The Life of a Job Seeker: Episode 3

Episode 3: The Graduation

After several years of hurdles of; studying tdb (till daybreak) on many occasions; dealing with tension in anticipation of the outcome of examination results; dealing with brokenness; enduring the delay from ASUU strike, and so on, finally it was time for Kobi and his circle of friends to graduate.

Kobi’s determination to succeed in school paid off. Although he didn’t graduate with a first-class degree, he bagged a second-class upper degree (4.41 CGPA) in Chemical Engineering and was the best graduating student from his class. Sophia, Kobi’s girlfriend bagged a second-class upper degree in Economics. Faruq, his best friend also earned a second-class upper degree in Mass Communications. In the words of Joewie the lazy Nigerian youth, “they gave me second-class lower”. As for Kwasi the Pompous, and Femi the bad influence, they barely managed to graduate with a third-class degree in Chemical Engineering. Emeka the drop-out didn’t return to school. His poultry farm was thriving, so he lost interest in schooling.

The Convocation

At his convocation, Kobi’s mother and siblings were the happiest. They wore their best outfit and danced like never before. At some point, they teared up wishing Kobi’s father was alive to share their delight. However, they were most happy believing that upon his graduation, Kobi’s Youth Service would bring him luck, he would secure a good job immediately, help his siblings through school and their suffering would finally cease. 

Mr. Julius, Kobi’s stingy uncle was also present at Kobi’s convocation. He assured Kobi he would get him a good job because of his excellent performance. He said to him “Kobi my nephew, you have not rendered futile I and your mother’s effort to get you through school. Now that you have made me proud, I vow to find you a very good job. All I need from you now is your NYSC discharge certificate and you are good to go”. Anyone who heard Mr. Julius’ statement would believe he was a nice man who made a significant impact on Kobi’s life and education.

The convocation ceremony was finally over and it was time for the circle of friends to part ways to their different home regions.

Parting with friends

Bidding farewell to friends whom you have shared quality time with can be disheartening; especially for 2 lovers as in the case of Kobi and Sophia.

Fair enough, some of the friends reside within the same state regions. Kobi, and Joewie, the lazy Nigerian Youth returned to their residents in Niger State; Sophia, and Femi the bad influence returned to Lagos; Faruq returned to Kano, and Kwasi, the pompous returned to Abuja. However, before parting ways, the five buddies formed a WhatsApp chat group and agreed to stay in touch.

The NYSC Fantasies

Like many Nigerian graduates looking forward to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Kobi and his 5 friends had high hopes in NYSC. 

Kobi dreamt of being deployed to serve in a beautiful city in Abuja or Lagos. He created a mental image of his life during and after Youth service. He wished God would help him get posted to serve in a very big organization like Chevron, NNPC, or another high paying company. Kobi imagined himself being retained in one of those big paying organizations after completing his Youth service, and earning a huge salary. He said to himself, “a salary of N350,000 wouldn’t be bad for a start”. A warm smile radiated his face as he imagined. 

He pictured himself receiving blessings from his mother and siblings after giving them a huge amount from his first youth service allowance and work salary. He imagined himself helping his siblings through school, gifting a beautiful house to his mother; getting married to pretty Sophia, traveling places, and so on. How beautiful this would be, he grinned. 

With high hopes, Kobi and his circle of friends anticipated their NYSC call-up letter. 

The question is, will NYSC help Kobi fulfil his dreams? If you have completed your NYSC, what was your NYSC experience like?

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