Career counselling for Nigerian universities

By Dele Sobowale

THE average Nigerian child [or university
student] rarely comes across a book which
will educate him/her with regards to all
available professional courses..” Professor
Sotonade, Professor of Counseling
Psychology, in Foreword to 40

CAREERS: A
Career Guidance Book.

LAST week, I used my own history as a case
study in how Career Counseling can help
students to discover their true mission in life
– instead of the kalokalo approach we have
adopted in Nigeria; with disastrous results.
One of our classmates at Igbobi College,
Tunde Kuboye, JAZZ 38, was forced to go and
study Engineering in the UK.
He returned as one of the most famous Jazz
Musicians of our generation. So, before
anyone accuses me of “abuse of
forum” (apologies to Prince Tony Momoh),
here is another example – of career change
which had enabled some individuals to
achieve their destinies.
Let us now take a look at the “stars” of this
two-part article – the book itself and the
author, Mr Oluseyi Olusanya (Olu2). Instead
of bothering the readers with a lot of words, I
have adopted the Chinese proverb as guide.
“A picture is worth a thousand words.”  Below,
reproduced is the front cover of 40

CAREERS:
A Career Guidance Book.
Olu did an excellent job of listing careers, but
he probably did not reckon on having
fastidious people from the “Old School”
reading the book. I counted 41 careers instead
of 40. Not only that, he left out careers which,
perhaps, are just as important as those
included.
For a start journalists will never forgive him
for not specifically separating their profession
from Mass Communications, Astronomers,
Archeologists must wonder if theirs is no
longer a profession; so will the Clergy and
religious leaders of all faiths. Ask Professor
Wande and he will insist that Ifa is now a
branch of study in some universities.
However, despite all those minor criticisms of
the book, it is perhaps the most valuable
book for parents and kids in our universities
to acquire – after text books and a good
laptop.
Olu2 had one a good job of describing most
of the careers and what a student needs to do
to become an aspirant, first, and a
professional later. He has also included the
list of universities offering those courses. But,
here again a word of caution is required. The
inclusion of a university among those offering
a course does not mean endorsement of the
university. Aspiring students still need to find
out if the university has obtained Full
Accreditation for the course or Provisional
Accreditation.
Provisionalaccreditation
Undertaking a course of study in a university
without Full Accreditation for a course is risky
as the National University Commission, NUC,
might withdraw the provisional accreditation
at any time – leaving the students stranded.
This is particularly important for those
embarking on Professional courses like Law,
Medicine or Architecture.
The Council on Legal Education recently
refused admission to the Nigerian Law School
to those studying at the National Open
University of Nigeria, NOUN. Prior to that, the
NUC had closed some Law faculties of
universities to which Provisional Accreditation
was granted. So, when the issue is enrollment
at a university, the best advice to aspirants
remains  caveat emptor (buyer beware).
Will I recommend the book to people?
Certainly, I just gave my copy to my daughter.
That is the best recommendation one can give
to any book. But more importantly, I strongly
advocate that Nigerian universities should
employ career counselors. They in turn should
undertake continuous training to avail
themselves of information about new careers
being created. Bloggers!!! The did not exist
twenty years ago.

Source: Vanguard