Our Igbo retail apprenticeship scheme is the largest of its kind anywhere on earth

By Ayo Akinfe

(1) I recently watched a documentary where it was revealed that the Igbo retailing apprenticeship scheme is the largest of its kind anywhere in the world. Nowhere else on the planet are such large numbers of people trained to become retailers on a daily basis

(2) Now, three Igbo cities dominate the retailing world - Nnewi with automobile spare parts, Orlu with pharmaceuticals and Abriba with clothing and shoes. They have created a scheme which desperately needs expanding and formalising as it has the potential to develop into a retailing phenomenon that can match say Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda, Aldi, etc

(3) The way this Igbo apprenticeship scheme works is that you spend five years working for a relative, brother or family friend as a shop assistant. When you “graduate” he then advances you capital to open up your own shop in the same industry

(4) Because this apprentice has spent five years working with distributors, customers and transporters, he knows the industry inside out and as he is given capital to hire a shop and stock it, he ready to hit the ground running from day one. He then hires his own apprentices and the cycle continues

(5) Unfortunately, this scheme is not formally recognised and those who pass through it are not given certificates. In my opinion, someone who has spent five years training as a retailer should have a City & Guild, OND or even a HND indicating that he or she has been trained in a profession

(6) I think Nigeria needs a unique department of vocational education to deal with these apprenticeships. For starters, it would offer the opportunity to improve on the quality of training the apprentices receive and teach them the basics of things like customer service, book keeping, international standards and vertically-integrated production whereby you source your goods from an internal supply chain. The latter will in turn boost local manufacturing

(7) With such training, the Abriba shoe merchant will not slap your face when you tell him he gave you incomplete change, that Nnewi spare parts trader will not endanger your life by selling you cooking oil as brake fluid and the Orlu chemist will not commit homicide by selling you chalk as Panadol

(8) Dora Akunyili of blessed memory tried to introduce some sanity into the Nigerian food and drug trade and up until today, we are still using the Nafdac template she left us with. We need to extend her initiative to a whole host of other areas and sectors. Do we train anyone on animal husbandry in Nigeria for instance? If we do, our herdsmen would not let their livestock roam on to motorways and into schools

(9) I don’t see why this vocational training scheme should not extend to Fulani cattle herdsmen too. Apart from the training, just imagine the tolerance, understanding and restraint we would get if your Igbo spare parts trader and Fulani cattle herdsmen took vocational classes together

(10) Human capital is the greatest asset any nation can have. Nigeria is probably only operating at about 20% when it comes to developing her human capital. Let us start with the Igbo Retail Apprenticeship Scheme and expend it nationwide. Over to you President Buhari