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Apprenticeship and settlement is an integrated business culture in Nigeria that many would say holds more promise than white-collar jobs.
Apprenticeship and settlement have roots in the Eastern region of Nigeria, where the civil war of 1967-1970 ravaged. Whether it is a family member or a neighbours son, the culture involves “not leaving anyone behind.”
In addition to that, it has quickly become a blueprint for many uneducated people to gain financial confidence and live without fear of starvation and poverty.
Less than three years after the civil war, this method proved to be a way forward in Nigeria especially for the Igbos. Big businesses started to spring out of ruins and nothing but the €20 received from the British government at the time.
Nigerian men who began this culture and those that went through it first have continued to carve paths for others to follow and making sure it stays alive.
In the last 50 years, this method demonstrated success for the originators, hence the attraction for other regions of Nigeria.
Starting with the family members, this sort of empowerment and the status of a young man as an apprentice is a sign they will escape hunger.
If one or two family members are apprentices, then there is a future for the other children and a light at the end of the tunnel.
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Apprenticeship and settlement in business in Nigeria
Here is a typical scenario of the apprenticeship and settlement business culture in Nigeria:
- A boy leaves his family to go work for an established businessman who probably was an apprentice 5 years earlier.
- The businessman owns an electronics store (instance) and will let the boy live under his roof with an agreement that he will work in the store every day.
- The agreement typically includes a capital settlement for the boy for a number of years.
- Boy begins to build his skills from working at the electronics store.
- Seven years later or some agreed-upon years, the boy gets his settlement and opens his one electronics store.
- One year later, he opens up a spot for an apprentice – maybe a family member or anyone who might be interested.
This culture is one of the bases of the industrious nature in Nigerian men, but of course, survival as well. Several countries share similar cultures but most limit their business to family – a succession of the family business.
Apprenticeship in Nigeria also has its downside.
Some boys have witnessed being sent away from service without settlement and breach of contract. In a small analysis we carried out, greed was our best resolute for that.
Some boys also steal from their master for fear of not getting their capital and they end up being dismissed with little or nothing.
Others quit for personal reasons.
Here is an outcome of the apprenticeship culture for the Igbos who started it:
Over a quarter of men who run the electronics, import, car dealerships businesses in Nigeria and Africa’s biggest markets – from Alaba in Lagos to Sabon Gari in Kano, were once apprentices.
These businesses which fall under the non-oil sectors in Nigeria also contribute somewhere between 2% to 10% to the GDP yearly.
Aside from trade, there is the craftsmen club – auto mechanics, welding, interior designing, carpentry, construction, transportation and many more that enable young men early.
Apprenticeship in farming is also likely. However, most times Nigerians have entitlement to some sort of farmland mostly through inheritance, hence succession leads here.
