I was at a job placement centre today and it was so funny how everything has changed drastically!
I mean, on a serious Monday morning in Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre, the city of Lagos, ‘when fuel no dey, when face no dey smile’, there we have people looking for job mostly dressed in their jeans, T-shirts, polos and hoods. The few who wore shirts didn’t have it tucked in. The shoes – all manners of sneakers but not the regular corporate shoes. I saw only 2 persons in suit. Then, 1 more person who wore shirt, tie, and trouser tucked in.
‘Who born your papa’ as late as 2010, just to put a date, I know it still happens. Even if you are looking for cleaner work, you will still wear shirt and trouser, ‘na suit and tie, you fit tell me say you no get’.
I am sure when many of these young folks were leaving their homes, their parents will be like ‘Junior are you sure you are going for a job interview dressed like that’.
‘But that’s just the way it is, things will never be the same’ crooned Tupac in his song ‘Changes’. There is a massive disruption going on, driven by technology.
YOUTUBE LINK: CHANGES BY TUPAC SHAKUR
I know these are tech jobs and it’s a largely unscripted field. But I am thinking, is it possible, how will corporate Nigeria look in the next 20 years? How will MDA’s across all tiers of government look in 30 years?
Is there a chance that I will have a meeting with a Bank MD on a serious Monday morning in April 2044 and she will be donning a hood, jeans, and sneakers? Is it possible that I will have a meeting with the DG of a government agency in 2044 and he will not be wearing a ‘babariga’?
Well, time is a teacher!