Nana Ayimadu BekoeMy Message to Pentecost University Fresh Graduates:
Dear Brothers & Sisters,
I will commence by commending you all for going through the strives to complete your various first degree programs at one of Africa’s potentially endowed Academic Institutions. Throughout the race, you never paused to stop; never did you fall back to rest, accompanied by the spirit of the Most High, you soared on higher and higher to the peak.
Congratulations on your graduation, you have attained a certificate that adds a quality to your life, all to your hard work, persistence, humility and confidence. If you are a Christian (like me) let’s join hands and praise the Lord for this feat; if you are a Muslim, please don’t forget to thank Almighty Allah for your colleagues and yourself.
The event of your graduation ceremony being blessed by the presence of astute business minds, generated discussions on self employment and innovations. Entrepreneurship became the subject of the day as several orators at the event espoused on the need to create your own wealth. I wouldn’t want to offer more words in the line of their speech but I have few phrases to add as I seek to charge you more.
Months ago, I had an opportunity to speak with some professionals who have made it their job to recruit on behalf of large corporations, looking on to prey on their connections, I quizzed them on how to procure large internship for my fellows at PentVars, though I could have been shocked at their response of the system being so cemented, I stood firm and pondered on their response. Their revelations: wage bills of private sector is fast growing, more graduates are been churned out yearly and semi-annually by self made reputable institutions but their quality is the same, why offer internships when you have overstaffed and whole lots of indications that explains for the unavailability of an internship package on the bulk.
I took a cue from their talk; I made a position for my thoughts that never will I blame or rebuke organizations that turned down applications for internships (attachments as we call it). I came to agree that it will never be their fault but prospectively, it will work to their gain because the pool of unemployed labour will inspire poor labour conditions, afterall, there is cheap labour outside the work place.
My purpose of writing this piece is to remind you that, you have graduated not because you are done with what you came to study, but rather you are ripe to practice the expertise you built with your brains. You are not graduates because there is nothing left to study under your programme or field but because, you have a lot to exhibit as experts of the course.
I will humbly make a request from you as your junior colleague, friend and future associate that, as you are passed out of the Undergrad world, go make the difference the world has been waiting for. If you luckily find yourself in the Public sector, be the revolution that will end Ghana’s years in the wilderness. If you get assimilated into the corporate world, be an embodiment of the ethics that has been long preached but short prevails in our business firms. Do not conform to the existing tenets that threaten our development as people but be prepared to lead a transformation that will end our days of economic abatement. Start firms, do not be scared at the little beginnings, and let your inspiration be the quest to end the unemployment canker of our country, be charged to establish a firm that will be an avenue to house the internship desires and needs of the colleagues you left behind at the University. The journey will surely not be easy, but if you are ready to summon the knowledge, skills and expertise you have acquired through the University education and training, you shall triumph over the petty challenges that will come to straighten your path and strengthen your limbs.
Be sure to let the light of the Lord lead, in his ways you shall be comforted and fed with divine knowledge. His light will lead you further and his presence will strengthen your cause to be a success and open more opportunities. Congratulations once again.
Nana Ayimadu Bekoe
(Student, Pentecost University)
