Mr. Chucks Omeife, chartered builder, fellow and former President, Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), is the Managing Director/CEO, Build Consult Ltd. In this interview with DAYO AYEYEMI, he speaks about the dangers of dearth of trained artisans in the housing sector and Nigeria. He also suggests way out.
The dearth/ scarcity of quality artisans in the real estate sector is becoming a major concern to many stakeholders. What do you think?
The problem of artisans and craftsmen in the country, especially as it affects the construction and the real estate sector has been an unfolding issue. However, it is very important to submit that this problem did not start today.
For those of us in the sector, we have continuously raised the alarm over the obvious challenges that the dearth of these group of skill manpower portends for the construction industry.
Gradually it is dawning on us that except something is done and this trend is urgently reversed the problem ahead will be unsurmounted.
While it is naturally correct to say that the renumeration system and the lack of continuity in terms of engagement of artisans have been issues that the sector was faced with and still battling, the concurrent issue of jappa – migration as it is fondly called has come to worsen an already bad situation.
At the moment, there are lots of initiatives that have been put in place by successive governments which the current government has also been following up with, despite all the efforts the problem is still here with us.
The SURE-P programme and the National Vocational Qualifications Framework (NVQF), Skill-Up Artisans (SUPA) are some of the government’s initiatives which are well thought through.
Why are people not interested in training as craftsmen, artisans?
The skewed national renumeration system in the country which is heavy at the top and miserable at the bottom has been a source of discouragement for anyone to encourage their ward to be trained as on artisan or craftsman.
The various government initiatives for me has not been well thought through from the beginning to the end.
The country is dotted with training centres for artisans and other trades designed and implemented through SURE-P programme was to empower people with different skills with the expectation that after the training they can set up small scale business based on the training they have received. Unfortunately, most of the trainees after graduation do not follow up on the expectation of the programme because of so many reasons.
What are the reasons?
One of the major problem was that at the beginning of the programme, the selection process for trainees was politically influenced, used as a patronage and payback to loyal party members. It’s not based on interest and passion for the trade by those selected . Hence, people who were enrolled to participate in the training, collected monthly government’s stipends for the duration of the training and thereafter move on with their lives. This was one major cause of the failure of that initiative, which was designed to add more to the available numbers of existing artisans across the country. That project obviously failed.
The issue of work continuity. Large percentage of artisans works in the informal sector where payment is based on daily pay as you work. What that translates into is that most of this artisans may not be engaged for sometime which automatically affects their survival ability.
For this reason, most of them have had to engage in other business which they think are less strenuous in terms of making a daily survival income. A lot of trained artisans have turned into Okada and Keke Napep riders just for the sake of survival.
The issue of renumeration. Majority of artisans working in organizations are poorly paid and looked down upon as the low cadre members of staff. The ones in the work and get paid sector that is, informal sector are well paid relatively but the challenge is sustainability of the pay for a reasonable length of time as a result of lack of continuous engagement.
This has been a serious de motivational factor in the industry and one that does not encourage interest in the trades.
The targeted training through government initiatives has not achieved the purpose because of lack of engagement of this trainees by stakeholders in the sector.
This artisans, after their training through government programmes are left on their own without placement in organization where they can practice their trade and earn income.
This lack of placement is one factor that has made a lot artisans commit to other means of survival.
How can a programme like that achieve the desired result?
The programmes will achieve the desired result if these artisans, after training, are placed in organizations where they can be employed on salary basis.
The current infrastructural and development deficit in the country is supposed to be an opportunity for engagement of artisans in the construction industry.
Artisans integration: Policy to ensure that after the training programmes artisans are integrated or attached mandatorily to organizations involved in national and state capital projects contract execution as a standard procedure and pre-condition for award of contracts. Government must put in place a deliberate policy of engagement after training to encourage all levels of manpower training,development and engagement.
Let’s look at the issue of Japa
The issue of JAPPA is a natural human instinct. People go to where they are well renumerated and valued- seeking green pasture. While a lot of advanced countries are groaning under the challenge of inadequate tradesmen, the ones in Nigeria are idle and looking for work, no thanks to the obvious gaps in the government initiatives.
No doubt this will worsen the already bad situation of inadequate artisans in the country.
What should the government do?
Government must be thinking seriously and urgently on what to do to reverse this trend.
Government should not wait untill we start importing artisans and tradesmen from outside the country before they realize the enormity of the problem. Today, the daily pay of a good artisans in the housing sector is almost hitting the roof and this will continue to go up the fewer they are thus obeying the law of demand and supply.
This will obviously translate or lead to high cost of building/construction projects/works.
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