HOW A DEVELOPED MIND CAN HELP SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF UNEMPLOYMENT

HOW CAN OUR ‘MIND’ BE DEVELOPED…AND WHEN ‘DEVELOPED’, HOW CAN IT SOLVE THE ‘PROBLEM’ OF ‘UNEMPLOYMENT’ ESPECIALLY IN ‘NIGERIA‘…

This question would most likely be the ‘most’ popular question, because most Nigerian graduates have ‘seemingly’ developed their ‘minds’ by going to ‘school’, yet there are no jobs.

This is the ‘constant’ illusion, the ‘youths’ of these days face. They have this ‘misconception, that the ‘CERTIFICATE’ is the ‘FINAL BUS-STOP’, but this is not so. For example, someone that read ‘FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY’ can develop his/her ‘MIND’ to become the ‘owner’ of one of the ‘BIGGEST EATERY OUTLETS’. For example, the ‘well-known’ Mr. Biggs ‘eatery outlet’ is Nigeria’s first chain of ‘fast food outlets. Owned by the conglomerate (U.A.C) United African Company of Nigeria PLC, there are currently around 170 locations in Nigeria and about 4 locations in Ghana. It began with the coffee shops inside Kingsway Department stores in the 1960s.

The story is self-explanatory, they started ‘SMALL’, but now they are ‘BIG!’. A developed mind can express itself in something as little as ‘bead-making’, creative writing, becoming a ‘professional’ in a chosen game…but over time those things can grow to become ‘BIG!’. An excerpt from the ‘early’ life of the Nigerian-born, internationally acclaimed ‘creative’ writer, gives another shade of the same story. Chimamanda Adichie studied ‘Medicine’ and ‘Pharmacy’ for a year and a half, at the ‘University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

During this period, she edited the ‘Compass’, a magazine run by the university’s Catholic medical students. At the age of 19, Adichie left Nigeria and moved to the United States for college. After studying ‘Communications’ and ‘Political Science’ at ‘Drexel University in Philadelphia, she transferred to Eastern Connecticut State University, to live closer to her sister who had a medical practice in ‘Coventry’. She received a bachelor’s degree from Eastern, where she graduated ‘Summa Cum Laude in 2001. In 2003, she completed a master’s degree in ‘creative’ writing at Johns Hopkins University. In 2008, she received a Master of Arts in African studies from Yale University. To cut the ‘long’ story short…She rose because she had developed her ‘mind’ in the course of ‘things’.

From reading ‘Pharmacy and Medicine’, to becoming an internationally acclaimed ‘creative’ writer, was a ‘sure’ process of ‘mind’ development…You might need to quit looking for that ‘bank’ job, and start ‘writing’ if you feel you have a ‘passion’ for ‘writing’. You might need to put more ‘passion’ on those ‘musical’ scales if you have a ‘passion’ for ‘music’…You can become a ‘grand-master’ at ‘chess’ or ‘scrabble’ if can just give it a little more ‘PUSH!’…Even if you want to do ‘business’, you can still do it in ‘STYLE’, weighing out your ‘STRENGTHS’ and ‘WEAKNESSES’. A little ‘Short Story’ insight might help increase your ‘PERCEPTION!’.

Once upon a time, two brothers who lived on adjoining farms fell into conflict. It was the first serious rift in 40 years of ‘farming’ side by side, sharing machinery, and trading labor and goods as needed without a hitch. Then the long collaboration fell apart. It began with a small misunderstanding, and it grew into a major difference, and finally, it exploded into an exchange of bitter words, followed by weeks of ‘silence’. One morning there was a knock on John’s door. He opened it to find a man with a carpenter’s toolbox. ‘I’m looking for a few day’s work’-He said. ‘Perhaps you would have a few small jobs here and there. Could I help you?’ ‘Yes’-said the older brother. ‘I do have a job for you. Look across the creek at that farm.

That’s my neighbor it’s my younger brother. Last week we had a problem. ‘I want you to build me a fence an 8-foot fence- so I won’t need to see his place anymore. ‘Cool him down, anyhow.’. The carpenter said I think I understand the situation. Show me the nails, and the ‘post-hole’ digger, and I’ll be able to do a job that pleases you.’. The older brother had to go to town for supplies, so he helped the carpenter get the materials ready, and then he was off for the day. The carpenter worked hard all that day, measuring, sawing, and nailing. About sunset when the farmer returned, the carpenter had just finished his job.

The farmer’s eyes opened wide, and his jaw dropped. There was no ‘fence’ there at all. It was a bridge…A bridge stretching from one side of the creek to the other! A fine piece of work handrails and all-and the neighbor, his younger brother, was coming across, his hand ‘outstretched’. ‘You are quite a fellow to build this bridge, after all, I’ve said and done.’. The two brothers stood at each end of the bridge, and then they met in the ‘middle’, taking each other’s hand. They turned to see the ‘carpenter’ hoist the ‘toolbox’ on his shoulders. ‘No, wait! Stay a few days. I have a lot of other projects for you.’-said the older brother.

‘I’d love to stay on, the carpenter said, but I have many more bridges to build.’. ‘DEVELOPING YOUR MIND’ is like ‘BUILDING A BRIDGE’, instead of ‘A WALL!’. The story is another type of ‘ANALOGY’-the two ends of the ‘BRIDGE’ are the ‘PAST’ and the ‘FUTURE’, while the ‘BRIDGE’ is the ‘PRESENT!’…It’s up to you to build a ‘BRIDGE’ or a ‘WALL!’. THE ‘MIND’, ‘MUSIC’, AND ‘UNEMPLOYMENT. This topic might sound ‘weird’, but the ‘reality’ in it, cannot be over-emphasized. ‘How is ‘MUSIC’ connected to the ‘MIND’ and ‘UNEMPLOYMENT’…

One may ask, but the second look, you will see a very ‘thin’ connection. ‘MUSIC’ is more than just a collection of ‘organized’ sounds…It is food for the ‘SOUL’…It makes the ‘MIND’ move! An ‘UNEMPLOYED MIND’ is an ‘UNEMPLOYED BODY’…’ MUSIC’ engages and employs the ‘MIND’ immediately. Deep, classical, well-composed music, can evoke ‘DEEP THOUGHTS’, once those thoughts are put on paper, you’ve automatically become a ‘WRITER’. This is just one phase, of what ‘MUSIC’ can do.

The principal mechanism of action is that it heightens or increases ‘MENTAL ACTIVITY’, once the mental activity is heightened, the ‘MIND’ is employed, and once the ‘MIND’ is employed…’ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN!!!’ You might ask yourself, what do you do with the ‘86,500 seconds’ available to you each day!-(THAT’S WHERE ‘UNEMPLOYMENT’ STARTS FROM!!!). ENEMIES TO THE ‘DEVELOPMENT’ OF THE ‘MIND’. 1. THE ‘ELECTRONIC MEDIA’ e.g ‘TELEVISION’. 2. SOCIAL NETWORKS. 3. THE ‘PORNOGRAPHIC’ WEBSITES. 4. THE ‘FAST MONEY SYNDROME. 5. THE ‘GIVING’ FACTOR! 6.DISCONNECTION FROM THE ‘HOLY’ BIBLE. 7. LACK OF VISION THE ELECTRONIC MEDIA: The ‘ELECTRONIC’ media is one ‘BIG’ friend, yet one ‘BIG’ enemy, when it comes to the issue of ‘UNEMPLOYMENT’…Like I said earlier on, an unemployed mind is an unemployed body.

We all know how far-reaching the effect of the ‘ELECTRONIC MEDIA’ is. Some of the ideas in my book are borrowed from the ‘ELECTRONIC MEDIA’-‘How constructive!’. Yet the ‘ELECTRONIC MEDIA’ with the consent of today’s youth, has murdered their ‘DREAMS’, let alone any hope of ‘EMPLOYMENT’. Yesterday, when the ‘NEPA’ light came, some of my siblings, immediately tuned in to the ‘T.V’ set, while the other one was watching a series ‘film’ from a ‘lap-top’. Two sets of ‘films’ were going on, occupying two sets of ‘MINDS’, check-mating part of the 86,500 seconds available for each day. Imagine that they spend about ‘6 hours’ each day, watching ‘films’. That would be about ‘21,600 seconds’-

A reasonable fraction of the about 86,500 seconds, is available each day. ‘PRODUCTIVE’ time would have successfully been converted into ‘PASSIVE’ time. Such ‘genius’ is what happens in our homes each day, especially when students are on ‘STRIKE!’…ACTIVE MINDS IS AN ‘ACTIVE’ NATION! It begins and ends with your ‘MIND!’ Use it ‘CONSTRUCTIVELY’, and you are already ‘EMPLOYED’. Use it ‘PASSIVELY’, and you are already ‘UNEMPLOYED!’. Why spend so much time on ‘VIDEO’ and ‘COMPUTER’ games, when there are more ‘CONSTRUCTIVE’ games for their children to play, like ‘CHESS’ and ‘SCRABBLE’…

The Child’s future ‘UNEMPLOYMENT’ starts here. This is an issue for parents to consider. THE ‘SOCIAL’ NETWORKS: Or the ‘INTERNET’ HEAVYWEIGHTS, as I’ll fondly call them…’ Facebook’, ‘Twitter’, e.t.c. Have caused more ‘MENTAL’ UNEMPLOYMENT than ‘MENTAL’ EMPLOYMENT. This is because most people, especially the ‘YOUTHS’, have misinterpreted the reason for such networks. Primarily, for connecting ‘people’. Connecting people means connecting ‘MINDS’…’ Two’ is better than ‘One’. These media were not created so that one can ‘idle’ away from his/her ‘MIND’, or have ‘endless’ lists of friends, or ‘millions’ of ‘likes’ on their ‘STATUS’.

They were created to build a more ‘CONSTRUCTIVE’ mind, via association with other minds. Yet today, almost the opposite is what is constantly being achieved. ‘UNDERSTANDING’ is the ‘KEY WORD’. You can ‘EMPLOY’ your ‘MIND’ on these ‘MEDIA’, or ‘UNEMPLOYED’ it. A good example of employing your ‘MIND’ on a ‘SOCIAL MEDIA’ is writing a novel, or a critical article on your timeline, instead of posting ‘endless’ comments, on just about any ‘STATUS’. Who knows…One day your articles might be published in a ‘well-known’ magazine, or you might just get to publish your ‘novel’. PORNOGRAPHIC WEBSITES: You might not understand the ‘extent’ this can go to stall the ‘development’ of the ‘mind’, until you take ‘statistics’ of how many youths, actually visit ‘PORNOGRAPHIC’ websites each day, and how much time they spend there.

Most of these ‘MINDS’ are intelligent, creative, and constructive minds that have been successfully dissuaded by the ‘STIMULUS’ to the eyes. Almost the same ‘MECHANISM’ by which both the ‘ELECTRONIC’ and ‘SOCIAL’ media distract the ‘MIND’ from its constant focus. It heads the mind in the direction of ‘FALSE PLEASURE’, instead of ‘TRUE PAIN’…The former would lead to vanity, while the latter, would lead to ‘gain’ and ‘success’. THE ‘FAST-MONEY’ SYNDROME: The ‘Book of books’-‘THE BIBLE’ says that ‘Money answers all things. This ‘statement’, should be looked at ‘critically’ and ‘carefully’, if any true meaning, should be derived from it.

Although most ‘people’ have misperceived it…Seeing ‘money’ as the ‘final’ bus stop, instead of the ‘beginning’ of the bus stop. This is a problem of ‘PERCEPTION’. What money is, is a ‘SERVANT’, and a servant can never be greater than his master. This is a common ‘misconception’ in our times, as the ‘FAST-MONEY SYNDROME’ has become the order of the day. Let’s take a look into the ‘ORDER OF NATURE!’-Assuming the ‘SUN’ encroaches into the ‘time’ of the ‘MOON’, just because it needs to give more ‘LIGHT’, and the ‘MOON’ refuses to give way at dawn, just because it wants to enjoy more of the ‘NIGHT’.

There would be ‘ANARCHY’ in the ‘ORDER OF NATURE!’…That’s what happens when we place ‘MONEY’ before ‘LIFE!’…’ MONEY’ would come, when ‘LIFE’ has been well and fully lived-(EMPLOYMENT OF MIND!)…IF WHAT DRIVES YOU IS ‘MONEY!’…YOU WILL CERTAINLY FAIL…BUT IF WHAT DRIVES YOU IS ‘PASSION!’-HOW CAN YOU FAIL?!…’ PASSION’ stems out from ‘LIFE’, and ‘LIFE’ is continuous, as far as you are lucky enough to breathe it’s ‘AIR!’…FOLLOW ‘PASSION’ and ‘LIFE!’…’ MONEY’ will follow you. FOLLOW ‘MONEY’ and ‘LIFE’ will leave you.

THE ‘GIVING’ FACTOR!: It is more ‘blessed’ to ‘give’ than to ‘receive’, might be the most popular slogan in the church these days, but what mark does it leave in the ‘heart’ of those who hear it?! One might ask, how does ‘GIVING’ connect to ‘UNEMPLOYMENT’ or ‘EMPLOYMENT’. You can only understand this when you know that there are ‘SPIRITUAL’ forces governing the ‘PHYSICAL’…’ GIVING’ is a ‘SPIRITUAL’ law…’ RECEIVING’ is a ‘PHYSICAL’ law. That’s why ‘GIVING’ looks ‘FOOLISH’. Let me spare you the ‘SPIRITUALITY’, and let’s get down to more ‘PHYSICAL’ terms. If a farmer plants a ‘seed’ in the ‘ground’-HE HAS GIVEN!… Now it is painful because he was supposed to eat the ‘seed’, which he gave to the ground…The ‘blessing’ in the ‘giving’ will be evident months later when the ‘seed’ becomes a full-blown ‘plant’ yielding ‘multiple’ seeds. Let me bring it home with this story…

A certain job-seeker was traveling for an interview, and on his way, saw a car that broke down on the ‘highway’, with the owner, quite in a ‘helpless’ situation and didn’t know what to do. He stopped and offered help to the owner of the car, and after that, they went their separate ways. He was on his way for an ‘interview’…Later he found out that the owner of that ‘car’, was the MD/CEO of the ‘company…He got that job! It’s a ‘COMPLEX’ thing-‘GIVING!’, yet so ‘SIMPLE’…Give something today, in exchange for ‘EMPLOYMENT’ later. DISCONNECTION FROM THE ‘HOLY’ BIBLE: The ‘WORD OF GOD!’ is the strongest bond on ‘EARTH’, whether you believe it or not. The ‘potency’ of its bond, cannot even be compared to that of ‘UNEMPLOYMENT’…Just one ‘word’ from ‘GOD!’ can give you the job you seek, but you must be connected to the ‘WORD!’, in season, and out of season.

It must flood your ‘MIND’ and ‘ATTITUDE’. If not, there would be no ‘RESULTS!’…In my own opinion, this is the most powerful of the ‘points’ I’ve mentioned. This is because this ‘world’ is owned by ‘GOD’, implying that all ‘jobs’ are also owned by ‘GOD’. He’s the ‘MASTER EMPLOYER’…The only question is can he trust you enough to give you the ‘JOB!’…’ GOD LOVES EVERYONE…BUT DOES NOT TRUST EVERYONE!’.

LACK OF VISION: A motivational speaker, once said-‘SUCCESS IN LIFE IS NOT A FUNCTION OF WHAT YOU DO…BUT WHAT YOU KNOW!‘. A certain man reading a ‘newspaper’ one day, had looked for a way to stop his ‘troublesome’ daughter, from disturbing his ‘reading’. He finally got one, he decided to tear into pieces a ‘puzzle’ printed on paper, and handed it over to her to fix it. He was convinced that it would keep her busy, at least for the time being, but to his utmost surprise, his ‘daughter’ came back almost immediately-beaming at him with a smile, with the ‘puzzle’ fixed. Overwhelmed at such an act, he asked her how she did it. She said simply here’s a picture of a man behind the ‘puzzle’. Once I got the ‘man’ right, everything was fixed.’.

‘IT’S ALL ABOUT WHAT YOU SEE!’…’ DO YOU SEE ‘EMPLOYMENT’ OR ‘UNEMPLOYMENT’. Another story just to explain the ‘concept’ of ‘LACK OF VISION!’. Two men were looking at a company of ‘red’ Indians, that walked ‘barefooted. One asked the ‘other’-‘What do you see?!’…The other replied-‘I see people without foot-wears, while the other one said-‘I see a ‘shoe’ factory!’…Some years later, the other built a ‘shoe’ factory, while the other one was employed in the ‘factory’. You might need to look very well, your ‘UNEMPLOYMENT STATUS’, might be as a result of ‘LACK OF VISION’…not ‘LACK OF ‘JOBS!’