A certificate without a job is just expensive paper, by Great Evi Ameh

Precious graduated from Delta State Polytechnic, Otefe in 2021. Second Class. Business Administration. Today, she sells thrift clothes at Mofor, Effurun, Delta State. When I asked her how she feels, she said it is hard to provide for her needs and that of her family.

Precious’s story is not unique. It’s Nigeria’s story. We’re producing graduates faster than we’re producing jobs. And the result? A generation holding degrees in one hand and frustration in the other.

Unemployment is not just an economic term. It’s a daily pain. It’s a broken promise.

NBS says youth unemployment is over 40 percent. That means four out of 10 young Nigerians with energy, ideas, and certificates have nowhere to use them.

But numbers hide faces. The face of a Mass Communication graduate who now runs a PoS because “media houses said no vacancy”.

The face of an Engineering graduate who repairs phones because “there’s no factory.” The face of a mother who sold her wrapper to send her child to school, and now the child sells garri at the market.

We call them “unemployed.” They call themselves “tired.”

Every year, Nigerian universities graduate thousands of lawyers, accountants, and mass communicators. But how many new media houses, law firms, and banks opened last year?

Our schools are still teaching with 1990 textbooks for a 2026 market. Students learn theory, but the job market asks for skills: coding, digital marketing, solar installation, content creation, data analysis.

A lecturer with the Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka told me: “We graduate students. The market graduates skills.” 

Right now, our schools and the market are not speaking the same language. Young people are not lazy. Walk through Abraka, Warri, Lagos. You’ll see graduates selling clothes on Instagram, fixing laptops, baking cakes, editing videos on their phones.

That’s work. But it’s not called “employment” because the government doesn’t count it and banks don’t fund it.

So the real problem is not that youth refuse to work. The problem is that the system refuses to see, support, and scale the work they’re already doing.

The government must stop treating job creation like a campaign slogan. It’s survival. 

Three things must change fast: Fund skills, not just schools: Put money into vocational centers, tech hubs, and apprenticeship programs. A youth who can install solar panels needs no CV to eat.  

Make business easy: Reduce the stress of registering a business, getting loans, and paying tax. If a graduate wants to start a fish farm in Abraka, the government should be the bridge, not the barrier.  

Partner with the private sector: Companies, banks, and big businesses must create real internship and entry-level slots. “Five years experience” for a graduate job is a joke we must stop laughing at.

But the youth must also change their mindset. Certificate alone won’t feed you. Learn a skill while in school. Use YouTube. Use your phone. Start small. Precious, the Business Administration graduate now sells thrift clothes, and also conducts osusu. “I won’t wait for a job,” she told me. “I will become the job.”

Unemployment is not just about empty pockets. It’s about wasted potential. 

Every jobless graduate is an idea that Nigeria will never use. A solution that will never be built. A tax that will never be paid.

A nation is not developed because it has many universities. A nation is developed because its graduates have work to do.

Until then, every convocation ceremony will feel like half celebration, half funeral. We’ll wear gowns. Take pictures. And hide the fear of: “What next?”

Nigeria cannot afford to keep printing certificates, which is akin to printing poverty. Because a certificate without a job is not an achievement. It’s just expensive paper.

And our youth deserve more than paper. They deserve purpose.

. Ameh is of the Department of Journalism and Media Studies of Delta State University, Abraka.