Musa had been looking forward to graduation for years. He had spent countless hours in lecture halls, submitted assignments, written examinations and eventually collected the certificate he had worked so hard for. His family was proud. His friends were excited. Everyone had the same question for him: “So, what next?”
Musa thought he knew the answer.
He would get a job.
So he prepared his CV and started applying. One application became five, then ten, then twenty. Some positions required previous work experience. Others expected him to know certain software or tools. Some asked him to demonstrate how he would handle a real workplace situation.
That was when Musa began to notice something he had not expected. He had spent years learning, but he had not had enough opportunities to practise. He understood the theories. He knew the definitions. He had passed his examinations. But when someone asked him what he could actually do with what he had learned, his answer was not as clear as he wanted it to be.
Musa’s story is not unusual.
Across Nigeria, thousands of young people leave schools and universities every year carrying certificates and big hopes for the future. But many discover that the transition from the classroom to the workplace is not as straightforward as they imagined. The skills that help someone pass an examination are not always the same skills required to navigate a workplace, build a business, work with a client, solve an unfamiliar problem or adapt to a changing environment.
This does not mean education is unimportant. Far from it. Education gives people knowledge, develops their thinking and creates a foundation for growth. But education and employability are not exactly the same thing.
A certificate can show that someone completed a course of study. It does not necessarily show that they know how to communicate with a client, work effectively in a team, manage a project, use relevant tools, solve practical problems or respond when there is no textbook answer.
These abilities often come from practice.
And that is where the gap begins.
Musa needed an opportunity to move from knowing to doing. He needed to work on a real project, receive feedback, make mistakes and learn from them. He needed someone to show him how the things he had learned in school connected to the world outside it. This is why practical exposure matters so much for young people.
An internship can introduce a student to the realities of a profession. Volunteering can teach responsibility and teamwork. A community project can develop problem-solving skills. Mentorship can help a young person understand an industry before trying to enter it. Even a small personal project can demonstrate initiative and give someone something meaningful to talk about when an opportunity comes.
But there is a problem. Young people are often told they need experience before they can get an opportunity, while the opportunity is what would have given them the experience in the first place. Musa may have the qualification for an entry-level role, but the job description asks for two years of experience. Another opportunity wants someone who can already use a particular tool. Another expects strong communication and client-management skills.
Where was Musa supposed to learn all of this?
This is why bridging the education-employability gap cannot be the responsibility of young people alone. Schools have a role to play by creating more opportunities for students to apply what they learn. Learning should not stop at remembering information for an examination. Students should have opportunities to solve problems, work on projects, collaborate with others, communicate ideas and understand how their knowledge can be used in real situations.
Employers also have a role to play. Not every young person applying for their first job will arrive fully prepared. Entry-level opportunities should be allowed to mean entry-level opportunities. Internships, graduate programmes, apprenticeships and structured mentorship can help young people develop the workplace skills they cannot gain from a classroom alone.
Communities and organisations also have an important role. A young person does not always need a large programme to gain useful experience. Sometimes, what they need is someone willing to open a door, provide guidance, recommend a learning opportunity or give them a chance to contribute to something real.
And young people themselves have a role too. Musa could wait for the perfect job to give him his first experience. Or he could start looking for ways to build that experience while he searched. He could volunteer, take relevant courses, work on projects, learn tools used in his field, connect with people already working in the industry and find ways to demonstrate what he could do.
This does not mean young people should be blamed for a difficult job market. It means that preparation gives them more power when opportunities eventually appear.
Eventually, Musa found an opportunity to work on a small project. It was not the big job he had imagined after graduation. But for the first time, he had to work with other people, meet deadlines, solve problems and explain his ideas outside an examination hall.
He learned. Then he did it again.
Slowly, the question changed from “What did you study?” to “What have you done?”
And Musa finally had an answer.
That is the kind of transition more young Nigerians need. Nigeria does not only need more graduates. It needs young people who can turn what they have learned into useful work, businesses, solutions, services and ideas. It needs an education system that connects knowledge with application and an ecosystem that gives young people room to practise, make mistakes, learn and grow.
Because the goal should not simply be to prepare young people to leave school with certificates. The goal should be to prepare them for what comes after.
Musa did not need less education. He needed more opportunities to use it.
And perhaps that is where the conversation about youth employability should begin.