By Meikudi Ashiat
Mahmud Boni Toure, a Botany graduate from Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, soared through his school days like a bird in flight, his allowance bringing a sparkle to his phone as he savored a life of luxury and extravagance.
When Mahmud graduated in 2021, his life took a sharp turn; the financial support he had relied on from his parents abruptly ended—thrusting him into self-sufficiency like a fledgling bird venturing out on its own.
For him, his school years had been a sparkling prelude to this post-graduation reality.
Life after graduation is always regarded as the toughest and most challenging time for graduates. Being an initiator of the world of competition, they are pushed to face the brusqueness and bluntness of the world different from the world they had been acquainted with.
“Things got tougher when the NYSC alert stopped coming with no expectations from anywhere again”
Speaking, Muhammad implored the strong sustainability of securing entrepreneurship skills or white-collar jobs to be the way out.
“It’s at this time after service that people tend to think of what to do leading them to run Helter Skelter most especially when there is no entrepreneurship and no white collar job on the way”.
Being the firstborn of the family, he had presumably hoped to carry financial aid for his sibling’s schooling and expenses after his graduation to repudiate his parent’s burden.
Like Muhammad, Idris Abdulganiyu, a graduate of Adult and Primary Education from the faculty of Education in 2017, faced similar challenges. As the eldest sibling in his family, he harbored hopes of shouldering his family’s financial burdens post-graduation.
However, the reality proved harsh as he grappled with job interviews, volunteer work, and various odd jobs just to make ends meet.
He said, “Life after graduating is not easy, I underwent a lot of interviews, did volunteer work, and participated in different events to have something to hold on to.”
From Struggle to Success
Speaking with The News Digest Press, Roheemat Salawudeen’s story stands out as a beacon of hope amidst tales of hardship. Despite shouldering the financial responsibilities of her education and family during her time at UDUS, Rohimat’s determination paid off after graduation.
Roheemat Salawudeen
She graduated from the faculty of Agriculture at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, majoring in Agricultural Economics
Roheemat’s relentless pursuit of financial stability led her to take on menial jobs and work as a sales girl, eventually landing her a fulfilling role as a product consultant at Xiaomi.
She said, “ Life after degree is the best thing that has ever happened to me. My days in University were coupled with striving hard to be financially stable. I underwent a menial job and worked as a sales girl with unpraised payment just to have something in my purse.”
According to her, she didn’t have the forebode that life could outshine the challenges she underwent while in school so early; but fate struck her luckily as she got a job to fall back on after completion of her project.
“Immediately, I was thrown into the very real world, I was terrified to find out things don’t work how you want to but fate strikes me lucky, Alhamdulillah, I got a job as a product consultant in the Xiaomi company which still amazes me till today,” she said.
“Strategize your life while learning” – Professor Jimoh Hamzat
While speaking with Professor Jimoh Hamzat, a lecturer from the Department of Sociology, he elaborated on the expectations for university graduates.
Emphasizing strategic thinking, he highlighted the necessity for students to acquire essential skills during their university years.
In his words: ” Some students are just concerned about getting a certificate without acquiring the necessary knowledge, you’ll see students with grade E and still praising God that they just want to escape without having a sense of strategizing their life.
“It’s said that whatever you do in school, there must be consequences after graduating. For instance, with what class of degree do you even graduate? Imagine a graduate of Sociology who cannot give comprehensive clarification on the definition of Sociology, what fate awaited such a student.”
He further emphasized the importance of being computer literate devoid of the disciplinary field of study, noting that not all graduates were equipped with the knowledge of computers and most feigned ignorance toward its acquisition.