By Sam Otti
Lilian Chinyere Douglas-Ezeugo, a Computer Science graduate, needed a job so desperately that she chased prospective employers to Ikoyi-Lekki bridge with a placard in her hands. Not even her recent meeting and executive handshake with the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, few weeks later could fetch her a job.
Douglas-Ezeugo, who would be 23 on December 3, took the bull by the horn when she stood for several hours on the sidewalk of Lagos busy traffic with a placard begging for job. She stunned curious onlookers by her effrontery, displaying the placard, with the inscription, “Please Help! I need a job. B.Sc Computer Science 2:1. Done with NYSC”.
Her picture went viral on social media within some minutes, which opened a floodgate of criticisms and commendations. On display on the placard was her mobile phone number, which attracted thousands of phone calls.
The lady’s uncommon zeal, which was mocked online by some people as a forlorn attempt to attract fame, eventually opened a golden gate. She got an invitation to a meeting with the Vice President (see photograph).
Recalling her meeting with the Vice President in a chat with Campus Sun, she said, “I got an invite for a media forum with the Vice President. At the forum, we were given the opportunity to ask one question each. When it got to my turn, I asked him what plans the federal government has in preparing teenagers and youths to overcome challenges of adulthood. What happens to youths without a purposeful mindset and who are not mentally challenged, but do not have the support?”
Although meeting with the Vice President, an educationist and cleric, seemed like a ticket to heaven, the young graduate, like millions of other job seekers, was left in the furnace of hell. She confessed that she took to the street to draw public attention to the plight of unemployed youths in the country.
“I want people to understand that I did what I did to voice out my concern. And that if nothing is done, it will get to a point where the youths will be involved in a violent protest”, she said.
She told Campus Sun that part of the reasons why she stood on the road was to break the jinx of spending many years after graduation without any job. She graduated in 2014, and did her mandatory one-year National Youth Service Corps in Delta State.
According to her, waiting for years to get a job brings depression on graduates. She said some graduates sink in despair, noting that a lady she knew committed suicide out of frustration.
She recalled that few hours after standing on the bridge, a woman, identified as Mrs Owen, called and introduced her to Mr Tony Elumelu, who has a foundation that supports entrepreneurship in Africa. But her meeting with Elumelu never fetched her any job, as widely reported on social media, she said.
“In the meeting, he (Elumelu) asked me why I did what I did. I told him that I didn’t want to be among unemployed graduates and that was all.”
She said Forte Oil also contacted her for a test, but her fingers remain crossed. She called for the introduction of ‘Leadership and Purpose’ in the school curriculum. According to her, since such subject was not available in school module, she would like organise sessions with schools, ranging from primary to university level introducing them to mind development courses, leadership development, and helping them to develop a purposeful mindset that would make them meet their full potential.
“Imagine if school children and youths are developed socially, ethically, emotionally, physically and have cognitive competencies, they would be able to analyse their weakness and strength, set vocational goals, have self esteem, confidence, motivation and participate in community life, effect a positive change and serve as role models”, she said.