EDITORIAL: Dangote’s Driving Academy and the Nigerian Graduate!

The reality for many was shocking.
13,000 applicants for 2000 places as truck drivers! Among them, 6 Ph.Ds, 704 holders of Masters degrees and 8,460 with Bachelors. No mention however was made of those with HND, OND and NCE. Yet, the advertisement covered these other qualifications.  There has since been uproar, with most of the commentators giving the government deserved knocks. One such comment called to question the academic qualification of Alhaji Dangote himself!

The issues involved are complex. It is not just about graduate unemployment as there are many idle hands among the traditional class of truck drivers. For reasons best known to the Dangote Group, graduates of tertiary institutions are now preferred.  Other Nigerian road users have always had stories to tell about truck drivers, particularly those of the tanker variety. It is not for nothing that they have taken the title;  “Kings of the road.” They are known for their utter disregard for the rights of others.  The Apapa Expressway in Lagos and the Ogere section of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, are regular flashpoints where complete lawlessness is routinely exhibited.

This is where the injection of the graduate truck driver is expected to change the orientation of these road masters. Whether we appreciate it or not, going through the rigors and discipline of a tertiary institution prepares or ought to prepare the mind of the one so educated to a minimum level of decorum. Those who then interact with such a person should be able to sense some refinement which higher education gives.

It is in this light that the Dangote experiment should be viewed and praised. If today PhD holders have cause to apply, it can only be as a stop gap. Something to do while the search for higher positions continues. The day to day movement of goods is a vital component of any economy. A logistics manager who has been a driver naturally has a better appreciation of what goes into the job. In any case the tribe of the uneducated must naturally continue to grow less, as we wage war against ignorance.

 A truck cost at least minimum of 10 million naira and you want to give a nonentity who doesn't have up to one hundred thousand investment!  Personally i think this is a revolution, the earlier we see the advantages the better chance for development in this country of ours.

Today, it is the truck driver; many others are on their way!