Troubling Adversity of the Nigerian Child

By Timiebi Koripamo-Agary

In the last year, I have become increasingly troubled by the trauma our children and grandchildren are being subjected to simply because they are trying to begin their professional lives in Nigeria.
I am particularly concerned because, on several occasions, I have been approached and asked to help young people navigate these difficulties. I am always happy to help where I can, particularly because my years as a senior bureaucrat have given me contacts and some understanding of how our public institutions work.
But each time I am asked to intervene, I find myself wondering: what about the children whose parents have no one to call?
What about the young graduate from a struggling family in a rural community, whose parents have sacrificed everything to educate their child? What happens when that child needs a NYSC Call-Up Letter, professional registration, internship placement or some other official documentation, but has neither the money nor the connections to travel repeatedly to Abuja, Lagos or other centres in pursuit of what should be a straightforward administrative process?
That is what troubles me most.
From registering for the NYSC and obtaining Call-Up Letters, to registering with professional regulatory bodies such as the MDCN, Nursing and Midwifery Council, Medical Laboratory Technology, Laboratory Science Council, Physiotherapy Board and others, our young people are being made to navigate unnecessary and, at times, unimaginable obstacle courses before they can qualify for employment or commence their mandatory internship and professional training.
These are young Nigerians who have spent years studying, passed their examinations and earned their degrees and professional qualifications. At the point when they should be stepping confidently into adulthood and beginning their careers, we subject them to frustration, uncertainty, repeated visits to offices, endless documentation and bureaucratic delays.
Why?
In this era of Information and Communications Technology, there is absolutely no reason why our institutions cannot communicate electronically and seamlessly.
There should be no reason why universities and other institutions cannot promptly forward verified lists of their graduates to NYSC and the relevant professional regulatory bodies. There should be no reason why qualified graduates should have to chase institutions for information that should already be electronically available and verifiable.
For professions that require mandatory internship, housemanship, clinical training or other forms of supervised professional practice, the process should be transparent, predictable and technology-driven. Once a young person has fulfilled the requirements, the system should facilitate registration and posting; not create another mountain of bureaucracy for them to climb.
And let us be honest: the burden does not fall equally on everyone.The children of senior bureaucrats, politicians and the wealthy often have access to information, contacts and influence that enable them to navigate these systems more easily. But what happens to the brilliant young graduate whose parents have no “connection” in Abuja, Lagos or elsewhere? What happens to the child from a modest home who cannot afford repeated transportation, accommodation or weeks of chasing documents from one office to another? This is not merely an administrative inconvenience.
It is an issue of equity, dignity and social justice.
We cannot continue to complain that our young people are leaving Nigeria in search of better economic and professional opportunities while making it unnecessarily difficult for those who choose to remain and build their lives here. If we want our children to stay, let Nigeria work for them.
Let our institutions function.
Let technology eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy rather than reproduce it in digital form.
Let government agencies talk to one another.
Let universities promptly transmit graduate records.
Let professional regulatory bodies provide clear, accessible and time-bound registration processes.
Let NYSC processes be predictable and transparent.
And above all, let us stop making young Nigerians prove their resilience by subjecting them to avoidable hardship before they can begin their working lives.
These young women and men are not asking for favours. They are asking for the opportunity to use the education they have worked so hard to obtain.
Our responsibility as a society is not to put obstacles in their path. It is to remove the obstacles and give them a fair chance to grow, work, contribute and build a future in their own country.
We must do better. At the very least, let us make it possible for our children to complete the mandatory professional registrations, internships and national service requirements without unnecessary trauma.
A country that cares about its future must care about the young people who will inherit it.
Our children deserve better. Nigeria must do better.

*Dr Timiebi Koripamo-Agary, OON, is a retired federal permanent secretary