“The way a country is set up determines its level of poverty or wealth.” X pj

Having a job is a good fortune that is celebrated all over the world, but this is not to say that it will definitely bring substantial wealth to many. An employee’s level of success now depends on what kind of blueprint that country has caved out for itself. For instance, a country which does not have an effective means of operation would have employees working for little or nothing, as it lacks the amenities meant to support the ailing system of the corporate world and economy as a whole. Hence, boxes these set of people into a corner where they can only eat from hand to mouth and imposes the fear of setting up a new business due to lack of financial assistance and other incentives needed for the business to blossom. The above stated allows the question for why the Nigeria government has so many barriers for new foreign, regional and national corporate entries. A country which does not have a financial capital as compared to other global cities, yet apply tough constraints for international companies hoping to start a business here in Nigeria, which in the long run will create jobs with better salaries. Why is this so?

Years ago, a Nigerian child’s dream was to become financially independent, or should I say most of us dreamt to the degree to what we were told or saw. Most teenagers wanted to fulfil their parents fantasies by getting locked up behind a door and seated behind a desk alone or in a group of other minds with a title such as a nurse, teacher, banker, journalist and the list goes on. Hence, the corporate world was the main reason why we went to school and not really that we yearned for knowledge, especially in this part of the world.

After higher education, it was found that the purpose of learning was merely a waste of time to majority of graduating students after seeing that the opportunities of acquiring a decent job with a good salary, due to a handful of conglomerates and corporations existing here in Nigeria, were as limited as the basic amenities provided by the Nigerian government.

Also, business opportunities to further  careers were fast declining to the same degree as the “greatly relied on incentives” meant to assist graduates in starting small businesses. Fresh graduates did not know that this was how Nigeria was programmed. It had been programmed long ago with a blueprint meant to improvish skilled working citizens except employees in one or two sectors, however these sort of jobs were meant for a few, since its services were not fully utilised, as its demand for labour could not cater to an overly populated nation such as Nigeria.

““Most “White Collar Jobs” were never meant to fulfil dreams, they were meant to suppress them!”” X pj

From the point of a Nigerian employee, most white-collar jobs was never designed to fulfil a worker’s highest potential, neither was is made to bring satisfaction or extreme wealth. While providing immediate services to a company, it was to a certain degree made to curb and undermine the zeal to become greater. Hence, made to allow working citizens fit well into a country’s blueprint especially for that sector.

“In Nigeria, the blueprint meant for the corporate world was designed to be a continuous and recycling process of enriching a selected group from time to time, but subdues an employee’s dreams and potentials over time.” X pj

I must be certain that the type of corporate jobs created, which mostly lack proper personal benefits, health care and pension are placed for the public of each state to follow a given path in life, which is meant to prosper the country and its employers instead of the working men and women of these companies. Hence, a plan meant for intellectual minds to become comfortable with the little things of life while they generate wealth for the states and elite members. Therefore, such a model restrains the working public from demanding more from the government, since there are less conceivable means of survival from other sources.

For example, one of the ways America tries to limit violence amongst its people, which ultimately leads to lost of lives and properties, is by withholding decent jobs from individuals who have criminal records. Similarly, stringing people to an underpaid nine to five is a distraction from undertaking other business opportunities and a method of impoverishing them.

Furthermore, to support the idea of “living from hand to mouth” through the process of the type of corporate jobs provided, low human capital and the lack of basic amenities are also strategically placed in the blueprint to frustrate and undermine the people’s capabilities.

This design takes an employee on a train ride with tickets of unpaid bills and warrants, were the seats are sacks of cements occupied by vicious neighbours with a smell of waste products in the air and an ambience meant to humble commuters from becoming rebellious or adventurous in the future, until his or her life comes to an abrupt end. 

“Where there is hardship the power of a collective people weakens. This is why poor nations such as Nigeria, the people are taken for granted by the government. This is why Nigeria’s blueprint carries a formula to provide corporate underpaid jobs so as to quieten majority of it’s people. A hungry destruct man cannot pick up arms neither can he venture a battle against his enemies.” X pj

However now in this generation, solutions such as side hustles are now being introduced and greatly encouraged as a way to defile the limitations and restraints placed to promote hardship and subdue potentials. Our parent sold us the wrong notion, but one is not to blame them because that was what they were thought. Corporate jobs were seen as the main perceptible means of acquiring wealth and becoming independent.

Nevertheless, it is now glaring that most white-collar jobs did not elevate those who ventured a career from prominent fields of studies. Most people have quit coporate jobs and have taken other means of livelihoods. Just to mention a few, Lawyers have now become Hair Installers, Doctors are Stylist, Engineers are Fashion designers, Marketers are Social Media Influencers, Bankers now Bloggers, Financial advisers are Freelance Photographers and Economist have also found a craft in makeup.

Plan B’s became the new means of livelihood that was forcefully pushed to the frontline by the millennial generation through social media networking. Thereafter, corporate jobs in Nigeria have suffered a steep decline of highly qualified graduates from across the globe due to a high-rise in entrepreneurship. Thankfully, “The Black Collar Jobs”, a term I like to use for side-hustles and SME’s are now seen to be a new measure with great potentials of enriching pockets and equipping minds to defend themselves and their families.

X pj.