While it may sound odd, the hard reality is that young Nigerians now prefer internet scamming and other vices, alongside unskilled jobs, to acquiring artisenal skills. Gboyega Alaka, who recently interacted with some master artisans, reports.
T’S a hot afternoon and this reporter and a friend had had to call on an auto-mechanic in the nearby Mechanic Village in Oke Afa area of Isolo, Lagos, to come fix the ball joint of the friend’s Mercedes Benz car, which had suddenly come off. While taking shelter in a nearby shed from the scorching sun, this reporter had casually asked the mechanic, a stout, muscular man, to please get his boy – that’s the local name for male apprentices – to get them bottles of soft drink to cool their thirst, while they waited.
To his surprise, the mechanic replied that he had none.
“What!” This reporter exclaimed, unbelievingly. How is that even possible in a country of so many youths and an alarming rate of school drop-outs and high unemployment? He wondered aloud.
“That is the truth o oga, that is our reality,” the master replied.
As if he’d been waiting for an opportunity to unburden, the mechanic proceeded: “Young people nowadays don’t have time to learn work anymore o. They would rather engage in internet scam popularly known as Yahoo-yahoo, or Yahoo plus or even Yahoo plus plus?’
“Which is ‘Yahoo plus and Yahoo Plus Plus,” this reporter asked. Of course, he knew Yahoo-yahoo, the local Nigerian name for internet scamming, where guys use all sorts of tricks to make unsuspecting white people send huge foreign currencies, which they in turn cash and disappear into thin air. But even though he had an idea, having heard of it before, he still prodded the mechanic, who by now had got up from under the car and was dusting his trousers in readiness to lecturing this bookish people of new trends.
“Oga, Yahoo plus and Yahoo Plus Plus is the new kind of scamming, where guys go fetish and carry out all sorts of fetish rituals and diabolical activities, just to get the white man to pay. Guys started doing this when it dawned on them that maga (‘foolish’ white men), had become smart and no longer falling for cheap lies and lines anymore. They go as far as using human parts and anything, even their mother. I’m sure you remember the pant stealing episode.”
Aside yahoo yahoo, the mechanic said a lot of them have also gone into collecting rates for transports unions popularly called Agbero in Yoruba speaking parts of Nigeria and any other things that could bring them quick money.
As he went on and on, literally pouring out what seemed like his pent-up frustration, it suddenly dawned on this reporter that a number of the vulcanisers/tyre technicians he had had to work with also rarely had any helping hands or apprentices; something that didn’t use to be so some years back. Is this really the new trend? If so, what future for artisenal vocations? Who does the jobs, going into the future? Why cry of unemployment when employable hands are running away from acquiring skills that’ll empower them?
Youths no longer want to stay the course for apprenticeship – Master artisans
In carrying out real time investigation on this trend, the first point of call for this reporter was a vulcaniser’s shop.
Ahmed Isiaka runs a Vulcaniser’s spot along the Ikotun-Egbe road, not too far from the globally renowned Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN).
He is a registered member of the Vulcanisers Association of Lagos State, Ikotun-Egbe Zone and has been operating as an independent tyre technician since 2007. That was after he used four years to understudy his master as an apprentice, starting from 1998.
At that time, Isiaka recalled that they were four apprentices learning the craft under their master.
“Then, the scenario was such that even the bosses didn’t have to do much work, as senior members who had already acquired full skills and awaiting their freedom, were the ones training the younger apprentices almost one hundred percent. This, of course, gave our oga the time to explore other business opportunities, yet we did not desert him or exhibit any arrogance or self importance. It was the norm and nobody thought of rocking the boat.”
Regrettably, the above situation has not been the case with Isiaka himself, as he told this reporter that he hasn’t had a single apprentice since 2018.
He used to have them initially, but according to him, “They normally drop off along the line. As I speak with you, only one has managed to officially graduate, having stayed the course of the agreed time. Most of the time, they just quit without as much as a word; and it is not as if they had acquired enough skills and were going to set up elsewhere. They simply just lack the patience to learn the job. At most, they spend six months, and then you don’t see them again.”
Asked what could be responsible for this trend, Isiaka said, “I think there problem is that they are in a hurry to make money, so they run off to take up security jobs and the likes – anything that would bring them salaries. Meanwhile, these salaries are meagre, compared to what they would make if they endure, stay the course of the training to set up on their own. A good number would go and engage in internet fraud popularly known as ‘yahoo, yahoo’; some go into Okada (commercial motorcycle) riding or Marwa (tricycle) riding, bus conductor; anything that would bring them immediate cash, rather than endure and acquire a skill. And this is not peculiar with me, as other members of our association have the same story to tell, with little variations.”
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Does this not spell doom for the future of the vocation?
Isiaka was quick to answer in the affirmative.
“Of course it does, because our generation is getting old, and if this trend continues, the possibility of not having enough hands in the industry and a possible death of the profession is likely. Some people trained us, if we don’t have anyone to pass the knowledge to, it means an end to the profession.”
Could these young people be quitting because they see no prospect or road to prosperity in the vocation?
To this, Isiaka, who said he chose to learn the job because of his fascination with vehicles and tyres, smiled and said, “A tyre technician’s job is not a poor man’s job by any means and you can never go hungry. However bad things may get, you would make enough to feed yourself in a day, especially if you’re stationed in the township, where there are lots of vehicles. You can ask those who know. You own a car, you know how much you gauge, pump or repair your car tyres. When I was an apprentice, how much were we gauging, pumping or fixing tyres? Ten naira, five naira… Today, the story has changed. We now patch a tricycle tyre at N500 and pump it at N200; while for cars, it is N300 for pumping and N1000 for patching. This of course is largely because of the prices of materials we use and fuel.’
Asked if he had any regret choosing the vocation so far; he said, “None whatsoever. I know some may view it as a dirty job, but that’s because they are not discerning. Aside being fascinated to the job from childhood, it is lucrative enough. It is through it that I take care of my family – feeding, paying rent, sending my children to school. Vulcanisers’ children go though universities; we live in our own houses…; I even support my aged parents through this job. So what regret would I have?”
Young people now prefer quick money to learning a crafts – Auto mechanic
Emmanuel Okonije, an auto mechanics of almost 30 years’ standing, with specialty in Hyundai and Kia motors, has the same story to tell.
At the moment, he has no single apprentice; and this is in spite of his vast experience that has seen him work in well established service centers like the Hyundai Service Center in Orile, Lagos.
His story also has a peculiar slant, as his last apprentice, owing to an appetite for quick money, had vandalised a customer’s vehicle, by removing the calipers, which he promptly sold. He had gone to the workshop to carry out the evil deed on a Sunday, when nobody would be around. Of course he was spotted, hence when the theft was discovered; it was easy to zero down on him and promptly get him arrested.
“Even though the matter was eventually settled and he came back, it didn’t take long before he left and hasn’t come back. That’s over two years ago. Since then I haven’t had any other apprentice. Before him, another had left around the Covid-19 pandemic period. He also has not come back since then.”
So for about two years, Okonije has had to do all his work alone; a Herculean task, if you know how tasking a mechanic’s job can be.
His present situation is also unlike his days as an apprentice, when they numbered about twelve under his master.
What then would he ascribe this dearth of apprentices to?
“I can’t say specifically,” he responded, “but I think they are more after money now than learning any trade or craft. They can’t seem to put themselves through any stress of learning, but they want to spend money. They just want to make money and start enjoying and living the big life.”
Some have ascribed it to the allure of yahoo yahoo, this reporter prodded.
“Not just yahoo yahoo; even before the yahoo yahoo thing came up, young people’s appetite for learning work had begun to dwindle. Most of them believe in finishing school and getting a job. Most of the young people now focus on education without giving the option of learning work any consideration. As a result, a lot of them finish schooling and begin to roam about looking for white collar jobs or cheap money. And if you even invite them to come and assist you and learn in the process, the first thing they would ask you is, “How much would you be paying me?” Meanwhile, while we were learning, there wasn’t any such luxury.”
Could this sudden loss of interest be because they see a bleak future in the job?
“Not at all. It’s actually a job with a lot of prospect,” Okonije said.
“But it depends on how you handle your customers, what you people call customer relations. If you do a good job and treat your customers well, they stay with you, and you enjoy the job. And of course, the more customers you have, the more money you make. Don’t forget that your customers are also your adverts, who get you new customers by spreading the word about the quality of your work. And if it is the other way round, they spread the word as well.
“More recently though, the harsh economy has begun to take a toll on the job, as customers who are supposed to bring their vehicle for servicing every three months, now extend it to four, five months; sometimes six; and this affects our own income. But by and large, it’s a job with prospects.”
Okonije, who says he has no regrets settling for auto mechanic repair works, said he joined a mechanic workshop in Lagos in 1987 as an apprentice and graduated in 1991. Thereafter, he did four years as a journeyman with an established workshop to further sharpen his skills, gain more experience and earn some money to find his feet, before he finally started on his own in 1995.
Before then, he had completed his secondary education at Oza Community High School and attended Igara Technical School, where he studied Auto Engineering, both in Edo State; he thereafter relocated to Lagos to enrol for full practical training.
This profession will not go extinct – tailor
For elderly tailor, Abdul Lateef Adelani Alaba, the situation is one that calls for concern. Even with his over thirty years experience on the job, he cannot boast of a single apprentice. Not a single one since 2015, a whopping eight years.
He also blamed the persistent internet scamming vice for this terrible downturn, but insists that the profession will survive.
“Mark my words, most of them who have left this work to go into Yahoo yahoo and other unholy stuff will come back when the government really turns the heat on them. Yahoo yahoo is just euphemism; what they are doing is criminality and a time will come when they would have no choice but to retrace their steps to this job or whatever handwork they had learnt. This job and most of the artisenal vocations will not die – because there will always be need for them.
“As an apprentice back in Oyo State, we were about thirty-two at my master’s workshop. It was a massive double shop workshop, yet everybody stayed, acquired the skill and went on to set up. Now compare that with my situation. And this is not peculiar to me; I can tell you the story is the same with several other senior tailors.
“But it hasn’t always been like this. When I first set up, I had about seven apprentices, but as we speak, I do not have a single one. The last time I had any was in 2015.”
Yet he insists that the job remains lucrative – one of the reasons he chose it, as people will always wear clothes, however hard the economy bites.
“There is no way one would not have challenges from time to time, but overall, I have no regret that I learnt the job. By and large I have been able to live and survived on it. With it, I got married, gave birth to children and have since been taking care of them all and my other needs. Some of my children have even finished school and got married.
“The problem is that most young people of today just want quick daily money. They don’t have the time to learn work or endure any apprenticeship routine. And you know, living on the fast lane comes with its own danger,” Alaba concluded.