Jobs
are created when ideas inspire a chain of actions channeled towards meeting a specific
need (want or desire as you may know it). In fact a single idea can produce a
vast amount of employment opportunities. It’s my earnest desire to show you how
and I seek your indulgence as I take your through this journey into an awesome discovery.
The
word Idea seems to have numerous meanings so I feel it will not be inappropriate
to communicate a precise definition. I define Idea as a mental picture of something
- an object, event, or scene, which is being considered as a possibility.
Ideas
are generated from the mind. The mind has a very broad definition though can be
simply referred to as the faculty of reasoning. However we will be looking at
the mind from an
uncommon perspective.
Picture
your mind as a virtual laboratory, picture that of a little child as a neat, empty
and well ventilated room intended for use as a laboratory. As the child grows
he receives inputs from his immediate environment via his senses which he will
later use in that laboratory to predict future outcome of events and actions.
Being
in the midst of a busy, ever communicating environment, we are all exposed to a
colossal lot of percepts, information, and other forms of inputs that occur so
fast and irregularly that we can’t help but ignore a vast amount – intentionally
receiving just what we ought to out of the whole lot. This instinctive act of scrutiny,
sorting, storing and dissemination, points to a more structured approach which we now refer to as Education.
Education
facilitates the timely dissemination of relevant inputs which enable one to
equip one's mind laboratory with efficiently related tools thereby aiding a
more robust thought process. One of the
ways it does that is through some sort of Specialization – equipping people for distinctive purposes.
For example, the subjects (input sources) undertaken by a medical student are not the same as
those undertaken by an accounting student.
Obviously
this insinuates that the kind of ideas that can be generated from the mind of a
medical student is most likely different from those spawned from the mind of an
accounting student as they don’t have the same equipment in their mind’s
laboratory. This makes them sensitive to dissimilar needs in the same environment.
However,
all these may remain as mere potential and that appears to be the case for a
seemingly dominating set of students most unfortunately, graduates.
Now
back to our idea talk. Let’s imagine a fictional but pragmatic scenario of how
an idea leads to job opportunities.
Chidinma, a nutritional scientist, had got an
idea while studying about cassava processing. It was about making a quick meal from the
combination of Garri (a grainy product from processed Cassava), water and
sugar. She communicated this idea on a forum which she convened. She demonstrated
before her audience by taking a cup, adding a predetermined quantity of Garri
and sugar adding water thereafter amidst stirring the entire content. She
proved it was edible and a quick way of topping up ones reserved energy for the
day. Another Idea came up – this time
from Dele who was a 300 level marketing student. It was about the possibility
of producing this Garri meal on a large scale so as to meet the resultant demands
of the entire Nigerian populace. He communicates that to the Forum members and
everyone became quiet almost immediately.Then Danjuma, a Process engineer
broke the silence by giving a gentle explanation of how a factory can be built
to facilitate the massive and continuous production of the Garri meal. He told
them that the production line would contain silos where purified Garri and
sugar grains will be loaded and stored. These silos will be atop conveyor Systems
that will convey branded cup-like containers strategically positioned at
definite intervals by a mechanical system. The bottom end of the silos
containing Garri will empty into a hopper which will only discharge a pre-calculated
amount of Garri when it senses one of those cup-like containers underneath its
discharge end with the aid of an electronic valve. Sugar is discharged same way.
Chidinma interrupted because she assumed Danjuma is about to include that water will
also be discharged into the mixture. She communicated the dangers of adding
water to Garri-sugar mixture before distributing as the Garri grains are bound
to absorb the water thereby causing a “Nutritional Disaster” as she puts it. Everyone
laughed and then Danjuma told her not to worry as a well treated water can be
sealed in a polythene bag instead and placed in a partition on the cup-like
container - to be emptied into the Garri-sugar mixture at the point of
consumption by its consumer. He continued. This cup-like container is
afterwards sealed by another electro-mechanical system and then packaged for
distribution. Everyone in the room appeared to be delighted as their
understanding of his explanation made them felt like process engineers
themselves because it all sounded foolproof.
The
members of Chidinma’s forum drafted a suitable proposal to communicate the idea
to enabling agencies and potential stakeholders. They got the necessary funds
required, from convinced individuals and financial bodies. The design and
construction of the factory started thereafter.
The
factory would need the involvement of no fewer experts than the following;
- ·
Metal-works experts - for the silos and other
metal works.
- ·
Mechanical engineers – for the conveyor systems,
design and installation of other mechanical systems.
- ·
Electrical Engineers – for motors and power
supply.
- ·
Electronic Engineers – for installation and
configuration of all required sensors
- ·
Painters
- ·
A Construction company – to build the factory
structure.
- ·
A Graphics design Company - packaging materials (on
a contract basis).
- ·
Garri producing firm – (on a contract basis).
- ·
Sugar producing firm – (on a contract basis).
- ·
Water supplying firm – (on a contract basis).
- ·
Onboard Engineers, Lab technicians, Casual
workers, Cleaners, Warehouse stewards, and other contractors who will run the
factory on a shiftly basis.
Permit
me to end this interesting story at this point. Can you perceive how many jobs
created already? You do the maths.
Just
a single idea from Chidinma that gave birth to a couple of others and then a
factory needing the hands of a vast amount of experts was born. Hmm.
As
you must have observed, specific ideas were spawned from minds that are equipped
with the required knowledge and experience. However, what would have happen if
Dele played truancy in school and only crams the content of his study materials
when exam is just a week ahead only for him to forget everything taught, after
the exams though having grades good enough to qualify him for next semester? What if Danjuma only reads about process engineering but have not been exposed
to the real world via internship and hands-on training? Chidinma would have
been stranded with her idea. Wouldn’t she?
Why
be crazy about a Job when there is a possibility of you creating one? If
everyone has a mindset of looking for jobs, who then employs who?
Every
idea is a treasure and must be treated as such. You may be on the verge of
creating jobs for a vast population whilst being a celebrated C.E.O!
Adjunct
The story communicates other morals such as –
positive associations, optimism, teamwork and some others. They weren’t emphasized
as they were not in line with the theme of my discussion.
Don’t
hesitate to share this message with other Students and Graduates. You might
rekindle a creative blaze in somebody.
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Before long there was a choreographic
display by some of the pupils. Their unsynchronized dance steps seem to suggest
confusion and I got to understand why, almost immediately. “…No be you I carry
come, but na you I go carry go…” was detected by my probing ears as part of the
lyrics superimposed on the groovy beat been choreographed. I became disturbed
amidst battling with some sort of annoyance that had precipitated within me. “Why
would such a piece of music be performed by kids, to an audience significantly populated
by kids?” I asked myself intrapersonally. With my eyes still drifting around
the communicated portion of the event, I noticed staffs, parents, guardians and
other member of the matured audience watching the performance with no form of disapproval.
It was so awful that I had to go back to my room which was more of an
instinctive response as against asking for a change of dial been an
authoritative figure in that gathering.
