10,000 Applicants, 50 Jobs: How I Smelled Unemployment in Abuja

 

About a year ago, I was chatting with my brother about career and job hunting. He casually dropped that he had applied for about 500 jobs before deciding to stop stressing and just focus on building his tech career remotely.

 

I burst out laughing because… 500?! Bro wasn’t even working, he had never really worked. So I told him, “Wait, you mean you sent out all those applications and didn’t get one? Abeg, my own will be different o.”

He just smiled and said, “That’s what I thought too… until reality humbled me.”

 

Fast-forward to one year later: I’m now actively job-seeking. And guess what? I apply for at least five jobs every week… and still haven’t landed any.

Which brings me to the gist of the day: The Huawei Job Fair in Abuja.

 

Last week, my brother sent me a TikTok link about a job fair happening not so far away from my house. Interesting, right? My girls and I woke up bright and early, dressed like we were the recruiters themselves, and headed there.

But the moment we arrived, the first words that left my mouth were:
“Hmm… this place smells like unemployment.” lol 

The crowd was mad.

 

We heard that those who hadn’t registered online could do so at the venue. Perfect! Since we hadn’t registered, we confidently joined the line. Only for the organizers to announce: One queue for registered applicants, Another queue for unregistered applicants (a.k.a. people like us). Minutes later, they told the unregistered folks (again, us) to move to another side of the hall so they could attend to the registered first. Okay, we moved.

 

Next thing, they said we were constituting nuisance and pushed us again to another corner. At this point, more people kept trooping in like somebody was releasing fresh graduates from a secret warehouse. Before we knew it, we were outside the hall, because the crowd was crowd-ing, and somehow we mixed with the registered crowd.

Chaos. Pure chaos.

 

Picture this: Queues scattered everywhere. People shouting and arguing. Control completely out of hand.

Meanwhile, my girls and I had been standing for hours, changing queues like it was something else, resting on walls and bricks, switching heels to slides, snacking and even taking pictures lol. 

After five hours, we finally got into the hall. But guess what? Still jam-packed. At that point, all we could do was quietly drop our CVs and bounce after two extra hours. 

 

That day was an eye-opener. They said over 4,000 people registered, but I can boldly tell you we were easily 10,000 plus at that venue. Imagine 10,000graduates chasing jobs probably meant for just 50 people.

Unemployment in Nigeria is no joke.

 

What I Learned

1. Register online early or not to go at all

2. Or better still, try not to be unemployed in the first place (easier said than done, I know lol).

3. Above all, thank God for side hustles and businesses because, without them…. Hmmm.

 

I came back home that day, dusted myself, laughed about the experience, and went back to applying for more jobs while focusing on my business.

 

So, if you ever catch me saying, “I’m stepping out for an event,” just know I’m attending another job fair where I’ll drop my CV like offering and pray it multiplies. Either way, I’ll still come back home, continue my business, and keep it moving.

 

Job hunting in Nigeria is honestly a full-time job on its own. Have you ever had a wild experience while job-seeking or at a job fair? Share your gist — let’s laugh (and cry) together in the comments.