….and ‘stuff like that’
It is a personal principle not to lend a voice to bashing the image of Nigeria, that tends to have been the norm recently.
I always ask myself what is the point of lending one’s voice to the poor perception many other good Nigerians are working to change?
I often ask myself, we write negatively about, speak against Nigeria forgetting it’s far reaching impact.
On Crawlingblogs recently, I read an article about a lady who had written about her experience interviewing young graduates in our country. She decried the quality of education in our universities based on the kind of people she had interviewed. I found her remarks quite disparaging as my first line of study was a Federal university. If you know Nigerians on social media, you will know that one needs to set aside good time in order to respond to one tweet or blog post if you have a contrary view. The time you dedicate will allow you respond to the comments that don’t stop; like literally. Even worse, it doesn’t matter how gracious you are you almost get drawn into an e-fight once your views are contrary.
Having few hours to spare that day, I chose the cheaper option of not engaging her but I kept mulling over what the real issue should be. Should it be the quality of universities or that we are simply failing to teach at home and school how to interview for a job?
Students must be taught how to put themselves forward properly. For as long as I’ve been sitting on interview panels or interviewing myself, I can tell immediately who had the lesson and who didn’t. Youtube has every type of video these days so a smart student that check it and learn how to put him or herself forward properly. In a way, the excuses of not knowing how to answer job interview questions are diminishing.
Most of the private universities around appeared to be ahead on that one. I’m also told that they have included ‘How to interview for a job’ into their final year curriculum . I’m not talking recitals, just the basics of looking the interviewer in the eyes, not tapping your feet whilst talking and definitely not using slangs in the place of everyday language.
I once wrote in this column the language my younger brother and his friend’s use and my biggest concern about if they’d have the good judgment to know when to switch it on and off? I worry when I hear anyone say during an interview in place of etcetera ‘stuff like that’- ‘stuff’? What business does stuff like that have to do with spoken English at an interview? I suppose if people keep writing in short hand like my brother does, it’d take an effort to switch.
I’ve been harassing one of my young ones for refusing to look someone in the eye recently, he told me he was shy? Whilst it is difficult for me to believe this, I tried to explain the longer term effects and decided to tell him a story an older friend told me years ago. This really happened to him when he first went to the States for his undergraduate studies. He said having been a troublesome teen his parents had left him with his Grandma in the South of Nigeria.
His Grandma often beat him into sobriety. He reported that each time he looked any senior in his eye, his grandma will shout ‘You nor dey fear, see as your eye open’( please check google pidgin for translations).
In order to be the respectful boy ‘weydey fear’ he began looking down, avoiding the eyes of seniors. This habit ofcourse went with him to his first job in the States where he avoided the eyes of seniors. He was having lunch with an ‘office gossip’ one day when the guy asked him quietly if he did drugs. He told him the rumour around the office was that he did drugs hence he had shifty eyes!
My friend was gob smacked and quickly explained that looking an elder in the eye in his family was deemed rude. He explained that he was as far away from using drugs as the north to the south pole. He said he was so frightened thinking that a little thing could have caused him his job.
The moral of the story? It would be great to learn these at school, but let’s teach our children, siblings, the most basic etiquette for real life…and before you ask me how I’m contributing my quota. My friends and I of the Lighthouse Network will offer free ‘how to interview lessons’ to final year students in the biggest university in Nigeria soon. What this space for more.
Great weekend to you!
Nkiru olumide-ojo