Tiktok saves Ugandan statistician working as security guard in UAE

Apparently, his degree in Statistics was not good enough for the Ugandan job market, forcing him to depart for the Gulf.

There he’s been working as a security guard while also taking up further online courses. His dream is to become a business analyst.

Shafik Sebanenya pulse uganda

Last week Sebanenya who hails from Lwengo district posted a TikTok video, sharing how his excellent performance in school did not help him land his dream job.

He captioned it, “With 19/20 points in PEM and First Class degree in Statistics, (I am) a proud security guard.”

Video goes viral

The video went viral, racking over 280k views on the platfform.

After being shared on other platforms including X, some Ugandans felt compassion for the Sebanenya, while others offered a helping hand.

Former Presidential candidate and Makerere Univerisity Vice Chancellor, Prof, Vensius Baryamureeba offered him a job opportunity and asked those who know Sebanenya to put him in touch.

Read: Safety, insurance guaranteed as Uganda, Qatar sign bilateral labour agreement

Sebanenya’s story also sparked a debate on youth unemployment with many sharing their own experiences after graduating from university

“Sometimes you painfully meet such grassing and your former unserious student that was choking on retakes but connected is somewhere in a big office,” posted activist Dr Jim Spire Ssentongo.

“You get to know why so much is going wrong.”

Unemployment remains a big thorn in the flesh of Uganda, having driven over 600,000 young people to migrate to the Middle East for employment.

Many fill domestic worker roles, with some working as security guards or drivers.