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| Dr Princewill Odidi |
17 August 2018
An old class mate during post graduate school stoped earlier today to see me. He currently owns a private practice in Behavourial Management here in Atlanta and he has about 20 Staff working for him. It was good seeing him after so many years.
Ask me what he studied? He studied psychology the same course that young people study in Nigeria and are jobless because our system cannot absorb them.
But how does systems that work absorb their psychologist? Let me walk you through. In the United States, most psychologist own private practices like medical doctors and it is highly lucrative profession. So, what is the difference?
The difference is the American government system makes the profession lucrative, that is the difference.
How? Sometimes for most jobs, they will require a psychological evaluation before they allow you function in certain administrative and supervisory capacities, so you are forced to consult a psychologist to get a report and you pay.
Second, There are certain exams you write, like drivers license test in some American states, after you fail three times, before they administer the fourth exams you will be asked to bring a psychologist report, so you are forced by law to consult and pay.
Sometimes your child may be too active and destructive in school, the School will ask you to see a Doctor, before the Doctor makes a prescription he will ask you to get a psychologist report. Sometimes a doctor refers you to get a psychologist report, you may have to wait for six months before the psychologist can see you for a service you are going to pay him because they are fully booked, no openings. Because so many people need psychology reports it makes the profession highly lucrative. But in Nigeria our psychologist are cap and file in hand looking for work.
So you can now understand why Americans hardly talk about job creation, the answer is simple, they operate a system that works, a system designed to create jobs. This analysis I just made with Psychology, I can make it with Sociology, Social work, Education, and even religious studies. The American system through laws and regulations is designed to absorb young people immediately they graduate from universities.
Our own country has a similar system but it is not working. We can make our country to work like these, but the problem is Africa’s best hands are never allowed to fix the system.
Legislatures that should enact this laws and uphold these administrative processes are busy climbing trees and jumping from police vans, some are busy decamping and climbing fences to enter parliament.
I wanted to stop here, let me just do one more example of how the system creates jobs.
Let me explain the chain effect in medical sciences and how it creates multiple jobs.
Now, If you are sick, you will need to see a doctor. To see a doctor you need health insurance or you pay out of pocket. Because you need health insurance, every employer will attempt to sign up their employees to insurance companies. So what happens, so many insurance companies will spring up everywhere and absorb the unemployed. Those without insurance and who have no jobs the government will pay for them through Medicaid or other programs.
Now, the doctor may request blood test, so lab scientist make a lot of money, at that point the doctor makes prescription. Now, you cannot walk up to any pharmacy in America to buy a prescription medication without a prescription from the Doctor.
You cannot even fake a prescription because the doctor will send your prescription electronically directly to the pharmacist, so, before you get to the store your medication it is packed and ready for pick up.
American Pharmacist are well trained, they are masters in what they do. They take their time to explain the medication to the patient, explain its side effects, explain the dosage and so much more.
Let’s get back to our own system. what have we done with pharmacist in our country?
We have converted them to drugs sales boys and girls. Apart from selling drugs, some trained pharmacists are also made to sell bournvita bread and groundnut all in a pharmacy store. You find uneducated pharmacy owners shouting and abusing trained pharmacist who work for them.
Few months ago, I had visited a pharmacy shop once in Abuja, I insisted on talking directly with the pharmacist, the owner said the pharmacist was not around, I decided to leave. He called me back and said he can help me. I asked him his training, he said he did not go to school but that what he learnt in Onitcha under his master, he thinks he is more knowlagable than the pharmacist. I laughed and walked away.
Let me explain this, and I hope you get it. Know that It is only the system that makes the profession get the kind of respect it deserves. You go to our villages, you find small chemist trainees with little or no education giving villagers drips and prescribing medication.
Sometimes when I visit nigeria and see first hand these anomalies, I ask myself, can this country ever get it right? Listen to me my brothers and sisters, the answer is yes. All we need are leaders who understand how systems are designed to work.
We need a legislature that can make laws that work, and laws that will make and create use for different disciplines like psychology, laws that can make social workers wanted within the social service industry, laws that can create respect for the pharmacy profession, we need a school system that teachers will do the right thing, students will read to get knowledge not reading just to pass exams, we need a system that works if nigeria must move forward. We need a system that will create jobs from legislation and administrative edicts. But will our leaders do the right thing? Moreso, do they really know what to do and will they allow those who can help to help? Development is no magic, it is common sense! Africans are not born stupid, we can do it.
We have seen systems work, why reinvent the wheel when you can just copy and still get it right.
Princewill Odidi is a social and political commentator writing from Atlanta USA.