Wole Balogun, Adeo-Ekiti
An unwholesome development is happening in Ekiti State, and it is about the high rate of youth unemployment, prostitution, idleness and other criminal activities. Take a tour of the state, you would discover that out of every five young men or women in the state, three have no job.
They rather engage in unproductive political activities, following politicians that use them for thuggery during elections, or just simply idle away or engage in criminal activities such as stealing, cultism, and even step up to becoming armed robbers.
While the young women and even young housewives engage in prostitution, which has been termed in local parlance as “Oloso business”, the young men have become full time political thugs following politicians all over the town and becoming ready tools for rigging and other vices.
Daily Sun discovered that a lot of the idle youths would have been productively engaged but for the high cost of informal training for vocation, which their poor parents or wards could not afford. While entry payment for vocational trainings such as tailoring, carpentry, road side mechanics, brick laying, hair dressing and bags sewing are relatively cheap in the range of N5,000 to N10,000, payment for graduation, which in the local parlance is called “freedom ceremony”, is very high.
Adenike John, 31, is a victim of high cost of such training. She has graduated from the polytechnic but hasn’t got a job for four years now. She once enrolled for a vocational training in tailoring and has indeed completed the training but has not been able to start on her own because her retired, aged parents could not afford to pay N150,000 for her “freedom.”
She lamented: “My parents have really tried. Both of them are retired civil servants and they are yet to be receiving their pension. They can’t even buy a sewing machine for me, let alone pay for my freedom.
To worsen my case, I can’t even secure a job to raise money for myself even though I have got an Ordinary National Diploma (OND) in Health Records.”
Taiwo Ajayi, 23, is also one of hundreds of the victims. He is currently riding a commercial motorbike to eke out a living for himself. He has got no parents to either sponsor his education or enroll him for an informal vocational training.
He paid an entry fee for an informal training on bricklaying, which he has completed. To pay for his “freedom,” a prerequisite for him to start the vocation on his own, has become extremely difficult, hence he has taken to riding the Okada:
“This motorbike I am riding isn’t even my own as I don’t have money to buy one. The owner collects N3000 from me on daily basis. I have trained in brick laying but the union of the bricklayers would notpermit me to do the work because I have not paid for my freedom from my boss. This is my predicament.”
“Freedom” payment for brick laying comes tops with N300,000, hair dressing attracts N200,000, mechanics goes for N150,O00 or more while tailoring is the least with about 120,000 or N100,000 for the apprentice who is graduating.
Mr. Ajibade Ariyo, a zonal leader of the tailors’ union told Daily Sun: “Many of those undergoing vocational training under us are having it very tough. Most of them usually have people who pay for their entry fees of N5, 000 or more. But when they complete the training and have to pay for their graduation ceremony, it becomes very difficult.
Some do not either have parents who can afford to pay or cannot fund it themselves.
“I have an apprentice with me now who has lost his father. He has since completed his training and should have started on his own. He has not been able to raise the money for his freedom which is in the range of N80,000 and N100,000. He has no one who can buy him a sewing machine and other materials.
“It is such development that pushed many of those youths who have one or two training in a vocation to go into riding motorbike to hustle for such money. Some of the young girls have become prostitutes hustling for money to pay for their graduation. Some of them even go into stealing because an idle hand is a devil’s handiwork.”
A leader of the Bricklayers Association, Karimu Ayoade, said: “The government can solve the problems of our trainees by offering to pay for their graduation and even buy materials for them to start on their own. The challenge of not being able to pay for graduation ceremony is very huge and very common among Ekiti youths. This is why there are many idle youths who later become thieves and cult members.
“The freedom fees some years ago, were not so high. Then, training materials were cheap and besides, we didn’t have many people coming for the training. Most of the youths were going to school because formal education then was also cheap. Now we have many coming. Even those who have become graduates but couldn’t find job and vocational training has now become very competitive and costly too.”
Proffering the solution to the challenge, Mr. Oke James, the managing director, Knight VIC Agricultural Firm, Ado-Ekiti, advised that government and wealthy private individuals could come to the rescue of the idle youths by sponsoring vocational training for them. In August 2018, he started free training for interested people on farming and agric-business, such as fishery, archery, feed mill, palm trees, snary, piggery and plantain farming:
“My belief is that everybody has opportunity to assist others. It is not only when you are a politician and not only in distributing money but also in empowering the people. So I have been thinking on how to assist my people and impact on my society and help build the society.
We have trained more than 500 people and out of them, 1000 have started their own business in fish agriculture.
“We have been traveling abroad to get trainings but my aim is to have other people cone from outside to train in our country. The training is free because we partner with a group. It takes 40 percent of the cost of the training while we take 60 percent.
“If you have a civil servant who has a grace of 20 years in service he can start something on agriculture and make something for him self.
It is a two-day programme and we train the trainees on all areas of fishery. It is a week-end training. It is both practical and theory.”
He also spoke on the challenges in agricultural business in the country: “One of the challenges is honesty and this is in two ways.
The consultants are not honest with their farmers and those who have their own farms are not also honest with consultants.
“Farming in this respect is supposed to be a collaborative effort.
Some people get the money to develop farming, but divert it elsewhere.
The job has to be done by someone who has passion for it. In all the factors that affect the growth of agriculture in Nigeria, capital is a mere two percent the major factors that must be developed are honesty and truthfulness.
“The essence of training is to equip the trainees in a general way so that they can choose an aspect of farming they have passion for. I want to advise government to channel its resources to develop agriculture towards those of us who are passionate about this farming business and who have been doing it.
“I don’t believe in people saying they have passion but do not have resources for farming. I started with just 300 pieces of fish. I excelled because I was unrelenting and was very determined. I have spent 10 years in this business. I am first person to start fish farming in Ekiti. Many people laughed at me when I started the farming business.”
Mr. Paul Odigbo, Director, Centre for Entrepreneurship Development and Vocational Studies, Federal Polytechnic Ado-Ekiti, said: “Our programme is basically focused in our students for now. And the purpose is to prepare the students for self-employment when they leave school. We do have a bigger plan to extend the training to the host community, Ado-Ekiti. It should commence by next year.
“Presently, we offer 18 entrepreneurial skills such as crop production, fishery, block making, car wash, tailoring, arts and crafts and tie and dye. I want to urge the government to ensure that participants in these programmes in our polythecnics are empowered and also government should support the skills that are productive.”