by Bukola Adebakin

As I travel around 10am last saturday to Abeokuta and I passed stadium, I was confused as to the heavy traffic on funsho williams avenue, surulere that early. I looked out of the BRT bus I was in going to Ojota and I saw the crowd. What’s going on? Then I remembed, my fellow ex corp friend already told me about the NIS exams earlier in the week and I had wished him well.

The crowd? I thought. Are they all for the Nigerian Immigration Service interview? It’s rather confusing, I thought. With the level of chaos witnessed at the National Stadium in Abuja and several other test centres in the country I couldn’t help but feel ashamed of my country.

What happened last Saturday is a big disgrace to us as a country. Over 520,000 applicants across the country vying for slots not more than 4,556? How did we get here? The NIS and the Nigerian government have indeed washed its dirty linen in public this time. Unemployment in Nigeria has been a knotty issue from time immemorial but this show of shame in Abuja, Port Harcourt, Niger and elsewhere has brought it back to the fore.

President Goodluck Jonathan and his team have their work cut out for them and they have no choice but to step up their game.

The youth of Nigeria need a government who will take them seriously. The lack of jobs, opportunities for young/fresh graduates and more has only added to the lingering frustration amongst youth in the country.

To start with, everything about this recruitment exercise was wrong:

1. Making job seekers pay N1,000 each in a bid to get a job is unjustifiable in any form.

2. Not shortlisting applicants to write the tests – I am sure those assigned to carry out these recruitment knew the numbers to expect. What’s the point to ask all applicants to show up for a test when less than 5,000 of them will eventually get the job? Why not shortlist applicants that best fits these positions and advise others to try elsewhere?

3. The number of Immigration official to man the test centres were rather too few. This only points to lack of planning which can only breed confusion and sadly… death.

4. Why the stadium with no chairs or tables to conduct proper examination? Why can’t this aptitude test be conducted online. This is a call for action to the Nigerian government, our leaders need to do the needful and stop wasting time and resources on things that won’t last and bring glory to the country.

For the youth, there is always a way out, it’s your responsibility to make things happen and get things done. Don’t wait for the government to fix Nigeria’s problem. It’s time to acquire more skills, apply for internships, volunteer and start something. The time to start is now.

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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.