By Lawrence Enyoghasu
To get a young apprentice nowadays to fix your car or do some other menial jobs is becoming more difficult than finding a lost needle in a haystack. As things stand, the general fear and worry among people is, a time may come when you would have nobody to attend to you if the old people in the trade professions keep dying and there is nobody, kids or learners, willing to replace them and continue with their trade.
Indeed, Nigerians may have to start visiting Benin, Togo, Ghana and other neighbouring countries whenever they are in need of mechanics, plumbers, electrical technicians, tailors and other artisans.
So? Why is it so? What can be done to attract young ones into the local trades or craft professions? Seeing that they are not interested anymore, what can the society and government authorities do, not only to sustain the interest of the few who are already in them but also for others who are looking for a way out anytime opportunity comes calling? Those were the questions that Saturday Sun took to town and came back with several but sometimes contradictory answers depending on who was talking: the youth or those who have had the opportunity to work with them and later found them seemingly overambitious.
Mechanic work, then and now
One sunny afternoon, the reporter ran into a mechanic called Kayode Arotiowa. In his late teens, he sat by the side of a damaged Toyota Sienna, battling to fix the bushings of the tyres. After a while, an older man who identified himself as Baba Aliyah came to his rescue upon discovering that he was not doing the job well. While at it, he shook his head and said, more to himself than to the reporter, “the youths do not want to do this kind of job anymore. If it is not attracting ladies, they are not willing to do it and that is the truth. They only want to frolic and enjoy their lives.”
Baba Aliyah, who was actually Kayode’s boss, was a graduate of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Ibadan, who chose to set up a mechanic workshop somewhere in Lagos. He sighed as he added: “In our days, we were mandated to learn a handiwork. And that is my saving grace today, especially now that ASUU is on strike. We would go to the workshop after school and during holidays. It was the money we made from it that we used to chase girls in those days. It was the easiest way to have a source of income to spend on ladies then.
“Mechanics are now seen as dirty and uneducated by the majority. Most youths want to be seen as educated and civilised. That is what is killing them. I learnt this job while in secondary school. I have built a house with financial proceeds from it and married a wife of my dream. I would not lie to you; it was not that easy to be a mechanic and still command people’s respect. I learnt the job at a time my mates were in school. I learnt it out of shame and desperation. I know what it took before my wife could agree to marry me. Her family tried to dissuade her. But she stood by me after I had proved to her that I am worth it. Imagine how many boys can agree to subject themselves to that kind of humiliation now. I mean in an age where a little boy in secondary school is already making money through the Internet.
“It is not necessarily fraud that is done via the internet, because my nephew is making money through it and his father has verified his source. He is richer than I am; yet his back had never been stained with engine oil. That is the age we live in today.”
Welder swindled by ambitious youths
A 76-year-old welder, Alhaji Shefiu Wasiu, corroborated Baba Aliyah’s view when he spoke on how he was swindled by some of his apprentices. Wasiu, CEO of Fame Steel, said. “The youth don’t want to work. They are lazy. There was a time I had about six of them. They were all after money. One of them was sent to Awka to complete a job for me. After the job, he was supposed to bring my tools that were worth N7 million. But he didn’t bring them back. Rather, he sold them to another welder and used the money to travel out of the country. But I was pacified by his family and community leaders. There was another who continued to steal my things because he always wanted to have money. He stole a gold chain I bought. I didn’t take the gold chain home because I wanted to change it. The chain was small. So, I gave it to my son to hold for me. But he forgot it in the workshop and that was the end of it. The boy was caught the day he came to my house to steal my son’s phone. On that day, he was severely beaten. It was in the course of beating that he confessed to stealing the gold chain as well. These boys don’t want to learn. They want quick money. I even came up with the idea of paying them as labourers while they learn, just to make them stay. I paid them N2000 per day and N2000 per weekend. The professionals among them got N3, 000 per day and N2, 000 for the weekend. Yet, they stole my tools.”
But Jide Adekunle, a mechanic based in Mechanic Village, Ejigbo, Lagos, put the blame for the youth’s get-rich-quick mentality on peer pressure. He noted: “Most youths are under the influence of their peer group. In our days, we did what was available to us and most of them are doing what is available to them now. In those days, if you didn’t have a handiwork, the society would not regard you as anything. The society they met also has some expectations for them which they are trying very hard to meet.”
Fashion designing and youths’ lack of patience
Mechanic work, it must be said, is not the only affected trade. Others include fashion design or clothing, tailoring, plumbing, printing, engineering, transportation, etc. According to Mrs. Anita Ojo, an Efik-born fashion designer married to an Ekiti man, “it is rare to find young ladies willing and patient enough to dedicate the same length of time it took me to learn this work. Most women who come here are those who have worked in an office and want to stop, maybe because they are getting married or they were sacked. Very few young ladies come to learn tailoring for the love of it. But as for me, I love the work so much that I married a man who has something to do with it. That was before he got another thing doing. When I was learning this job, I had to live with my sister who was very strict and meticulous. She was the one that taught me the job. It was not easy but I stayed on it until I became perfect. I have not travelled overseas. But my handiwork has gone there before me. As at today, I have many customers over there. When you sew for one, she introduces you to other clients.”
Another seamstress, Happiness Arogungbade, insisted that not many young ladies would be willing to endure what she passed through during her own time. According to her, she was placed under constant moral surveillance by her boss. She recalled what happened: “I used to wash her husband’s clothes. She would send me to her house, knowing full well that her husband was at home. Shortly afterwards, she would come home or send a friend to know whether she could catch me and her husband red-handed in any extra-marital affairs. I could not protest because I wanted to learn the trade. If we quit, the whole community would know why we quit the job. If we didn’t persevere, they might read another meaning into it, that we were not suitable to keep a home. In those days marriage was arranged by parents and people of the community were the best people to talk about a lady. Now I too would not subject myself to such in this age. But the art of tailoring is dying because many young women have other options these days. Most of them want to do the nine-to-five jobs. Education has opened their eyes to many things and many are busy moving from the kitchen to boardrooms.”
The plumber, printer, engineer and transporter’s views
Egbeyemi Keshinro, a plumber, blamed feminism for young women’s unwillingness to engage in trades they consider demeaning to their social status. The man, who expressed himself in Yoruba, argued: “Feminism has made these young women not to want to do some jobs. The reason ladies don’t want to take to my kind of profession, for instance, is because it gives men at great advantage and puts them at serious disadvantage. Countless women have called me for jobs. But oftentimes, they stand gallantly to supervise the job even when they don’t have the slightest idea of what is involved. One of the reasons that young people are not attracted to plumbing work is because this job is not one that you get always. And so you can’t rely on it to make a living. No youth nowadays would want to do this kind of job. It is savings-oriented but how many young men are willing to save money? Instead, they want to buy the latest Android phone. I get this kind of job mostly in dry seasons and, thereafter, save for the rainy season. There is no young man in this Internet age that would be willing to save for two years in order to buy a phone.”
Olumide Sanyaolu, a printer agreed that times have changed and youths have also changed. He illustrated his belief with a personal experience: “There was a time I took it upon myself to teach one boy, Nuhu. He was the son of a neighbour. He was smart which convinced me that he could see printing as an interesting job. But any day, I don’t give this boy transport and feeding money, he won’t come to work the following day. He continued like that until I stopped him. Before that time, he would expect me to pay him or give him money for his needs. There was a time he started to short-change me in materials. I want to believe that the desire for making quick money made him not to concentrate and learn the job properly. Printing is a goldmine especially during this time of politics. We saw it then after our secondary school education. Those of us who could not see the four walls of the university opted for handiwork. We used the income from it to feed and take care of our families. But now the world is a global village. With good pay, you can stay at home and work comfortably which is better than staying somewhere and carrying a heavy object or baskets of food items in the market.”
David Ishola, an engineer, also believed that the hunt for fast money, which he said has increased among youths who are fascinated by what their To get a young apprentice nowadays to fix your car or do some other menial jobs is becoming more difficult than finding a lost needlefellow youths are doing, has invariably killed the desire for skilled jobs. The electrical engineer and graduate of Lagos State Polytechnic observed that most youths are after ‘fast paying jobs. He said: “I have three boys in my workshop learning the job. But none of them want to know how it works. Rather, all that they are interested in is making a lot of money from betting and such stuffs.”
Oluleke Alade, a transporter, thinks that the blame should be put on parents for failing to teach their children the value of hard work. His viewpoint: “It is a societal fault encouraged by parents. Most parents don’t even know what value is again. We were trained not to run in another man’s shadow but to create our own pathways. Most parents these days put pressure on these youths and that makes them abandon their values. When a child starts misbehaving, they might not have the right to caution him because the economy invariably also affects the youths from learning any of the menial jobs. To polish a shoe is N100 and you have to walk miles to polish about 10 of it. How much can N1000 do for a young man trying to woo a girl? The society failed the youths and they are finding a way to survive.”
The youth’s opinions
But the youths interviewed by Saturday Sun insist that they are the ones who wear the shoe and should be able to know where it pinches. They gave various reasons for not willing to go for any menial jobs. Chizaram Chima who was an apprentice to one senior tailor said he left after working with the man for about five years. The 28-year-old Abia State indigene said he was denied some accrued benefits.
Ishola Adeyinka, student of Lagos State University agreed with Chima that past ugly experience has made the youth to lose interest in apprenticeship. He said: “Youths are pressured by the society to be responsible when they should be learning. As a result, they need to source for other means to make money in order to meet society’s expectation. The Internet provided the only option. Most people say that it is fraud that most of us do. This is because of the lifestyle of most of the people who are into the Internet jobs. But that does not remove the fact that most of the jobs on the Internet are legit and give quick money than learning a handiwork.”
Edem Takailor, Kogi State indigene, saw nothing commensurately rewarding in being an apprentice to anybody. And he was emphatic about his stance. “I am a footballer. I would rather spend my time playing football than learning a trade that will keep me in this country. If I get a good deal, I will leave the country and that is a stepping stone to greatness for me. Therefore, learning a trade and staying back in the country is a no-no”