NOW, WHAT'S NEXT?

February 19, 2015 Jaybee 1 Comments

Now, as a Corp Member who just passed out, after the excitement, the jumping and dancing, the snapping with the certificate like a police mugshot, the goodbye hugs, the emotions, the exchange of contact details, the group pictures and hanging out for the last time, a time of the day would come for reasonable ones to ask themselves the question: NOW, WHAT'S NEXT?

After the compulsory service of the fatherland, where do we go from here? Is it taking a break at home to rest or its straight to the labour market for job hunt or Furthering Educational qualifications?

A wise rich man once told me something about youth service that I’ll not forget in a long time. “The government has actually done you a favour.” He said. “They only want you to have a feel of earning month end salary (Allowance/Allawee) and see how miserable it can be.”

From the kind of person I am, I must say that word got me thinking how true it was. The shouting, the complains, the ranting and grumbling whenever our Allawee is overdue. At first in Lagos where I served, payment was punctual, but as the months rolled by and we got deeper into the scheme, the whole thing changed. It’s something I wouldn’t want for myself as a working class citizen who’s looking forward to starting a family in the nearest future.

If you’ve not asked yourself the question: WHAT’S NEXT? I wonder what kind of graduate you claim to be cos whether you like it or not, 1 solid year of your life is gone and gone forever.  Whether you utilized it like I did mine or wasted it like some did theirs, it’s an argument between you and yourself when you’re all by yourself. The only thing as sure as seeing a crowd at Oshodi market is that you can’t have it back. Even Chris Brown who sang “I want it back” knows it’s just a wish. The only way to make up for wasted time is to double the present sweat. Trust me!

Now the Allawee has ended. The PPA salary has seized. The tips at work or on site (for those who got it) are past tense. There’s now an ‘EX’ to your ‘Corp Member’ title. You know what that means? It means you just gotta wake up NOW! As much as you might not wanna admit it, you’re on your own now and I’m going to tell you something that will make some people stop reading this article: Whatever you want to do, whether it’s furthering your studies, hunting for a job or even resting at home, you need to start a BUSINESS that would put money in your pocket. That word in capital letters is a taboo to some people cos they believe only those with extra balls and incredible guts are structured to start and run a BUSINESS. Sorry to disappoint you mate, you’re wrong!

I recently had a conversation with a fellow Corp member at Surulere secretariat and he said if not for the 14k his PPA paid monthly, he would have only been able to survive two weeks of every month. I’m sure a lot of us fall into this category but the good news is not me. Why? Cos I know a few things he didn’t. And you know what they use to say “Knowledge is Power” but I’ll quickly break it down now: “Information is Knowledge and Knowledge is Money and Money is Power” (Did that just look like a breakdown of an equation? Lol!

During our service year, we had different budget and expense list and the level to which each individual’s expenses chewed into the available funds are very different but there were some Corps member who after all their constant monthly expenses were left with a figure so small, it could scare you out of your head dressing. Yes there were Corps members like that and I was one of them but the thrilling thing now is; I seriously can’t even disclose how much my savings is because of security reasons.

Who made it possible? God

Was God sending money to my account every month? No

How did God go about it then? He gave me a business idea and connected me to the right set of people

Did I just fold my arms? Nope I obeyed the 3 P’s (Plan, Pray, and Push) & I had a positive mind-set in conjunction with the right attitude.

At this juncture, before you start getting worked up and begin to ask yourself why you’re still reading this ‘biography’ or ‘testimony’ or… whatever other names you might have come up with for this innocent piece of write up, I’ll like you to chill out a little and drink half a glass of water cos I’ve not written this piece to brag about anything but just to encourage my fellow Ex Corps Members to wake up and face reality. Out of the three thousand plus that just passed out today (in Lagos alone) only two percent are either already working, or has a job waiting for them (just so you know, there are some people with badass connections and surname, who are resuming work on Monday. Lol!)

The Government already knows there is no space to hide and there are no jobs out there, hence the Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) program initiative to compliment and if possible, overshadow the initial CDS program.

Cheers to all those who took the SAED program seriously and didn’t see it as a mere waste of time. We’ll be talking about how you intend to set up your acquired skill and turn it into a full scale business in subsequent articles.

If we are truly the leaders of this great nation as they say, we must lead our lives towards success at all cost from which leading the nation can secondarily come at ease.

There are BUSINESSES to start that would make you independent in no time. There are things to try out that might either make you or fail you but these things are worth trying, regardless of whether you fail at first or not. After all, if you try something once and you get it, how do you motivate and encourage those who fail in it and come to you for advice?

I’ll be back in my next post to fill you in on BUSINESS models to make your entrepreneurial dreams and ambitions a reality. In the meantime, you might wanna subscribe to get notified of the next post via email (only those viewing this post in web version can actually do that.) Also, kindly forward the link to this post to as many peeps you feel might benefit from the upcoming post as possible (Ex Corp member or not).

Do you feel I’ve wasted your time, I apologise. I only wanted to wake you up with a virtual beagle like they did us back in camp.

The main post comes up on or before my next three posts.

Thanks a lot for your time and congratulations once again. I wish you the best in whatever path you choose now. Whether to find Wealth and Financial adventure or Just get a Job and enjoy the thrill of Financial security.

Till you read from me again (which is sooner than you think), I remain my humble self:

Elijah ‘Jaybee’ Toyosi.

LA/14A/1727 (Wrote that so you can check my 'fine' face on the 86^th page of the Lagos Magazine/Year Book)… and for those still looking for themselves, those photos are arranged according to your state code. You’ll pay me for the hint. Lol! Have a lovely life ahead.

Mature Minds Talk.