The Nigerian corporate elite has found a convenient scapegoat for the country’s sluggish productivity: the “unemployable“ youths. Recently, Tosin Eniolorunda, CEO of the fintech unicorn Moniepoint, ignited a firestorm by suggesting a “quality“ and “IQ“ deficit is to blame for 500 unfilled roles at his firm. He argued that while the global economy demands high-complexity labor, Nigeria’s graduates are falling behind.
It is a sobering diagnosis, but it is also a fundamental misreading of the global marketplace. The “unemployability“ crisis isn’t a failure of intelligence; it is a price discovery failure. Nigerian capital is currently engaged in a desperate game of “Excellence Arbitrage“ – demanding Silicon Valley talent at Mushin prices.
THE MOBILITY OF MERIT
Talent in 2026 is a liquid asset; it flows to where it is treated best. To suggest that Nigerian youth are “low quality“ ignores a massive, inconvenient fact: they are currently being recruited in droves by the very global competitors local CEOs cite as benchmarks.
If these individuals were truly lacking in “IQ,“ they wouldn’t be clearing the rigorous technical hurdles of firms in Berlin, London, or San Francisco. The reality is that the Nigerian youth isn’t failing the local market; they are outgrowing it. In a hyper-connected world, a developer in Yaba knows exactly what their skills are worth in Euros or Dollars.
WORLD-CLASS DEMANDS, THIRD-WORLD WAGES
The disconnect between boardroom expectations and compensation reality is staggering. You cannot demand “global standards“ from an employee while offering a salary that cannot cover a “local standard“ of living.
The Role: Senior Software Engineer
Nigerian Corporate Average (Monthly):₦1,500,000 ($1,000)
Global Remote Market (Monthly):$6,000 – $9,000
The Role: Product Manager
Nigerian Corporate Average (Monthly):₦700,000 ($460)
Global Remote Market (Monthly):$4,000 – $7,000
The Role:Data Scientist
Nigerian Corporate Average (Monthly):800,000 ($530)
Global Remote Market (Monthly):$5,000 – $8,500
When an executive complains they cannot find “quality,“ they are omitting the second half of the sentence: “…at the price I am willing to pay.“ This isn’t a talent famine; it’s a refusal to bid at market value.
THE DEATH OF THE “FINISHING SCHOOL“
There is also a structural abdication of responsibility. In previous decades, the private sector functioned as a “finishing school.“ Banks and conglomerates took raw graduates and invested heavily in their transition to professionals.
Today’s “lean“ corporate culture has abandoned the apprentice for the “plug-and-play“ hire. They want the finished product without paying for the factory. By disparaging youth as “unemployable,“ companies absolve themselves of the duty to train and mentor, expecting a broken state educational system to do the heavy lifting for them.
THE BOTTOM LINE
To label a generation “unemployable” while they navigate 30% inflation, a collapsed power grid, and a devalued currency is more than bad optics – it’s a strategic error.
The Nigerian youth is the most resilient, adaptable resource the country possesses. They are not becoming “less bright“; they are becoming more mobile. If the local private sector continues to respond to this exodus with gaslighting rather than competitive investment, those “500 vacancies“ will become permanent ghost towns.
The challenge for Nigeria isn’t a lack of IQ in its youth. It’s a lack of vision in its boardrooms. You cannot build a world-class economy on a discount-rack budget. Until the pay matches the pedigree, the best and brightest will continue to look for the exit.