Gloria Agu’s eyelids drooped with exhaustion as she walked through the sprawling premises of a large church along the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway in Ogun State.

It was a cold Tuesday morning, and Gloria was among the many security officers who had stayed awake through the night while thousands of others slept.

The 29-year-old, who hails from Imo State, ended her shift that morning when a colleague arrived to take over.

Working a 24-hour schedule, she had spent the entire night at her duty post, alert to every movement and sound, safeguarding worshippers, church property and the calm that settles in after dark.

Now seated in her brother Mike’s modest hostel room, accommodation provided by the church for its security personnel, she reached for a bottle of water and drank deeply, as if to quench not just her thirst but the strain of a long, demanding shift.

Clearing her throat, she began to recount her experience to Sunday PUNCH. Dressed in a red shirt and cream-coloured skirt, she let out intermittent sighs as she spoke.

“I am a 29-year-old first-class Computer Science graduate of Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi, Edo State. As an average Nigerian student who never really had enough finances while in school, I’ll say it was really tough,” she said.

“In those days, parents sent their children to school with the hope that they were investing, and that once the child graduated, they would begin to see returns, one of which was a well-paying job with many benefits. These days, it’s no longer so.”

‘The system has failed us’

After graduating in 2022, Gloria, now an orphan, came to the realisation that millions of fresh Nigerian graduates have had to accept: without “very good connections”, securing a decent-paying job is often difficult.

Recounting the ordeals she endured while in school, Gloria recalled how she sacrificed a lot and took on menial jobs just to survive.

“My family assisted, yes, but it wasn’t enough. My friends assisted, but it still wasn’t enough. As a student, you have a lot to pay for. You feed yourself, buy clothes, pay rent, school fees and many other expenses.

“So, when you’re given school fees and house rent only, who pays for the rest? I had to take up menial jobs, hawk items and spend my holidays looking for work while my mates were at home enjoying,” she said.

Despite studying a course with strong economic relevance, Gloria said that after graduation, it felt as though she had stepped under a metallic cloud, one that rendered her invisible to prospective employers.

Even before completing her National Youth Service Corps programme, she began sending out her CV to various organisations and joined platforms where job vacancies were advertised.

Her efforts, however, yielded nothing. “I received no feedback from any of them,” Gloria added.

In 2024, after several attempts to secure employment for his sister proved unsuccessful, Mike introduced Gloria to the security job and supported her with whatever little he could afford.

“I struggled through school and graduated with good grades, and then came out to nothing stable or ‘suitable’. I feel a mix of frustration. You did what you were told. You endured strikes, poor facilities, lack of money, and physical and mental stress, and still graduated. So when the reward doesn’t come, it feels unfair, almost insulting.

“I feel exhausted, not just physically, but spiritually. On many days, I ask myself, ‘How many more hoops am I supposed to jump through?’ The hustle never really stops. I also struggle with self-doubt.

“Even when you know it’s not your fault, your mind starts asking dangerous questions like, ‘Am I not good enough?’ ‘Did I choose the wrong course?’ ‘Was all that suffering for nothing?” she told Sunday PUNCH, fighting back tears.

Describing the rigours of her current job, which pays N50,000 monthly, Gloria called it “one of the toughest jobs so far.”

“When you’re on the morning shift, you wake up as early as possible to meet up. When you’re on night shift, you deal with sleepless nights, cold and mosquitoes.

“As a distinguished student, am I happy with my current job? Of course not. You see many graduates going back to acquire skills just to create another source of income. Why? Because the system has failed us. If you don’t sit up and hustle, you won’t survive in this economy.

“But graduates deserve better. When you think about all the years spent in school, only to come out and face fruitless job hunting, it’s heartbreaking,” Gloria said.

Over 3,400 first-class graduates

Graduating with a first-class degree from a university implies that a student earned A’s in most of their courses and attained a Cumulative Grade Point Average of 4.50 and above.

Although there is no comprehensive national database capturing all first-class graduates from tertiary institutions across Nigeria, calculations by Sunday PUNCH show that prominent federal and private universities produced over 3,423 first-class graduates between 2024 and 2026 alone.

The University of Ibadan, Oyo State, had 448 students graduate with first-class degrees out of a total graduating population of 5,900 in November 2025.

At its 56th convocation in January 2026, the University of Lagos recorded 617 first-class graduates among the 10,584 undergraduates awarded first degrees.

The University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, produced 167 first-class graduates at its 54th convocation ceremony held in July 2025. These top-performing students were among a total of 9,821 graduates who received first degrees and diplomas.

The Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, had 240 students graduate with first-class honours out of 2,747 students awarded first degrees during its 36th convocation in November 2025.

Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, recorded 323 first-class graduates at its 45th convocation held on January 31, 2026.

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Anambra State, produced 80 first-class graduates out of 8,157 total graduates during its 19th convocation held in March 2025 for the 2023/2024 academic session.

The University of Ilorin, Kwara State, announced that 316 students achieved first-class honours out of a total of 11,886 graduates at its convocation ceremony held in October last year.

Modibbo Adama University, Yola, Adamawa State, produced 116 first-class graduates at its combined 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 convocation held on January 31, 2026.

Among private universities, Covenant University, Ogun State, produced 357 first-class graduates at its 20th convocation ceremony held on October 10, 2025.

Out of a total of 3,568 graduates, including undergraduates and postgraduates, Babcock University produced 243 first-class graduates at its 23rd convocation ceremony held in July last year.

Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos, recorded 47 undergraduates with first-class honours in 2025, while Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, produced 229 first-class graduates in the 2025/2026 academic session.

Landmark University, Kwara State, produced 82 first-class graduates out of 726 graduates at its November 2025 convocation.

Bells University of Technology, Ogun State, recorded 91 first-class graduates last year, while Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, produced 67 first-class honours at its convocation in the same year.

These figures indicate that federal, state and private universities, in addition to polytechnics, churn out thousands of first-class graduates into a highly competitive labour market each year.

Sunday PUNCH findings indicate that this has resulted in many first-class graduates struggling to secure suitable employment after leaving school.

Job seekers turn to social media

With the ubiquity of social media and its ability to connect job seekers to prospective employers, some unemployed and underemployed first-class graduates have resorted to sharing their experiences online.

In a video shared by Instagram user Marveltvupdates and viewed by Sunday PUNCH, a commercial motorcyclist who identified himself as Ibrahim, popularly known as “the celebrity bike man”, claimed to have graduated with a first-class degree.

“I have been a bike man for six years,” he said in Yoruba. “I went to school and even graduated with a first-class. I studied Biology at Lagos State University.”

Asked if he used his degree to seek employment, he replied, “You too know the situation of this country. After graduation, my friend Femi introduced me to a two-in-one business, but after doing that work for one year, my life became worse.

“With this okada business, at least I can feed myself. In a week, I earn between N25,000 and N30,000. But from that, my boss, who owns the bike, deducts his share. The rest is what my wife and child used to eat.”

An X (formerly Twitter) user, Israel Olanipekun, in a post shared on January 17, said he graduated with a first-class degree in Biochemistry from Mountain Top University, Ogun State, in 2024.

“I’m currently looking for a job, whether in academia, quality control roles or a graduate trainee position. Please put me on,” he wrote.

He added, “I’m actively applying for jobs related and unrelated to my field. If you know of any openings in Lagos or Ogun, kindly send them my way. Life after school is a real hurdle.”

Another X user, Zarumi Usman, who completed his National Youth Service Corps programme in 2023, appealed in an October 2025 post, “I’m a first-class graduate of biomedical engineering. I’m looking for a job. Please help me.”

Responding to a post seeking job vacancies, an X user, Kingsley, wrote, “I am a graduate looking for a job. I graduated with a first class in Chemical Engineering. I can base anywhere there is a job.”

“Still looking for a job after graduating with a first-class in Industrial Chemistry,” another user, Makuochukwu, posted.

Sharing a photo of her certificate on June 25 last year, an X user, OnyinyeMo the TechScribe, wrote, “I’ve collected my certificate. All of you should find a job for me. I live in Lagos.”

However, in a follow-up post on January 27, she announced, “I started a tech media platform for young people. It’s called GenZ Desk.”

Sunday PUNCH reached out to all the X users cited to share further details of their job search experiences, but none had responded as of the time of filing this report.

In another video shared by Chinaza Kelvin in October last year, a young man, who did not disclose his name, was seen holding up his NYSC kit.

“By May 2025, it will make it five years since I finished my NYSC,” he said in an exasperated tone. “If Nigeria were a country that values merit and competence, someone like me should not be going from one place to another for five years, even with my first-class, in search of a better job.

“I was the best graduating student in Chemistry at the Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra State. If you think I’m creating content, go and verify it. If I could keep my NYSC uniform this neat after five years, imagine what I could contribute to national development if the government did the right thing.

“I don’t believe the saying that ‘education is a scam in Nigeria’, but I urge the Nigerian government to always do the right thing. A good brain is wasting away simply because I’m a Nigerian. We should be able to value what we have. After all, I am also a patriotic citizen.”

The unemployment debacle

Checks by Sunday PUNCH showed that projections for Nigeria’s 2025 unemployment rate vary widely, ranging from as low as 4.3 to 4.8 per cent, based on the revised methodology of the National Bureau of Statistics, to much higher estimates exceeding 22 per cent as reported by the International Monetary Fund.

According to the NBS second-quarter 2024 report, Nigeria’s unemployment rate stood at 4.3 per cent in Q2 2024, a decline from 5.3 per cent recorded in the first quarter of the year.

In 2023, the NBS Labour Force Survey indicated that Nigeria’s unemployment rate was 5.0 per cent in the third quarter, rising from 4.2 per cent in Q2 and 4.1 per cent in Q1.

The report noted that the annual average unemployment rate for 2023 was approximately 5.4 per cent, with significant disparities across gender, age and location.

Speaking with Sunday PUNCH, an Emeritus Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Prof Akpan Ekpo, said unemployment remained very high because Nigeria operates largely as a consuming rather than a productive economy.

The former Vice-Chancellor of UNIUYO lamented that the manufacturing sector was comatose and, contributing less than 12 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product, lacked the capacity to absorb large numbers of graduates.

He added that the agricultural sector, being largely seasonal, alongside the oil sector, which is resource-dependent, has also been unable to provide sufficient employment opportunities.

“The system is not industrialised or diversified. Power supply is epileptic, so the country cannot attract foreign direct investment. This is why very few people from outside the country want to come here to employ people, because electricity is unreliable.

“The Nigerian environment is not conducive for investors to build factories that will employ people. The NBS data shows full employment, but that is not true because the data is faulty. It says if you work one hour a week, you are employed, so there is a serious problem with that,” Ekpo said.

Explaining further, he noted that in many systems, first-class graduates are recognised for their achievements and viewed as intellectual assets, particularly in academia and specialised, competitive industries.

“What is being done in Nigeria now is not how it used to be. We also need to admit that although the country produces many first-class graduates, not all of them are quality first-class material, particularly those from some private universities established primarily for profit. That said, a number of private universities are of high quality.

“Having said that, there are genuine first-class graduates. And assuming that a first-class is a first-class, they deserve to be employed; otherwise, it will discourage hard work. If I have a first-class and still cannot get a job, why should I bother?

“The government should give first-class graduates from recognised universities automatic employment in government jobs, if they do not want to go into research. That will encourage them. In our days, graduates with second-class upper and above were guaranteed employment,” Ekpo added.

Automatic employment

In March 2022, the House of Representatives passed a motion seeking automatic employment for first-class graduates in Federal Government ministries and agencies.

The motion was moved by a lawmaker representing Ahiazu/Ezinitte Federal Constituency, Chinedu Martins, during a plenary session presided over by the former Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila.

The lawmakers, who noted that hundreds of first-class graduates are produced yearly without jobs, indicated plans to sponsor a bill to provide a legal framework for the motion.

They argued that unemployment has fuelled the mass exodus of first-class graduates to foreign countries after completing the National Youth Service Corps programme, “while lower-grade graduates, whose relations are connected, get the option of first refusal, irrespective of the growing national concern to get the nation’s best brains onboard.”

Martins said automatic employment would motivate students to work harder, maximise their potential for economic and leadership roles, and ultimately reduce unemployment.

In December last year, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State, offered automatic employment to 32 students who graduated with first-class honours.

The university management said the beneficiaries were among the 5,799 students who completed their undergraduate programmes in the 2025/2026 academic session.

Similarly, in November 2024, Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, approved automatic employment for first-class graduates from Nigerian and foreign universities into the state’s civil and public service.

Although the initiative initially targeted graduates from 2020 onwards, the state’s Head of Service, Anthony Okungbowa, said the scheme might be extended in the future.

In an interview with Sunday PUNCH, a Professor of History at the University of Ibadan, Prof Olutayo Adesina, noted that before Nigeria’s economic collapse in the mid-1980s, first-class graduates, alongside other university, polytechnic and nursing school graduates, were readily employed.

He explained that universities were particularly quick to absorb first-class graduates.

“Beyond that, graduates of all categories found gainful employment. The unemployment crisis began with the oil glut of the 1980s and the mismanagement of the economy between 1979 and 1983. Corruption also spiralled out of control.

“From 1984, belt-tightening policies and balance-of-payment problems pushed the economy deeper into crisis. This was worsened by the adoption of the Structural Adjustment Programme in 1986.

“Restructuring and deregulation killed rather than healed the economy. Industries collapsed, trade declined, and capital dried up. Salaries stagnated, unemployment ballooned, and Nigerians began seeking opportunities abroad. The shock devastated families and turned Nigeria into a beggar economy,” Adesina said.

‘Graduates lacking skills amid job shortage’

Speaking with Sunday PUNCH, a talent professional, Emilia Gberaese, said that while job opportunities remain scarce, there is also a significant skills gap among many Nigerian graduates.

She explained that despite advances in automation and digital technology, many graduates are inadequately trained to meet labour market demands.

“I have been in assessment centres where young graduates cannot use basic digital tools. They lack creative thinking, problem-solving and decision-making skills.”

“While some graduates are exposed to the tools required for the future of work, many still rely on traditional learning methods. Several companies are committed to absorbing fresh graduates as part of long-term talent plans, but these roles are highly competitive.

“The skills required are often unavailable, largely because candidates are not equipped with digital tools, including AI, that would help them excel,” she said.

Gberaese added that although employers are eager to recruit first-class graduates, academic excellence does not always translate to workplace readiness.

“Some first-class graduates are intellectually sound and academically strong, but they lack communication skills and digital competence. Available roles are not reserved for first-class graduates alone. Companies are looking for candidates with the right skill set, regardless of grades. Being a first-class graduate is an advantage—it opens doors—but it is not a guarantee of employment,” she added.

From first-class to entrepreneurship

Earlier this month, Ibukun Amosu stepped into a phone accessories shop at Alaba International Market, Lagos, expecting nothing more than a quick purchase. Instead, his attention was drawn to a framed photograph hanging on the wall.

The picture showed the shop owner, Wisdom Onwuka, in his graduation gown, shaking hands with the Chancellor of Covenant University, Bishop David Oyedepo, in 2021. The caption identified him as a first-class graduate.

Surprised by the contrast between the academic honour and the bustling electronics market setting, Amosu took a photograph with Onwuka and later shared it on X.

“Why spend four to five years and that money on school when you can just set up a shop with the money from the start?” he wrote, sparking reactions online.

In an interview with Sunday PUNCH, the first-class Biochemistry graduate said he had worked as a Quality Assurance professional at a multinational food company in 2023 before venturing into the phone accessories business.

“I was born in Ojo, Lagos, to Mr and Mrs Onwuka Ukeagbu from Abiriba, Ohafia, in Abia State. When I attended Command Day Secondary School, Ojo, between 2009 and 2015, I consistently ranked among the top five per cent of my class, and my dream was to study Medicine and Surgery. However, my first attempt at JAMB was unsuccessful.

“Eventually, in 2016, I gained admission to study Biochemistry at Covenant University. I was initially hesitant because of the high tuition, which was N800,000 at the time, and I considered using the money to start a business, having already done some trading and understood the terrain.

“Instead, I chose education because of my passion for academic excellence. That tuition became my motivation, and I told myself the investment would not be wasted. My vision, discipline, diligence and strong spiritual grounding were key factors in my outstanding academic success,” Onwuka recounted.

After a period he described as one of “limited clarity”, Onwuka ventured into the importation of phone accessories and spare parts last year.

“Today, it may look like a regular business, but in my heart, I see brand partnerships and international relevance. I see structured growth and global impact.

“I may not be at that level yet, but I believe deeply in the journey. Every phase is preparation, and the future is promising. Business was not my last resort because I was fully employed when I went into it, but I chose this path.

“My advice to students and graduates out there is this: there is no guaranteed path. If you have a skill, a trade or a vision, pursue it with excellence,” Onwuka added. (PUNCH)