By Ibrahim Kegbegbe
It always baffles me whenever I hear that after five years in school as a student of Mass Communication and journalism in Nigeria, graduates of journalism are not able to secure jobs as journalists in esteemed media houses.
The common clause among the youths, “there is no job in the country”, has made some ignorant parents and stakeholders never think of the real cause of the unemployment rate in the profession.
The absence of Industrial Training exercises for the student journalists, while they were still in school, is the cause of the mess.
There are jobs in the country and no reputable media houses would ever place an advertisement in getting skilled journalists. They do look for competent journalists through referrals.
How would a graduate of Mass Communication or Journalism be referred to a reputable medium, if he or she has not engaged himself or herself in industrial training? This would be so because it is through one medium or a practising journalist that a prospective journalist would be engaged if need calls for that.
Beyond referral, industrial training helps students to update and master their journalistic skills, new concepts, technology and latest advancements.
Moreover, it also builds confidence and helps in taking up complicated projects in journalism easily.
Industrial Training exposes serious students to the real world of journalism be it print or broadcast.
Nowadays, when students are assigned to media houses for their training, the less focused ones among them would prefer to use the dedicated period for unrelated jobs to earn money.
I have always been an advocate for Industrial Training among junior colleagues in any college of Mass Communication, especially in my school, the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, because my being focused; determined to be a respected journalist and taking training seriously has taken me beyond my imagination as a student journalist.
The experience I had in The Nation and the Daily Trust as an IT student has prompted me to explain the reason students should take IT seriously.
Mrs. Patricia Kalesanwo, the present Registrar of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, who was the Student Affairs Officer of the school in 2019 gave me a letter to The Nation Newspaper for my Student’s Industrial Works Experience Scheme (SIWES).
So, at The Nation Newspaper, I was able to practise what I had been taught in the class for a year.
As a result of having positive plans for my career, I was told to go to Oshodi after heavy rainfall to interview the traders and residents of that vicinity on July 16, 2019 and I had my first byline the next day with the headline: “Oshodi residents, traders lament over flood”.
Moreover, as a student who had several bylines through The Nation Newspaper, when Daily Trust Newspaper requested that the authority of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism to send three students to its Lagos bureau for Industrial Training (IT), the Deputy Provost of the school, Dr Dele Omojuyigbe, told me and two more students to go for the training. Before then, I had just completed my National Diploma (ND).
My experience at Daily Trust was interesting because most of the stories I wrote were features stories. I had been taught how to write them in school by Dr Boye Ola.
The regional editor of Daily Trust, Mr. Abiodun Alade, tried a lot in my career and my first features story : “Lekki Conservation Centre: Protecting wildlife, mangrove forest from urban threat” was a joint byline: Abiodun Alade, Ibrahim Kegbegbe.
The article brought me limelight as I placed fifth in a national contest with it. The nominees for the contest were selected from 61 entries submitted by student journalists from various institutions nationwide in honour of Lekan Otufodunrin, Executive Director of Media Career Development Network, Nigeria’s foremost media career coaching and mentoring organisation.
So, the experience I gathered at the two media houses, The Nation Newspaper and the Daily Trust, has made me a whole, diligent and trusted student journalist in our nation.