This article critically assesses the disconnect between Nigeria’s industrial policies and the lived realities of fresh ceramic graduates. It explores how colonial and post-colonial economic structures have fostered a preference for salaried white-collar jobs over self-employment in ceramics. Using a mixed-method approach including open-ended interviews with 125 ceramics graduates from Edo and Delta States (2008), the study reveals that most graduates work in teaching, banking, advertising, and the armed forces—not in ceramics production. The paper identifies high taxation, lack of start-up capital, and bureaucratic inertia as key barriers. It recommends government-backed soft-landing programmes, deregulation, and active promotion of inter-firm linkages and clusters. The findings are relevant to policymakers, educators, and development agencies working on youth unemployment and SME growth in Nigeria.
K. J. EWEKA (Mon,) studied this question.