Youths and unemployment

It is important to draw the attention of youths in Benue State and beyond, to the apocalyptic era that awaits them, as far as their desire and quest for gainful employment in their beloved state is concerned. It’s, indeed, very sad that youths have no hope of getting jobs in the states.

The story that is usually peddled by those in the corridors of power is that there are no jobs. That is true. Jobs are not there, at least not for the living. Nevertheless, what is not true is that the lack of jobs is caused by lack of job vacancies. There have always existed vacancies in the civil service considering the fact that workers die, retire or get transferred to other jobs. The job market has not always been so hopelessly dry; the paucity of jobs is not natural, it’s artificial and it’s man-made. Therefore, where and how exactly did the rain start to beat us?

We are in another phase in our society where merit had long ceased to be recognised and mediocrity and nepotism elevated to heavens. Today, we have entered yet another damning phase: the era of ghost workers. The ruling class, our brothers and sisters in places of power and influence, having gotten tired of dealing with the living, have now resorted to dealing with the dead, their ancestors. Instead of filling up the existing job vacancies with the living, they now prefer ghosts. So, today, we are in the horrific era of ghosts. That’s why the hope for getting jobs in your homeland is lost and lost forever, if care is not taken.

• Youths and political apathy

However, call me a horrible pessimist if you like. But the truth is that ghosts don’t die; they don’t retire. So, with ghosts taking over the jobs that should have been yours, your future is lost, unless something drastic and urgent is done to recover it.

They have taken the ghost era to the next step where real human beings are retrenched from the government and replaced by the ghost workers. But what can you do, being so vulnerable? Two options are open to you. One, you can, with determination and courage, confront the evil forces that seek to steal your future away from you. In doing this, you must be aware of the challenges.

The other option is that you can think outside the box and take to entrepreneurship. It will, certainly, not be easy to begin. But it’s better to start than to sit there waiting for jobs that have been taken over by ghosts.

James Aondover Ikyobo, Benue State.