A first class Nigerian graduate, who had
been unemployed for two years since she left the university, has been
offered employment after PREMIUM TIMES published a report on her.
Twenty-two-year-old
Odufuwa Sola had almost given up and started learning tailoring at
Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, before the job offer came.
The Physics
Electronics graduate from the Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo State, took
to Twitter in October to beg people to help her out, after her search
for a job yielded no result.
Ms. Sola did not just make a first
class but was the best graduating student in the university for that
year with a 4.83 G.P.A. She had the honour of delivering a valedictory
speech in the school. Ms. Sola’s story underscored the unemployment crisis in the oil-rich Nigeria which is one of the largest economies in Africa.
Immediately
the story was published, Adamu Garba, the CEO of IPI Solution Ltd, an
IT firm with offices in Lagos and Abuja, reached out to Ms. Sola via
Twitter and within days she was offered an employment in project
development and IT solutions after a job interview. She has also been
enrolled in a mentorship scheme by the company. Ms. Sola is trying to settle down on her new job and a new life in Lagos.
“It’s actually a different field from what I learnt in school,” she said. “It’s all about programming. “The company has done well by providing me with a new laptop, eBooks, and videos to aid my transition into the IT world.
“And
I have colleagues around me who are always willing and ready to help.
It’s challenging but I know with time I will adjust,” she said. Ms. Sola said she loves her new job and that the pay was good for a start.
She
thanked PREMIUM TIMES for doing a story on her and also thanked her new
boss, Mr. Garba, for giving her the opportunity to work in the IT
company. Christopher Olowokere, the Head of Physics with Electronics
department, Ajayi Crowther University, said he was aware that Ms. Sola
had been offered a job. He expressed delight over it and also thanked
the newspaper for the story.
The CEO of IPI Solution Ltd, Mr.
Garba, who said he was moved by Ms. Sola’s story, said he picked her
Twitter handle from the PREMIUM TIMES report. “I just sent a Twitter
message to her requesting to know if she was available for a job
interview. She came in for the interview, she displayed a lot of
potentials. She is an intelligent person, we said let’s give her the
opportunity to start work immediately,” said Mr. Garba. Mr. Garba
said Ms. Sola now has a great opportunity for a promising career since
“the future of the world’s economy is dependent on IT”.
He blamed Nigeria’s worsening unemployment situation on the government and the university system. “The
Nigerian universities do not teach the students how to apply
knowledge,” he said, adding that Nigeria could create millions of jobs
if only the government was willing to explore the potentials available
in IT. “These five companies, Facebook, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Apple combined have about $3.6 trillion in their pool.
“As
I’m talking to you, Apples’ earnings now is twice bigger than Nigeria’s
GDP. And this is a company of 66,000 staff, while Nigeria has more than
186 million people.
“What is the government doing to empower the
local IT guys?” Mr. Garba said, while also advising the government
regulatory agencies to stop implementing policies that block
multinational IT companies from coming in to play big roles in the
Nigerian market. PREMIUM TIMES asked Ms. Sola about the lessons she has learnt from what has happened.
“I have learnt that I need to come out of my comfort zone, try something new, and take risks. “There
is also this Yoruba adage that says, ‘When you have a problem and you
keep it to yourself and don’t share it with others, at times it won’t
get solved,’” she said.
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