WHAT CAN YOU DO?

You know, the University of Ibadan is one big bakery; it will turn, tear and, maybe, torture you. But, in the end, you alone will decide what happens – whether you’d get burned or baked.
Last session, I had an instructive experience. The day was Tuesday; one of the days of the week on which the timetable for the semester said I and the birds were the same – free. I had woken up early that day as usual and kept busy with a couple of things. So had my neighbours.
Two guys enjoyed what they must have believed is a joke on the balcony; one from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and the other, a 200 level student of Adult Education. As expected, the brother from Vet. Medicine was the ‘prouder’ of the two. He boasted loud and long on the greatness of courses in other faculties and the grandeur the mere pronunciation of their acronyms command. He also stated the ugliness of those of the Faculty of Education. Talking in local parlance, he joked and laughed about how he thought the names SPE, EME, KHE, ADE et al sounded quite ‘local’.
Apparently, the ‘quiet’ friend knew what a gasbag the entertainer was. He never talked back. He enjoyed listening to the proud Veterinary Doctor – to be rant about the interpretation that the sound of course acronyms bore in his ears. I did, too. I mean, it was difficult not to laugh because ‘our friend’ really had a sense of humour. Maybe I should have recorded his ‘speech’. But, soon after the ‘show’ ended, in my characteristic way, I got thinking. My mind travelled round the globe and then went back in time.
Mid 2012, one of my mentors had just secured a nice job with Pharma Dekko in Lagos. We were happy. It was the kind of job young men want. The salary was six digits and there was some assurance on job security, so to speak. I mean, his boss liked him. One day, I and my mentor got talking and he told me about his interview before the job became his. Having left the University of Ibadan two years before that time with a first class honours degree from the Faculty of Technology, green horns would have thought jobs would be chasing him. Well, they did but, not in the easiest of ways. Back to the Pharma Dekko experience, my mentor recalls that, at some point in the interview session, his whole pack of certificates got literally swept aside. A stern looking Personnel Manager then looked him straight in the eye and asked, ‘Young man, what can you do?’ Well, he must have replied in a way that pleased the interviewer because he was there on their payroll for about two years.
I marry the discussion that had ensued on the balcony that morning and the story my mentor told me and, one basic reality comes back to me; the world stands up to cheer the man who knows where he is going. The Pharma Dekko job did not become my mentor’s merely because he had a first class honours there was extra. He had several skills he had acquired even while doing so well academically. Among other things, he was a sound politician with proven record of competence under pressure.
My point should be clear now. While we work hard at getting 7 points in as many courses as possible, it is important that we guard against the high possibility of being enmeshed in a triangle of only being known in class, the library and the fellowship or mosque.
Depending on whether you are a Direct Entry or UTME candidate, we have as many as three to four years at our disposal. Three to four years to acquire life changing skills and develop whatever talents we have observed lie within us. Do not get carried away with being brilliant; be intelligent, too.
The talk in town is that there are no jobs. Well, the last I checked, that is totally false. There’s just one question that many have not really cared to answer-what can you do? And, the answer has no relevance with examination results.
I hope you understand.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *