By Adedeji Egbebi
An Educationist, Dr Bode Adanikin, on Wednesday urged Gov. Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State to create jobs for unemployed graduates.
Adanikin gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Oye-Ekiti.
He decried the situation whereby many youths in the country graduate from tertiary institutions, but without prospect of gainful employment.
The educationist explained that in some African countries such as South African, Uganda, Mali and Togo, graduates with good degrees were provided jobs with good salary, but the exception was the situation in Nigeria.
Adanikin appealed to Oyebanji to consider graduates who are indigenes of the state for employment in the state Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
“It is only in Nigeria that I have seen 75 per cent of graduates doing menial jobs, and into cyber fraud popularly called “yahoo”.
“In fairness, increase in cybercrime is as a result of joblessness of youths.
“A first class graduate of Computer Science, who has been jobless for five years suddenly ventured into cybercrime and made over N50 million.
“When he was arrested by police, he claimed that it was as a result of his joblessness.
“The generation of graduates that university are currently producing are genius, which the government needs to give jobs for them to be useful to the society before they end up using their knowledge and skills to commit crimes.
“It is on this note, I want to appeal to our Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji, to consider the plight of many graduates who are still searching for jobs.
“Motorcycling business is not the best for our graduates, yahoo business is not a decent job and it is until we create jobs for these graduates that our society will be free of various crimes.
“An idle mind is the devil’s workshop. it is those youths that are jobless that will venture into ritual killings or cyber fraud,” he said.
Adanikin urged the state government to replace graduates with the vacant space being created by many retired civil servants.
He noted that on daily basis many government workers were retiring from the civil service, therefore creating vacancies for the unemployed graduates. (NAN)
