shuttle vehicle driving with the Transport Company of Anambra State.
‘‘I have driven for two months now. I am a graphic designer also. I still do it. Shuttle driving is my side hustle. The money from graphic designing is not meeting up with the needed expenses.
‘’For instance, I am planning to get married now. So, I need extra income because taking care of a family is not easy. On a day when there is enough work, I can make N15,000 after expenses, but when there are no passengers, I make between N7,000 and N8,000 a day.
“I am 31 years old now. The country is not helping out at all, especially the youths who want to earn a living genuinely. That’s why you see many youths getting involved in internet fraud. But it is not for me,” Chibueze stated.
Age As Barrier in Job Slots
Some of those interviewed also lamented the situation where the federal government sets low age limits for job placements.
They said government at all levels had failed in its responsibility to ensure smooth academic sessions in universities.
“We the unemployed Nigerian youths are saying, for not taking into cognisance the plight of the Nigerian youths, we are unanimously saying the Nigerian government has failed the youths. After searching for jobs for over 10 to 15 years, you will be looked upon as an old man as job descriptions will be from 25 and below,” one Somtoo Onyebo said.
Two Lucky Ones Get Automatic Employment
LEADERSHIP Weekend learnt that a few weeks earlier, the Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, during an inspection tour of the ongoing underpass at High-Level Makurdi, spotted a lady selling sachet water and offered her automatic employment upon learning she was a graduate.
It was the same for Ms Oluwatosin Adejumo, a snack (puff puff) hawker in Osun State, after Governor Ademola Adeleke spotted her during a recent public rally and gave her an automatic government job as a chef in Government House upon learning she was a graduate.
