At 26, Tolu Adeyemi holds a degree in economics, a shelf of certificates from short online courses, and a well-worn CV she has submitted to over 25 companies in the past year. She spends her mornings refreshing job boards and her evenings teaching herself graphic design via YouTube. Yet despite her effort and qualifications, she remains unemployed and deeply uncertain about her future.
“What is required now is not more degrees but better preparation, an urgent rethink of how we equip young people for a changing world.”
Tolu’s story is not spectacular but it is a quiet, frustrating reality for millions of young Nigerians to navigate a job market that no longer guarantees opportunities for those with degrees alone. In an economy shifting rapidly towards technology, automation, and global competition, traditional academic credentials are no longer enough.
Now consider a different story.
In 1994, a 30-year-old Jeff Bezos walked away from a secure hedge fund job on Wall Street, packed his belongings into a second-hand Chevrolet, and drove across the United States to chase an idea most people found laughable: selling books on the internet. That humble garage startup would eventually become Amazon: now one of the world’s most powerful companies with a market value of over $1.8 trillion. Bezos himself, with a current net worth exceeding $190 billion, has become a symbol of visionary entrepreneurship and long-term thinking.
Bezos’s journey is not just inspirational; it is instructive. For a country like Nigeria, overflowing with intelligent but underutilised graduates, the lesson is urgent and clear: the world rewards those who adapt to what’s next, not those stuck preparing for what no longer exists.
The graduate crisis no one wants to admit
Each year, Nigerian universities and polytechnics release thousands of graduates into the labour market. Many are enthusiastic, articulate, and eager to prove themselves. But increasingly, employers complain that these same graduates lack the practical skills, digital literacy, and workplace habits required to function in today’s fast-moving economy.
This is not merely an academic problem; it is a national development challenge. Youth unemployment and underemployment remain stubbornly high, not because young Nigerians lack ambition, but because our education system continues to prioritise credentials over capability.
What is required now is not more degrees but better preparation, an urgent rethink of how we equip young people for a changing world.
Learning from Bezos: Start with what works
When Bezos launched Amazon, he did not try to build everything at once. He chose books, a clearly defined market with endless titles and predictable demand and set out to deliver better value than traditional bookshops. His edge was not technology alone but a deep understanding of customer needs and an obsession with operational efficiency.
This same principle applies to how Nigeria must approach the graduate skills gap. The solution is not to overhaul the entire education system overnight. It is to identify the core competencies our economy demands and design interventions that build those skills effectively, affordably, and at scale.
Entrepreneurs, educators and investors alike must ask: what do Nigerian graduates need to be employable, entrepreneurial, and globally competitive? And how do we provide it in ways that are local, inclusive, and practical?
Read also: How Jeff Bezos transformed Amazon from an online bookstore to an e-commerce giant
The IIT example: Training for relevance, not just results
In the heart of Lagos, the Institute for Industrial Technology (IIT) is quietly redefining what vocational education can achieve. Combining classroom instruction with hands-on industrial attachments, IIT focuses not just on teaching trades but on shaping character and work ethic.
Its graduates are not only proficient in technical skills but also display the reliability, discipline, and professionalism employers crave. The institute’s approach borrows more from Germany’s dual vocational training model than from Nigeria’s theory-heavy curricula and the results speak for themselves.
What makes IIT particularly instructive is its model: partnerships with industries, structured mentoring, and a strong emphasis on employability. These are precisely the elements that most digital education platforms and training centres overlook.
Digital entrepreneurs must think bigger and build better
In recent years, Nigeria has witnessed a boom in edtech startups. From coding academies to job-readiness platforms, the ecosystem is active and ambitious. Yet too many of these efforts fall into the trap of mimicry, replicating global platforms without tailoring content or structure to local needs.
The most impactful solutions will not come from copying Silicon Valley. They will come from understanding Mushin, Makurdi and Maiduguri.
What if more platforms focused on hybrid learning models that blend online content with physical mentorship? What if more startups collaborated directly with employers to co-create curricula? What if we treated soft skills like communication, critical thinking and reliability as central to training rather than optional?
Just as Amazon built its own logistics infrastructure to guarantee customer satisfaction, our education entrepreneurs must build trust, structure and measurable outcomes into their platforms.
It is not about prestige; It is about possibility
The obsession with degrees, Ivy League dreams, and white-collar prestige has clouded our judgement. The reality is that the future of work is skills-based. A young Nigerian who can maintain industrial equipment, build web applications, or manage supply chains is far more valuable than one who simply holds a certificate without practical know-how.
Government policy must reflect this. Employers must reward it. And most critically, young Nigerians must believe it.
The next Jeff Bezos will not necessarily emerge from Harvard. He may well be a 22-year-old in Kaduna with an internet connection, a welding kit, and an unshakeable desire to solve real problems.
The real disruption is human
Amazon’s story is proof that with the right mindset, a simple idea, books, delivered online, can transform an entire economy. Nigeria’s opportunity is no different. But we must stop seeing our young people as problems to fix and start treating them as assets to develop.
The most powerful engine of growth is not oil, infrastructure, or even digital technology. It is people: skilled, adaptable, and motivated people. If we are serious about changing the narrative, then the path is clear: we must invest in building capacity, not just awarding certificates.
In the race to reskill our graduates, we are not just fighting unemployment. We are building the future.
And like Bezos, we must be bold enough to start now.
