OPEN LETTER: Dear young Cameroonian, stop waiting for gov’t job, do something for yourself

By Hans Ngala

Some sources put Cameroon’s unemployment rate at a whopping 3.8 percent and in simple language, this means that about 4 people out of every 100 people who are job-seeking, cannot actually find a job. Those figures seem scary. However, for any young Cameroonian with vision, this would mean there are unexplored opportunities.

Most Cameroonians have grown into a mindset of waiting for government recruitment so they can earn a salary of about CFA150.000 and never seek to grow their own personal potential.

This mindset has to change if we are to grow as individuals and as a nation. If you want to test this hypothesis, ask the average Cameroonian youth when he last applied for a job and he won’t probably remember because most of us don’t even try!

We are too consumed with the false belief that “they will always” ask me for a bribe or some shoot themselves in the foot with the clichéd “I don’t have a godfather”.

We must remember that in order to grow, you have to believe in yourself and in your dreams before anyone else can believe in you or support you if need be.

The truth is that the average Cameroonian youth probably doesn’t even have a CV handy in his email inbox or external USB key, ready for submission when a job comes along.

The average Cameroonian youth probably doesn’t even remember writing a handwritten application because he’s always too busy on his phone downloading songs and surfing Facebook.

You cannot blame the government for not knowing how to write a job application or for not having a focus in your life.

We somehow have this misinformed belief that if we “fall bush” then we will make it there.

How can you make it overseas where life is so programmed if you have never taught yourself how to manage your time back in Cameroon?

When was the last time you decided to learn a new skill? What are some of the areas you have identified as a young person – where you see a need in society that you can fill?

If you live in one of the major cities like Yaounde, Bafoussam or Douala it is easy to see that people in these places are not fond of cooking in their homes hence, it would be smart to start a fast food restaurant. Yours could have a slight twist in that you recruit other unemployed youth to do deliveries to customers using a scooter.

You could be a young man with a passion for technology and you decide to invent an app that helps people request taxis right in the comfort of their homes without having to stand at the roadside for long periods of time.

Where others see problems, others see opportunity.

Why are the Chinese, Indians and Pakistanis running from their own developing countries and coming to our own developing Cameroon and running big businesses while we Cameroonians are full of complaints about how our government over-taxes us?

If the government taxes are high for domestics, then I would imagine the taxes are even higher for foreign businesses operating in our country and yet I have not seen them pack their things and leave! So why are we lazy and want to blame the government for things that are our responsibility?

I think that arrogance and a dash of ignorance are to blame for our calamities. Instead of faulting the government at every turn, let us sit up instead and see the challenges we have as opportunities to solve problems.

After all, you earned that certificate or degree in order to be able to be thinker, a problem-solver.

I know this very well because history has taught us that nobody who had a comfortable life has ever impacted humanity the way that those who had tough experiences have. Take the case of Mother Teresa. She saw destitute people on the streets of India all the time and took it upon herself to minister to them and got global recognition for her work.

Pilots who had finished fighting in World War II saw the damage that their airplanes could wreak when being used as weapons and they decided to use their skills to serve remote communities and spread the Gospel. That’s how Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) was born and still remains the world’s largest humanitarian airline to this day.

The Baptist pastor, Martin Luther King Jr saw the racism of white America towards black people and decided to speak up as did Nelson Mandela and we still remember them for their great achievements in mending human relations.

What is your area of calling?

What do you have a passion for?

What problems have you seen in Cameroon and how do you think you can stand in the gap?

Change begins with YOU.

Your Brother,

Hans.