Why Are You Repeating The Mistakes Of The Older Men Around You?

 

Why Are You Repeating The Mistakes Of The Older Men Around You?

 

This Is For You

Yes this is for you, if you are 18 to 35 years of age, I have taken out time today to address you.

It may not be a welcome address as I am bound to tell you some naked truths and as they say, truth is always bitter.

So if you feel that you don't want to hear the truth, then don't read - stop right here and now!

but if you feel that you can only get better with the bitter truth, then continue reading.

But it's a long read, I must tell you ahead of time

I just want to ask you a question

Why are you repeating the mistakes of the Older men around you?

In the days of the Older men around you, it was the in thing to follow the established tradition of - GO to School - SCORE good grades - GRADUATE with a good degree - PICK a job - WORK HARD at your job - WAIT for salary increments, promotions and advancements and then be happy thereafter. Finally RETIRE after serving 35 years or hitting 60 years whichever comes first.

For those who did not go to school, there was also an established traditional route - BECOME an apprentice - SERVE your Master dutifully for the number of years agreed (usually 5 - 7 years) - GET FREED by your Master with some form of settlement - SET UP your own BRICK AND MORTAR BUSINESS and then continue struggling to make it big.

Have you taken a closer look at the Older men around you who followed the aforementioned pathways diligently and retired at the appropriate time and age?

did you notice that most of them retired into poverty and penury?

Did you notice that their pensions are paid very irregularly?

Did you notice that whenever they are to be paid their pension (as miserable as the sum is), they first have to spend the money on their hands to go for verification - this is to ensure that they are still alive?

Did you know that their pensions have been frittered away by those who are the custodians of the money?

Did you know that some of them collapsed and died in the course of the verifications while some others were involved in motor traffic accidents that left them permanently disabled?

If you come from a home where the Father was a member of this group, did you notice how much he struggled to bring food to the dinner table?

Did you notice that there was always tension in the house particularly over money?

Did you notice that money was always in the scarcity mode in the house and that you were always reminded that money did not grow on trees neither were they picked along the streets?

Did you notice that some days your Father and Mother would exhibit some animosities towards themselves, you may not know but the two commonest causes of animosities in marriage are sex (not enough of it) and money ( lack of it)

And if the wife is the type that insults her husband, did you take note of how many times she called him good for nothing man?

Did you know that in the days of the Older Men around you, things were done manually? there was no INTERNET, no ONLINE TOOLS to make life and living easier.

Sometimes I even wondered how we survived it all

But then

It is your turn

Having noted all these mistakes, why are you still repeating them?

You went to School because we place emphasis on acquisition of certificates and you learnt no other skill - only BOOK

In your time they introduced NYSC which was meant to give you a soft landing from graduation before getting a job and they exposed you to ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAINING but you showed no interest because you were sure you were going to land a good paying job immediately after NYSC - you burnt the whole of 12 months doing nothing but gossiping and snapping pictures in borrowed clothes and uploading on social media platforms, living a fake lifestyle - YOU LEARNT NO SKILLS

After NYSC your PPA tells you that they were sorry but they could not retain you so you are thrown into the Labour Market where the jobs are very limited but the chasers of the jobs are in their millions.

You tell yourself that your case is different and that it is not your portion to be unemployed but ONE YEAR down the line, you are still busy throwing applications for employment all over the place even for jobs you have no inkling what is done there - you just want a job where they pay salary.

ONE AND HALF YEARS and you are yet to land the job of your dreams so you resort to picking up whichever job comes along because you have hit the frustration point and have thus become desperate.

Yes the School curriculum which was patterned after the British was meant to raise EMPLOYEES for the Civil Service but the number of GRADUATES from our more than 200 Higher Institutions have overwhelmed the Civil Service and the system can no longer absorb the graduates and because of this more than 20 million Nigerian Graduates are UNEMPLOYED and quite a number of them are UNEMPLOYABLE.

You gain nothing by complaining and wailing against the Government, the Politicians, the Fraudsters and the Tricksters. they are doing what they should be doing. No Government is ever set up to make you rich,  Governments are set up to once every years raise a generation of persons who would come and make their own lives better.

The masses will always be the masses if they choose to remain so and you should not be there.

Yes you made the mistake in School when you learnt no SKILL

Yes, you made the mistake during NYSC when you learnt no SKILL

But

You can always correct your mistakes and learn from them.

In your time there is a BIG BLUE OCEAN called the INTERNET and anyone with access to it has a tangible tool to make a living.

Do you know that all things you need to make a living are found right there on your big smart phone which you carry to show off but use not for its main purpose?

Do you know that the social media platforms are made not only for socializing and gossiping over irrelevancies but also for doing business online?

Do you know that you can have up to 7 income streams simultaneously online just with your smart phone and internet access and you would have no need for a rigid-structured office space?

And so I wish to advise you to STOP MAKING THOSE MISTAKES RIGHT NOW

Use that tool in your hands that you play with like a toy to make a difference in your life

For those who are already graduates but without any digital skills - GO LEARN AT LEAST ONE - it could be graphics design, it could be creative writing, it could be proofreading, it could be speed tying, it could be website design, it could be programming - JUST LEARN ONE SKILL and then apply it to earn money

For those in School and yet to graduate, instead of wasting your spare time use it to learn a digital skill just like I pointed out above.

There are also some physical skills anyone can learn - house painting, house wiring, tailoring, fashion designing, CCTV installation, phone repairs, Barbing, Laundry and so on and so forth

Your School learning made you an Employee, you can make yourself an Employer

All you need to do is to RESET YOUR MINDSET

That will be it for now

I may write you again

But you are welcome to communicate with us if we missed out something in this write up

Drop your concerns as a comment under this Post

Have a good day

Dr. Jerry - the First Oguzie: JP

#successwithdrjerrythefirst

PS
If you are more than 35 but you read this, kindly pass it onto your 18 - 35 year old son or daughter or nephew or niece or brother or friend

It would do them a world of good