Group Canvasses Formalisation Of Igbo Apprenticeship Scheme

The founder of Maka Odimma Ndigbo, Nze Kanayo Chukwumezie, weekend, called for the revival of the Igbo apprenticeship scheme to bolster the economic development of Ndigbo.

The scheme entails an apprentice living with his or her ‘master’ for a certain number of years, after which the apprentice is settled by his master to become his boss.

Kanayo, who said his father was among the pioneer Igbo businessmen who promoted the scheme, explained that his organisation took up the promotion of the scheme to make it sustainable.

According to him, “We had committees to strengthen the scheme, formalise it and make it in tune with global fair practices. These started as far back as 2018. We recognized that this is a scheme that is responsible for what Igboland is today.

“There is no family that you cannot find people or at least someone capable of carrying the burdens of the family.

“Knowing that Igbos were reduced to £20 each after the civil war irrespective of the amount you had in the bank, any system that contributed to this phantom leap is worth promoting. It is the apprenticeship scheme that did that magic.”

He advised Igbo youths to embrace the scheme to fight unemployment and create wealth.

According to him, “Check the Igbo big names that ruled before and ruling now, a majority passed through this scheme.”

He acknowledged that the scheme had been abused, and expressed optimism that with good policies, it could be revived.

In his words, “Maka Odimma Igbo delved into the scheme to formalise it and make it in tune with modern day realities.

“But I must state that the abuse can come from the side of the masters or the side of the apprentices.

“Some masters frame up accusations against their apprentices, especially towards the end of their apprenticeship in order to evade settling them as contained in the agreement whether oral or written.

“Also some apprentices milk their masters and steal till they are caught. There was this case of one apprentice building a duplex in his village while still serving as an apprentice.”

He said the solution to the abuses is by formalisation of the scheme. He stated that, “The formalisation of the apprenticeship scheme as advocated by my group is to checkmate such abuses in line with global best practices and also to formalise the scheme into a kind of informal school.

“We advocated a central system where every apprenticeship contract shall be registered from the town to a central body with clear terms.

“Also because incomes can stop coming, we want the masters to deposit a certain amount into a consolidated account that can only be released to the apprentices at the end of the scheme.

“If there is any misconduct by the apprentice, the master shall report it immediately to the body for action to be taken. The opposite holds water.”

He said the group is advocating the introduction of the scheme in schools to enable apprentices that cannot calculate or read and write to take classes in English and mathematics “even if evening or weekend classes”.

“Also we plan to have a central certificate issuance system for all people that successfully completed the apprenticeship scheme with the master as one of the signatories with the central and regional heads.

“These and many more features are intended to take the scheme to an advanced level.”