Second-Class Upper is Overrated in Nigeria

By: Deji Yesufu

A young man I work with on the mission field is trusting God to get a job. We all know that to get a job in Nigeria is only akin to finding a needle in a haystack; only second to Moses’ dividing the red sea. It is pretty difficult and even more difficult in an economy like today’s. So I reached out to an acquaintance and asked if my friend could be helped at their organisation. He said “…o yes, he can be taken in as a graduate trainee”. Except that the young man must have nothing short of a “2-1”. That information drew out an avalanche of nostalgia in me. The almighty “2-1”; the unatenable second class upper has again returned to hunt me.

My days at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, was a lifetime. I entered school at the age of 17. I left the university when I was 25. I literally grew up in school. I did a five year course; I had an extra semester – which culminated in an extra year; and ASUU strike gave me the remaining years in school. For a long time, my mates and I held the record of the most years spent in a Nigerian university. Besides the long years in school, there was also the pursuit of a good grade. I mostly hovered around a third class grade. But in my final three years, I found a secret to getting good grades (studying past questions) and this propelled me into a comfortable “2-2”. But all the talk among my mates was that if you don’t have “2-1” you will not be invited for tests with companies that offered good jobs. I remembered how some of my friends nearly killed themselves getting “2-1”. At the long run, everyone got a grade and we left school to face real life.

Now, this is my summation of what real life is. Grades, particularly those obtained from Nigerian universities, are the worst form of accessing the academic capabilities of students and graduates. Ideally grades should tell you which student is better than the other. But the problem is that the way and manner many of our students get their grades leave them worse than they were when they entered school. My point is that many Nigerian universities do not train their students to be experts in their fields. They train them mostly to pass examinations. So that after a year study, a student knows mostly the theory in his training and not the substance. And the pursuit of grades makes this worse: students cram; they pay their teachers for grades; they cheat; and in some extreme cases sleep with lecturers to get grades. So, you get a graduate with a “2-1” who knows practically nothing in his field of study. In the other realm, you have students with third class who are walking encyclopaedias of the course they read.

Recently I concluded a Master Degree course with a foreign University. It was as if I had never been to school. I left the school with a walking knowledge of my course of study. Funny enough, the school did not test us in the traditional manner we examine students here. All our examinations were “open book”. We were required to even quote our sources, etc. Now I understand that this will work better in the humanities than in the sciences. But my point is that the aim of examining the student was never for getting grades but whether or not we understood our subject of study. I left that school with a hunger to read all my textbooks all over again. I see my teachers when I’m on my field of practice. I see their warning, their advice, etc. Not for once did we study to pass because there was no need for such. And this malaise with Nigerian schools is not just in Engineering alone. I see it also even in the manner our medical doctors are trained and tested. You often get the impression that the aim of examining students is for them to get grades and not for them to have an understanding of their field of study.

It had been 22 years since I left the university. A few years ago, one of my classmates created a WhatsApp group where we all meet to interact. I can tell you for free that most of the guys that had passes and third class are the ones doing well among us. Our first classers and “2-1”ers are either lectures in universities or at best consultants with institutions. It is the third classers that are the business men and the professionals on the field. And I am talking of a class of an average of one hundred electrical engineers. I met one of us at a burial recently, who had graduated with a third class. You could tell he was being very modest as he curtailed how well he was doing in life so as not to shame the rest of us. I can tell anyone for free: Nigerian university grade systems are the worst ways to evaluate the capabilities of individuals that leave our schools.

My friend is still trusting God for a job and I have told him not to worry himself too much; it will come. His “2-2” is a silent humbler that will prepare him for the right employer. He will do better in life than teaching in a university or working as one beggarly consultant somewhere.

Source: https://textandpublishing.com/the-deception-of-second-class-uppers-in-nigerian-universities/

What then is the point?

Not just the class of degree, but formal education is overrated in Nigeria.


Year in, year out, students keep recycling the same (outdated) curriculum, with no real practical experience, to prepare them for the real (career) life ahead of them.

Just the usual mantra of:
La cram, la pour, la forget

Some of the so called First Class are busy carrying CV around some are now into Bolt business

LordIsaac:
What then is the point?

The point is your useless universities don't give the needed knowledge and your useless companies are looking for first class instead of competency, I can fu**ck lecturer and get first class without anything upstairs.

IamANigerianMan:

The point is your useless universities don't give the needed knowledge and your useless companies are looking for first class instead of competency, I can fu**ck lecturer and get first class without anything upstairs.

💯

Your comment reminds me of several vacancies I've seen in time past.

Some companies will be looking for a candidate and/or candidates with:
• First Class grade
• Less than 26/27 years old
• 5 years experience
• Professional Certification is an added advantage
• Technical Skills is also another added advantage
Etc...


Damn!


All these for a fresh University Graduate, bastardized with both internal & external strikes , suffered various carryovers coupled with anxiety caused by impromptu lectures/tests...

Passing out from these hurdles, doesn't mean they can handle the practical aspects of their field cos they've been filled mainly with theories, theories and more theories. 🤦


The Nigerian Education system needs a complete overhaul.


We can't keep repeating the same thing that doesn't work, and expect a fresh & fit outcome. 👌

VBCampaign:
Second-Class Upper is Overrated in Nigeria

By: Deji Yesufu

A young man I work with on the mission field is trusting God to get a job. We all know that to get a job in Nigeria is only akin to finding a needle in a haystack; only second to Moses’ dividing the red sea. It is pretty difficult and even more difficult in an economy like today’s. So I reached out to an acquaintance and asked if my friend could be helped at their organisation. He said “…o yes, he can be taken in as a graduate trainee”. Except that the young man must have nothing short of a “2-1”. That information drew out an avalanche of nostalgia in me. The almighty “2-1”; the unatenable second class upper has again returned to hunt me.

My days at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, was a lifetime. I entered school at the age of 17. I left the university when I was 25. I literally grew up in school. I did a five year course; I had an extra semester – which culminated in an extra year; and ASUU strike gave me the remaining years in school. For a long time, my mates and I held the record of the most years spent in a Nigerian university. Besides the long years in school, there was also the pursuit of a good grade. I mostly hovered around a third class grade. But in my final three years, I found a secret to getting good grades (studying past questions) and this propelled me into a comfortable “2-2”. But all the talk among my mates was that if you don’t have “2-1” you will not be invited for tests with companies that offered good jobs. I remembered how some of my friends nearly killed themselves getting “2-1”. At the long run, everyone got a grade and we left school to face real life.

Now, this is my summation of what real life is. Grades, particularly those obtained from Nigerian universities, are the worst form of accessing the academic capabilities of students and graduates. Ideally grades should tell you which student is better than the other. But the problem is that the way and manner many of our students get their grades leave them worse than they were when they entered school. My point is that many Nigerian universities do not train their students to be experts in their fields. They train them mostly to pass examinations. So that after a year study, a student knows mostly the theory in his training and not the substance. And the pursuit of grades makes this worse: students cram; they pay their teachers for grades; they cheat; and in some extreme cases sleep with lecturers to get grades. So, you get a graduate with a “2-1” who knows practically nothing in his field of study. In the other realm, you have students with third class who are walking encyclopaedias of the course they read.

Recently I concluded a Master Degree course with a foreign University. It was as if I had never been to school. I left the school with a walking knowledge of my course of study. Funny enough, the school did not test us in the traditional manner we examine students here. All our examinations were “open book”. We were required to even quote our sources, etc. Now I understand that this will work better in the humanities than in the sciences. But my point is that the aim of examining the student was never for getting grades but whether or not we understood our subject of study. I left that school with a hunger to read all my textbooks all over again. I see my teachers when I’m on my field of practice. I see their warning, their advice, etc. Not for once did we study to pass because there was no need for such. And this malaise with Nigerian schools is not just in Engineering alone. I see it also even in the manner our medical doctors are trained and tested. You often get the impression that the aim of examining students is for them to get grades and not for them to have an understanding of their field of study.

It had been 22 years since I left the university. A few years ago, one of my classmates created a WhatsApp group where we all meet to interact. I can tell you for free that most of the guys that had passes and third class are the ones doing well among us. Our first classers and “2-1”ers are either lectures in universities or at best consultants with institutions. It is the third classers that are the business men and the professionals on the field. And I am talking of a class of an average of one hundred electrical engineers. I met one of us at a burial recently, who had graduated with a third class. You could tell he was being very modest as he curtailed how well he was doing in life so as not to shame the rest of us. I can tell anyone for free: Nigerian university grade systems are the worst ways to evaluate the capabilities of individuals that leave our schools.

My friend is still trusting God for a job and I have told him not to worry himself too much; it will come. His “2-2” is a silent humbler that will prepare him for the right employer. He will do better in life than teaching in a university or working as one beggarly consultant somewhere.

Source: https://textandpublishing.com/the-deception-of-second-class-uppers-in-nigerian-universities/

Having 2:1 (second class upper division grade) is good
Your story is interesting

IamANigerianMan:

The point is your useless universities don't give the needed knowledge and your useless companies are looking for first class instead of competency, I can fu**ck lecturer and get first class without anything upstairs.

Wait until you visit the nearest hospital... Then, the hypocrisy in your submission will become glaring for all to see. Stop generalisation today; it negates logic!

And third class is underrated, abi.

tplayer:
And third class is underrated, abi.

Precisely

Even with dishing out kpekus to lecturers, Siofra only managed to graduate with a Third-Class 😭

Holybaddo:
Some of the so called First Class are busy carrying CV around some are now into Bolt business

the issues of unemployment dates as far back as 1985

Holybaddo:
Some of the so called First Class are busy carrying CV around some are now into Bolt business

This isn't true, you know it

Holybaddo:
Some of the so called First Class are busy carrying CV around some are now into Bolt business

So what is wrong if a first class graduate is into bolt business. I've read here countless times that in sane countries (Europe, America, Canada etc) there is dignity in labour why is same not applied here.

Well, this might be true though. But you should know also that done graduates who graduated with 2:1 but don't have any connection to put them in as graduate trainee are still out there looking for work. I happened to be one of them.

Now apart from 2:1 what I have come to make peace with is this: employers sometimes require some certain experience that we don't have. How can you tell me as a 24 by May I will be 25 years, to have 5 years of experience in the job role before applying. Sometimes, employers should start giving us the younger ones chances to prove ourselves on the job.

If I tell you what lack of experience have caused to me. You will become sad. Nigeria as a whole needs a total overhaul.

Milesbillions:
Well, this might be true though. But you should know also that done graduates who graduated with 2:1 but don't have any connection to put them in as graduate trainee are still out there looking for work. I happened to be one of them.

Now apart from 2:1 what I have come to make peace with is this: employers sometimes require some certain experience that we don't have. How can you tell me as a 24 by May I will be 25 years, to have 5 years of experience in the job role before applying. Sometimes, employers should start giving us the younger ones chances to prove ourselves on the job.

If I tell you what lack of experience have caused to me. You will become sad. Nigeria as a whole needs a total overhaul.

Kid bro, look for a place to volunteer for experience 6months to 1 year will change things for better.

exynos:


This isn't true, you know it

He said some, so it's true

Rubbish na hi know wey go get better work

AgentGoat:


Kid bro, look for a place to volunteer for experience 6months to 1 year will change things for better.

I have tried but seems all the volunteering opportunity are in Lagos.... although I recently relocated to Badagry Lagos state. Now, no such volunteering opportunity here unless I want to join politics. Lol.

Now if I get in Mainland or eventually in island where there is lot of opportunities, how will I cope based on accomodation and other expenses since some if not all of this volunteering opportunities doesn't pay a dime.

Only God knows that any slightest opportunity I get to get a huge some of money is to leave dis country to US for my masters. Atleast with my Cgpa, I have an advantage

Milesbillions:


I have tried but seems all the volunteering opportunity are in Lagos.... although I recently relocated to Badagry Lagos state. Now, no such volunteering opportunity here unless I want to join politics. Lol.

Now if I get in Mainland or eventually in island where there is lot of opportunities, how will I cope based on accomodation and other expenses since some if not all of this volunteering opportunities doesn't pay a dime.

Only God knows that any slightest opportunity I get to get a huge some of money is to leave dis country to US for my masters. Atleast with my Cgpa, I have an advantage

I commend the efforts you done so far. Don't be discouraged. You can look towards mainland lagos. Keep contacting friends and families for assistance. Don't close mouth till you get you want.

jieta:
So what is wrong if a first class graduate is into bolt business. I've read here countless times that in sane countries (Europe, America, Canada etc) there is dignity in labour why is same not applied here.

Comrade calm down chillax 😁😁
All am trying to say is that their is lack of white collar job
The government should work better in creating more job opportunities


Nothing is wrong with Bolt business
Infact my friends dad is into it and they are living in their own house 🏠 and they are living good .

2-2, 3rd class and pass graduates like this sort of consoling that they do better than first class and 2-1. Statistics says otherwise.

While there are no absolutes, the average 1.1 and 2.1 graduates fare better than the rest of other grade graduates. It is only sensible that there will be fewer 1.1 and 2.1 graduates compared to other grades. Do not use outlier to judge, on the average a first class or second class upper graduate has demonstrated an attitude of hardwork and smart work, it is also not just the attitude, there is a form of aptitude displayed. There will be some few others in the 2.2 , 3rd class and pass cadre who may later experience a shift in attitude, and may also experience grace they do not make the majority.

Reading...

Okay

Interesting, but most employers in Nigeria would ask for a minimum 2.1.
That being said, having a connection goes a long way.

Ok

I don't believe it's overrated. In fact, I rate good grades (First class, 2nd class upper) from Nigeria top universities and even second class lower but if it's second class lower, it has to be good courses. Also, I rate Nigerian top universities than degrees got from outside of the country. I mean top Nigerian universities, not those universities that admit without passing your Jamb. I even think passing one's jamb should be a requirement for job occupation. I say this because some universities in Nigeria admit students regardless of their jamb marks.

Back to why I rate Nigeria's top universities over schooling in abroad.

There was my uncle's son who always failed his jamb until he had to send him to study engineering at a university in abroad to avoid embarrassment. That being said, if the said child graduate as one of the best graduating students from a school in abroad, of course I will rate him because he or she is among the top cream.

absolutely, because of what Nigeria put me through, sometime regarded as one of Nigeria's best. Today, when I employ people it's a level playing field for all and guess what many first class and second class upper don't scale through. Interestingly, if they do they must be given my own special assessment. Because many third class had clauses to that degree they're freaking brilliant set of people....away from that Iya to ma je Sanwo olu ati oju yobo n she press up. The atrocities committed by this fellows is unthinkable and you'll have your ears full soonest