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.