Recently, someone called out trained microbiologists in the country, enjoining them to commence research into the ongoing ravaging pandemic and possibly discover solutions that may be indigenous to us. He was quickly cautioned by another who wasted no time in letting us know that most of the microbiologists and biochemists had all abandoned their certificates for entrepreneurship. We laughed… and laughed … and laughed again. But how funny is it? Shouldn’t the number of university graduates abandoning their certificates call for concern? What does it say about the education system and the economy of the nation? Are we walking on water, frozen water? Why are certificates being abandoned? A friend of mine who abandoned his and took to banking explained that he had no idea how to practice the course he had studied in school; hence he had to take the available option which was banking. For some, it is the inability to secure a job. Some have gone on to study certain disciplines with a sincere hope to practice, only to discover that the economy is not structurally enabled for such disciplines to thrive. Nigeria has a predominantly youth population. This should be very exciting as it could only mean that the country is adequately primed to lead in innovations that would place the country in good standing amongst other nations. As we all know, potentials are never enough to achieve a feat. The dynamics of a youthful population portends an increase in the nation’s workforce and almost guarantees a buoyant economy, as more investments into the economy would lead to an increased rate of development and urbanisation via increased services. However, all of these cannot materialise without proper planning and deliberate efforts from the government. Youth unemployment is a recipe for poverty. Sadly, people who have steered the nation’s affairs have amassed plenty of inadequacies, from not having enough tertiary institutions to the inability to develop courses that match present-day workplace requirements or even unbundling some courses as has been recently done with Mass Communication. These same people who have invested heavily in schools; secondary and tertiary, offer the relevant kind of education to their students but have not seen the need to transform the public education system to meet today’s needs. What we have now is an underachieving workforce due, majorly, to the fact that we churn out graduates who are either unemployable or have lost hope in the system and hence are not looking forward to being employed. So, why invest time into getting the piece of paper called a certificate? The natural trajectory of post-colonial life was the school-work-retirement outlay to life. The growing population was given to civil service and private sector engagement because the certificate looked good. The business was for the misfits, those who fell short of the prerequisite for tertiary education. However, the structural adjustments of the 80s changed the landscape of education and employment. It was the era where tailors became known as fashion designers, the era of burgeoning interest and participation in entertainment and sports. The semi-employment group was born in this era. Suddenly, for the younger generation, examples abounded of people who were successful outside of the traditional 9-to-5 jobs (or 5 to 9 as it would later be known). One would think that with that change and growth came the necessary adjustments for development including infrastructural expansion to accommodate growth and engagement for the young population. Rather, we have plummeted into a state where certificates are just an acquisition to pacify parents as a receipt for the school fees they paid, a bragging right, just in case someone comes at us thinking we did not make it to school. Whereas learning a skill used to be an alternative plan should education fail, today, education is the plan ‘B’ should learning a skill fail. The youths do not mind spending years in school. They do not mind going as far as getting overseas certificates. Securing plan ‘B’ first is the goal. So yes, it turns out that the paper called certificate is not entirely necessary for the other paper-money. Today, the skill set required to be economically productive are a couple of soft skills, a definite hard skill modified to suit prevailing trends, sometimes a good grasp of the technology, and the will to face situations head-on most of which are not provided for by the certificate.