I think two skills young Nigerians need are Leadership and Critical Thinking. But first, they need Self-Confidence and perhaps, Trauma Therapy. Nigeria has broken many people.
I say this because while mentoring, I’ve seen many young people who have no idea what to do with opportunities and independence. They exhibit brain freeze and an unexpected display of laziness, when the things they wish for are given to them. This has happened too many times for it to be a coincidence. I wish people who work in the career or mental health space would study this phenomenon.
There’s also a lot of suspicion. I can understand that. It’s a feeling that nothing can truly be free. So, young people spend more time suspecting opportunities than grabbing them with both hands.
The implication is that those who are mentally free take full advantage of opportunities. This is sad, as they constitute the minority in Nigeria. It’s the reason why you keep seeing the same faces at Grant Competitions or in Empowerment Networks. They are not necessarily the best candidates. If we discount nepotism, many of those people are the ones who believed in themselves enough and worked hard enough, whether by accessing required information or actually applying based on rigorous specifications.
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