The Nation Newspaper

Tag: apprenticeship

  • Apprenticeship, training and death

    I can figure our consciences are now seared. We no more feel shocked at the news of death, especially of a young vibrant man, whose love for his profession consumed him.

    This is a perspective about something bigger than the young Channels TV reporter, Precious Owolabi that was gunned down covering a protest that turned violent, in Abuja.

    Spare me of the other issues around it: the emergency response, police’s crisis management strategy and government negligence.

    The late Owolabi embodied one of the last bastions and perhaps most neglected job creation and security system  the world has known; traineeship. And the little left of it could have been gunned down with him.

    Today, no doubt both apprenticeship and traineeship still hand down better and stronger skill set for the marketplace than the school system, at least the Australian National Skills Institute confirms. There may not be a formal proof of this at home, but it is too clear to be seen if you can hear the HR community’s cries about their experience in trying to recruit graduates.

    Australia Skills Institute has also been worried that interest in apprenticeship and traineeship has dropped by 30% in the last five years; only truck driving licensing has spiked during this period.

    Just like in most part of the world recruitment for vocational education has dropped drastically but Nigeria has a unique reason to pay double attention to the system. It may be the only nerve left that can kick the economy back to live.

    Of course, back here some of the top professionals in most fields have been lost to bad management of the economy and emigrated, leaving the national skill index in its worst state perhaps comparable only to South East Nigeria after the civil war.

    Last week, a popular medical practitioner shared how the whole country is now left with only 15 specialist neurosurgeons; that is criminal, even though truths around that cannot be ascertained.

    With the median age of 18.4 for 201.2million population and an alarming school dropout rate, incentivizing apprenticeship and traineeship could be the saving plan from the obvious implosion.

    National Bureau of Statistics will need to be empowered along with other necessary organs of the government to document and have a working policy that would make it attractive for corporates and SMEs to absorb apprentices and trainees.

    Skill to skill pathway has failed for too long that further slip may worsen the multi-dimensional crises Nigeria is presently grappling with. This goes to back up the failings of the University/Polytechnic to job model that we have relied on to feed the job market.

    If there is any place to spend the so called “subsidy” on, it is to breathe live to this sector that can in turn make sure our economy get off its knee.

    One key signpost along the way is the interesting attribute of the generation we are trying to pull into the system; they are impatient to be mentored. In Australia where there are clean numbers to work with, of the remaining 60% still in vocational net, less than half of them see it through.

    It can be worked on, if we have the will to pursue growth from this perspective.

    For starters there are green shoots in this field, but most of them are from multinationals whose parent companies have policies that encourage mentorship as perhaps a way to empower its host economy.

    The effect can be deepened. If school funding for Universities is tied for instance to verifiable statistics from the NBS or National Career Development Agency, it would compel institutions to be more creative about the value their product (students) have in store for the workplace. Since it will be tied to funding from government, the schools may see reasons to take it serious.

    For the corporates, operating licenses, renewals and tax incentives (in fact a chunk of ‘ease of doing business’ incentives) maybe compelling reason to want to take a dive into the vocational spectrum, for everyone, it would be a win-win.

    Overtime, this pathway has led to good employment outcomes than the theoretical model and it should, if given priority and the result can be repeated. In some climes, a documented 90% success rate of absorption has been recorded with this.

    Nigeria presently has a shameful job loss statistics that won’t be worth anyone’s headache. On the flipside is the touted “Igbo apprenticeship” business model which though has no numbers to back it, can be seen as struggling over the past decade. My research is word of mouth and experience of relatives.

    Employment is a mirage and job loss and unemployment is more real for graduates and the teeming youthful Nigerians making their way through the social ladder.  This is the reason for the rise in crime and other ills.

    There however is another set of the group; the underemployed, unfortunately, they outnumber the employed, they are what Karl Max referred to as the “Reserve Army of the Unemployed”.

    As Precious Owolabi was laid to rest last week, can we once again give life to the chief reason why he became a sacrificial lamb.

    • Sam Emehelu

    Lagos.

  • Wanted: Apprenticeship to bridge skills gap, tackle unemployment

    Informal apprenticeship training scheme, according to experts, is an important, cost-effective and flexible means of skills transfer in the informal economy. But the system, which was once a major contributor to youth employment, is fast disappearing from the entrepreneurial landscape, resulting in acute shortage of skilled artisans. No thanks to increasing quest for formal education, the get-rich-quick mentality and harsh business environment, among others. Assistant Editor OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE examines the implications of this development and the clamour for its return in order to create jobs, boost productivity and stem youth restiveness.

    Automacs Technologies Limited Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Obiora Ogonsiegbe, is worried. His worry stemmed from the difficulty in finding skilled artisans, such as plumbers, bricklayers, electricians, and carpenters, to handle various jobs in the construction industry.

    According to Ogonsiegbe, it is extremely difficult to get quality, skilled artisans in the country. ‘’You have to go to the neigbouring African countries, such as Togo, Ghana or Cotonou, where informal apprenticeship training system is being taken seriously,’’ he said. He regretted that these countries were out-sourcing quality artisans to Nigeria.

    He, and indeed, other experts in various sectors, believe that the informal apprenticeship scheme is, perhaps, the most important method of skills transfer in informal economy. This, according to them, is because it offers a more cost-effective and flexible means of skills transfer, which absorbs a larger number of youths than their formal and publicly financed counterparts.

    They noted that apprenticeship training occurs mostly in the private sector, where the owner of an informal enterprise takes on apprentice (s), usually for a fee, and provides training in vocational skills over three or more years. It is an important source of training, which helps to provide needed skills that are required.

    The scheme is popular in most urban centers, accounting for about 85 per cent of skills training and transfers in most parts of the country. It is also a major source of livelihood for those in various enterprises, who engage in apprenticeship schemes, such as wielding, auto-mechanics, and auto-electricians.

    Others are tailoring, generator repairing, mobile phone repairing, carpentry, furniture making, catering, manicure and pedicure, and plumbing. These trades of the informal apprenticeship scheme were recognised as means of absorbing and training unemployed youths through manpower development and economic empowerment.

    But the story has since changed. The apprenticeship system is fast disappearing. Gone are the days when a master auto-mechanic would have about five apprentices under his tutelage. Today, many youths are unwilling to sign up to learn a trade. Many, who signed up, quit and opted for either motorcycle riding or taxi driving.

    Some of them, who remained to learn the trade, would not stay long enough to acquire the necessary skills. Earlier, people were proud to undergo tutelage as mechanics, plumbers, tailors, and bricklayers, among others. Not anymore. The youth are more interested in making quick money, which is why the majority of them have taken to motorcycle riding, popularly called Okada as their source of livelihood.

    A bricklayer, Mr. Ibidemi Akinola, lamented the serious decline in apprenticeship training, noting that the situation has dire consequences for the future. He said, for instance, that gone were the days when he used to have up to seven boys as apprentices, noting that they no longer find it interesting to learn the trade.

     

    The story changer

     

    Ogonsiegbe said one of the factors responsible for Nigeria’s inability to ride on the back of a vibrant informal apprenticeship training scheme to tackle the unemployment surge and close the wide sills gap, is the widely held belief that apprenticeship is meant for people, who cannot do well in the formal education system, or those whose parents cannot afford to sponsor their education.

    He said this has made it difficult to attract young graduates and youths of school age into the system, adding that the erroneous assumption by not a few people is that those who undergo apprenticeship are ‘never do well’ people and are not respected like their counterparts in the formal school system.

    Automacs Technologies CEO also stated that the attitude of masters in most cases constitutes hindrance to the practice of apprenticeship.  His words: “This negative attitude of the masters is caused probably by the fact that they are not trained in the act of teaching. Most masters are difficult and have little skills to sustain the interest of the apprentices on the job. This makes the rate of drop-out to be high.”

    Also, the economic condition of most parents of the apprentice and the trainees in most cases, make it difficult for them to sponsor the training for the agreed period. Master craftsmen are not spared of the problem of poverty.

    The result is that in most cases, they find it difficult to equip their workshops with necessary equipment, which can improve efficiency and make them meet up with contemporary technological needs.

    That is not all. Wrong career choice by the apprentices is also said to be a constraint to the development of apprenticeship system. Due to lack of exposure, limited knowledge of psychology and career counselling, apprentices often make wrong career choices.

    In most cases, careers are forced on would-be apprentice by their parents or guardians without due consideration for apprentices’ interest, ability and capability. This has often resulted into non-completion of the apprenticeship period due to his or her inability to cope with the physical and intellectual requirements of the training.

    Govt’s failure

     

    Although, the government has articulated a number of initiatives, interventions and empowerment programmes aimed at training and retraining the youths in various vocations, such interventions appear not to have made the desired impacts.

    As far as Ogonsiegbe is concerned, the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), for instance, has not lived up to its billing. He said if the Fund had made much impact, there would have been a substantial reduction in crimes associated with youths and restiveness.

    He recalled other efforts to include the creation of National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and its skills acquisition programmes, the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) to address poverty in the country; the SURE-P and YouWIN, among others.

    He, however, argued that the various intervention mechanisms aimed at ensuring economic growth, which is rich in job creation opportunities and apprenticeship, have not yielded the desired positive results.

    The government’s education programme such as the Universal Basic Education (UBE), which made going to school mandatory for school-age children, is also said to have drastically trimmed down the number of children going for technical apprenticeship.

    More importantly, is perhaps, the indolence and get-rich-quick mentality of the people is believed to have resulted in increased rate of school drop-out and demand for buying and selling for quick profit with limited stress, especially when there was no respect for artisans, but high respect for wealth, no matter how ill-gotten it may be.

    Nigeria’s poor business environment has not helped matters either. The harsh business environment has forced many technical workshops to close down. Many of them lacked steady electric supply and have been forced by various tiers of government to pay multiple taxations.

    Also, owners of such technical workshops have little or no incentives from the government and are shunned by banks whenever they ask for loans.

    The lack of political will by successive governments, has also been a hindrance to entrepreneurship development and reduction of unemployment in Nigeria. The neglect of vocational and technical education has robbed the nation of the potential contributions of its graduates to national growth and economic development.

    This is why there has been dearth of competent artisans such as bricklayers, carpenters, printers, auto mechanics, laboratory and pharmacy technicians, vocational nurses etc.

    The way things currently stand, youths are not motivated to choose vocational and technical education. This may be why it is common to find many legislators donating motorcycles, grinding machine, shoe shinning tools to youths in their constituencies under the name of “youth empowerment”.

    This has, again, heightened fears by operators in various sectors that in a few years’ time, Nigeria will begin to experience an acute shortage of artisans.

     

    Call for return of apprenticeship

     

    Calling for a policy on apprenticeship, Ogonsiegbe said the problem of outdated and unimplemented policies was a major problem confronting apprenticeship system practice in Nigeria.

    He said presently there seems not to be any guiding principle from the government as regulatory agency for apprenticeship system. This, he said, has made apprenticeship less attractive to youths and graduates.

    According to experts, apprenticeship is a form of education and training. Informal apprenticeship also contributes significantly to youth employment and empowerment, thereby reducing youth restiveness. It also enhances national productivity in virtually all the sectors of the economy.

    An entrepreneur and fashion designer, Mrs. Ibikun Hassan, said despite the nonchalant attitude of some youths, who want to make it fast and big, the informal economy, where many of them operate, remains Nigeria‘s powerhouse and indeed, other developing economies.

    Hassan told The Nation that more than seven apprentices have stayed with her for over four years “I earned my degree over 20 years ago, and when l felt that l was done with paid jobs, l had to go for apprenticeship to learn fashion designing for 18 months.

    “Unfortunately, people think that they can learn the same thing within three months. You can’t beat experience, which comes with apprenticeship in anything you are doing,” she said.

    According to her, apprenticeship improves skills and trade secret for those who are patient and humble enough to go through the rudiments. It also provides opportunity for one to learn how to handle his or her business when he or she graduates

    Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) Director-General, Mr. Muda Yusuf, also lent his voice to the need to encourage apprenticeship.  According to him, there is a lot of value addition in apprenticeship, as the apprentice has so much to gain in a hands-on operation and process than being a green horn.

    He advised those in apprenticeship not to be so bordered about making money in apprenticeship, but concentrate on the knowledge  passed down to them from people who  have acquired the skills over time and have more experience and skill to pass down to them.

    The LCCI chief advised youths to have passion for whatever vocation or trade they desire to do. He argued that it is wrong for them to jump into any trade because they see others doing well in it rather than the love of the trade. And to minimise the risk of failure of any enterprise, he said one needs to know how gifted he is.

    “You don’t expect that once you have an idea, banks or lenders will give you money to deliver on them.  Having a learning curve is a more sustainable strategy,”he said.

    Also on the need for apprenticeship among the youths, Landwey Investment Group Managing Director,  Mr. Olawale Ayilara, wondered why those, who studied abroad come back to the country and pick the few jobs available.

    To him, it is simply because they are better skilled, with sophisticated apprenticeship training needed for the jobs they applied for.

    A trader in textiles and cotton materials, Mr. Kalu Agbai, also underscored the importance of apprenticeship when he acknowledged that it is customary in the Southeastern part of the country to undergo apprenticeship before engaging in almost any area of business.

    He revealed that he did apprenticeship for 10 years with his ‘master’ to learn not only the rudiments and secret of the business, but to also prepare himself for the challenges of setting up his own business and making a success of it.

    The Nation learnt that the age range from apprentices to masters in the informal training system is from 11 to 60 years of age. It, however, differs from one enterprise to another.

    It was also learnt that in some parts of the country, children between the ages of 10 to 14 work as apprentices. About 49 per cent of school age children are said to be in the informal apprenticeship system in Nigeria.

    Majority of these children, if not in the informal apprenticeship, end up on the streets hawking just to make ends meet. It is in recognition of this fact that the government allowed for more young people to be apprentices in certain enterprises rather than wander around the streets.

    According to experts, apprenticeship has over the years proven to be a tool for employment generation and poverty reduction at low investment cost as well as improving the wellbeing of individuals engaged in it. Unfortunately, the scheme has not been adequately harnessed in tackling the unemployment surge among the youths in Nigeria.

    The consensus is that successive governments have not given reasonable attention to alternative empowerment schemes, especially apprenticeship to galvanise the youths for national development.

    But for the neglect of the scheme, such skill acquisitions training within the confines of apprenticeship would have afforded the youths means to be relevant along the line of a particular profession such as fashion designing, furniture making, carpentry, shoe making, plumbing, electrical repairs, auto mechanic, retail trading and other related endeavors.

    This must have prompted the call by some Nigerians on the need for the government to introduce incentives for youths, who want to engage in apprenticeship as career path in alleviating poverty. They also called on the government and policy makers to encourage apprenticeship and technical training to fill the yearning skills gap in the productive sector.

  • Female Edo street sweepers opt for mechanic apprenticeship

    Mrs. Osayemwenre Catherine is 50. She is employed under the Edo State Employment and Expenditure for Result (SEEFOR) as a street sweeper. Her duty is to wake up early and sweep any major street in Benin City that has been assigned to her. Under the SEEFOR arrangement, Mrs. Osayemwenre and others are to be disengaged after one year.

    Mrs. Osayemwenre’s recent posting was to sweep the Government House. It was on her second week at the Government House that she saw some women working as mechanic at the Government House workshop. After several days, Mrs. Osayemwenre and 20 other SEEFOR workers stormed the workshop and demanded to be trained as a mechanic, driver or automobile electrician.

    She told our reporter that she wanted to train as a mechanic because she does not want to return to petty trading after the one year with SEEFOR.

    Mrs. Osayemwenre said: “ I still feel very strong to learn a skill. As we are sweeping government house, we saw that only women are working in this workshop so we decided to inquire from them. They told us they are doing mechanic work. This is an opportunity for me to learn a skill. This SEEFOR job is just for one year but I want to learn more to be independent.”

    Another SEEFOR worker, Mrs. Suzy Osadolor, who said she is 49, said she came to the workshop to learn how to become either a mechanic of a  commercial driver.

    Her words: “I want to be like these girls. We are under Edo SEEFOR and we saw the way these girls are working. I know I can still make it even though I am 49 years old. I can learn  to become a female driver.”

    36 years old Vivian Okurefe said she has not been herself since the day she saw women working as mechanic.

    “I decided to join them. If I am taken, I will be grateful. I like to join them so that I can feed my children.”

    Governor Godwin Obaseki recently engaged female mechanics under the leadership of Sandra Aguebor of the Lady Mechanic Initiative to take over repair and maintenance of government vehicles. The engagement of female mechanics was part Edo State governor’s wife, Mrs. Betsy Obaseki, initiative to empower women in the state.

    Mrs. Aguebor said she was shocked when she saw the women at the workshop and demanded to be registered as an apprentice.

    According to her, “We were here doing our work when we saw a lot of women trooping in and to my greatest surprised some were carrying children. They said they were here looking for lady mechanic. They said they want to be part of what we are doing.

    “They said they want to learn how to fix cars. Some said they want to be a panel beater, female mechanic driver, some say they want to do a whole lot in automobile because we have different areas of specialties. I said it is welcome idea and you are welcome and you have to write down your names.

    “I collected their names and told them they are on the right track. They will be the first to considered in the women empowerment drive of the First Lady, Mrs. Betsy Obaseki.

    “We want to support this administration. We want to train women as plumbers, auto electrician, welding, spray painter and generator repairs. We want to see a situation where women would be fixing broken water pipes in government house.”

    “I was brought back to Edo State by Her Excellency, Mrs Besty Obaseki. She has to take me from Lagos saying that ‘you have been doing a lot everywhere. We need you to come and also do something here’ and this is how you find me here. In fact, what has brought me to the state is God blessing and I see it as something that I will be able to impact a lot in this administration as well as future administration and generation to come because I believe that when you empower somebody you are getting them off the streets, making them being useful to themselves economically, socially and technologically in which crimes and social vices will be reduced.”

  • Govt to privatise Carnival Calabar

    The Governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke,  has sent  a bill to privatize the organization  of  Carnival Calabar from 2015 and recognize the existence  Carnival Calabar Bands Association as a corporate entity to the state House of Assembly.

    The chairman of the state Carnival Commission, Mr. Gabe Onah, disclosed this in his introductory speech on Sunday at the Millennium Park before the flag-off of the second dry run  to herald the carnival  which is scheduled for December 26, explaining when operational, the bands will be run independently by their members, while the commission will run the policies and make sure standards are kept.

    While flagging off the dry run, the Deputy Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Itaya Nyong, observed that very soon the state would become a centre of celebration as many people will throng in to partake in Africa’s Biggest  Street Party, adding that the dry run was necessary to ensure the rehearsals were perfected for it to attain its world acclaimed reputation.

    The five bands and their officials had earlier assembled at the venue  by noon while it was flagged off at 2pm to allow church goers get home for lunch and get ready to receive the revellers on the 12- kilometre carnival route as their  Sunday show as well as enable those who wanted to partake do so after service.

    This is a strategy developed by Governor Liyel Imoke to involve the community and secure their buy in to make it truly the people’s carnival moving forward.

    In another development, the chairman of the Carnival Commission, Mr. Gabe Onah, has congratulated the commission, band   officials and members, medical personnel as well as the military and paramilitary agencies for a successful second dry run in spite of the challenge of the rains.

    According to him, “Our resilience was tested and we succeeded in staging this reality show- the biggest in Africa with appreciation to Nollywood Queen, Kate Henshaw, who was with us to the end.”

     

  • Scrap apprenticeship, ANLCA urges

    The Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has called for the abolition of the age-long practice of apprenticeship in freight forwarding, saying the practice is obsolete.

    ANLCA National President Olayiwola Shittu told The Nation that freight forwarding associations ought to encourage their staff and members to attend institutions accredited by the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) to be acquainted with the job before being engaged.

    He said there are many schools accredited by CRFFN where people could learn the theory of freight forwarding so that it would be easier for them to handle the practical aspects when they are eventually employed.

    “It is only in our  ports where one person would want to go and do cargo examination and five to six people would follow him, and when you ask what they are going to do, they tell you they are apprentices. It baffles me.

    “I was never an apprentice; what do you call apprentice in this modern day that anybody can go to school and learn freight forwarding, even online? he asked.

    He said one of the reasons ANLCA has acquired a new national secretariat is for its hall to be transformed into a training centre, adding that the facility  would be put at the disposal of  CRFFN for training.

    He said the leadership of the association would undergo regular training to increase their knowledge and become trainers.

    Besides, Shittu justified the collection of practising fees at the ports by freight forwarding associations, saying that the money which  is being collected at the chapters is supported by  members.

    He said this was an arrangement among the associations at the chapter level, arguing that the practice is  not limited to the association alone. He added that its critics were those  who were not factored into the collection because they do not have members.

    “Each chapter generates revenue for its members, and this is why they sit down and say they will be paying certain amounts; the members who are paying have their chairmen and executives to contend with.

    “There is no way ANLCA will collect this money alone because there are other associations whose members are there. An association without members cannot be factored in,’’ he added.

    He said ANLCA cannot cede the money realised from its membership to other bodies without members’ knowledge.