Nigeria has some of the hardest working young people on the planet. They are not lazy and have incredible odds stacked against them – our failing educational system and a lacklustre business environment. But sometimes, I see so much energy focused on “hustling” and less so on learning and accomplishing. I see a lot of data expended online and wonder how much is spent on Google, learning things.
Maybe young people lack nurturing environments and requisite training; but having worked in a nurturing environment for so many years, I’m not sure that is the only problem. It’s just so hard to fix at work what was broken at home. It is difficult to take on the role of government to provide basic education.
It is not every manager who can become a surrogate father or mother, especially when there are so many staff to take care of. And anyway, it takes mutual chemistry to do mentoring well. At some point, managers are simply forced to work with the best of the lot and many young people with potential are left behind.