The best brains hardly work for government or anyone, if you notice, the civil service has become a dumping ground for low minds and lack of creativity due to nepotism and administrative bottleneck of various forms.
I was shocked last week to notice that in a certain government ministry (name withheld) people existed who couldn't read and write without peeing in their pants. You may think I'm joking but I'm not.
A job in the civil service is more or less, for those with higher purchase power, not exactly IQ levels or special abilities. It's more or less political reward avenues for sons and daughters of political associates and supporters.
I do believe the best brains are entrepreneurs, they work for themselves and pay themselves and think for themselves and not government or other people.
Nothing embarrasses, insults, jeopardizes, threatens creativity as a placement in the Nigerian civil service. You labour like an elephant and eat like an ant, you get paid only 12 times a year but you have needs for 365 days a year.
So most times the salary arrives and you are already in so much debt, it's more likened to the medical term - dead on arrival. You may earn 1million Nigerian naira for instance, but in actual sense, what you have is -1 million because all will go into offsetting debts.
The average civil servant looks rich, is envied, people look up to them, but guess what? They are living from hand to mouth.
They drive cars in deficits and try to meet up with societal expectations, they get loans for almost everything they've ever needed, yet still sometimes retire without a personal house.
If you are educated just so you earn a salary, you have failed yourself, look nothing is as embarrassing as having one stream of income. It makes you a laughing stock and undermines your capacity.
A great chunk of civil servants suffer depression related ailments like hypertension, dementia, acute mental illnesses, due to stress and poor living conditions due to terrible work benefits.
Nigeria makes it even worse for her citizenry due to mind boggling and tongue tieing corruption which has become endemic in these climes.
One is left to wonder, is there hope for the Nigerian worker? How clement is the Nigerian business climate for entrepreneurship to thrive. Sincerely, the civil service of Nigeria has killed many talents.
Personally, from my growing up days, I have always been like Oliver Twist, never satisfied with little. Many thanks to life for snatching my dad at a tender age.
Me thinks those who have had the luxury of losing their parents are more privileged than otherwise because you're forced to think outside the box. If you ask me( I know you won't), children of the rich are most times the most less privileged because in the absence of the parent's wealth, they are done for.
Entrepreneurs challenge you to know it can be done, they reduce the monopoly on government stipends and motivate the creativity of young people.
I agree with Robert Kiyosaki when he said that "A STUDENTS WORK FOR C STUDENTS AND B STUDENTS WORK FOR GOVERNMENT".
He was right after all !