-
To Nigerians As Workmen On Their Sites
Despite the youth unemployment in Nigeria, most real estate developers and property players hardly go for Nigerian artisans, when it comes to construction works. Most construction sites in Lagos, Abuja are dominated by the artisans from Benin and Togo respectively. These foreign artisans, it was gathered, have taken over four million jobs in the construction sector.
They have also become the toast of Nigeria’s home-builders, estate developers, who preferred them to their local counterparts on the basis of value addition when it comes to home finishings.
According to a popular builder on Tik-Tok, John. He said there are many advantages artisans from Benin and Togo have over Nigeria artisans.
He stated that, in Benin Republic, the state certifies artisans through an examination it conducts.
It was also learnt that aside going to school, the students are made to go through apprenticeship before writing exams. And a student artisan, who failed the final certification exam, will have to return for more apprenticeship until he or she passes the exam.
An artisan from Benin Republic, there is usually both formal and informal training which they go through. He said those who combine formal and informal training spend on the average six years, while those who learn through the informal process train for at least seven years. He said that until the master certifies such an apprentice, he or she would not be allowed to practice, while those who combine informal and formal training get certified after passing an exam set by the government.
Another person, Mr Paul who is a specialist in vocational and technical education, noted that aside from being properly trained and good at what they do, artisans from neighbouring countries do not play truancy after collecting mobilisation. “Some Nigerian artisans would collect money for materials and disappear.”
He, however, said technical colleges in Nigeria are challenged, due mainly to lack of planning. “If you look at Nigeria’s National Policy on Education, it is one of the best in the world, very well created. One of the goals of the policy is that Nigeria is going to be an egalitarian society, but Nigeria is not. There is class consciousness in the country.
“In planning for technical education, we have to consider the curriculum, fashioned after the needs of the society, which would shape what the programme should entail and how the graduates could be useful to their immediate environment. And that is what other countries are getting right, that we are not.”
Another good reason why developers go for foreign artisans is that, the strength and rigour with which the foreigners carry out their works is amazing, and at the end of the day, they still deliver. Some Nigerian building contractors who hire them have excellent testimonies about the immigrants
It is also been said that Ghanaians, Togolese and Beninoise, are very easy to manage at work site, unlike Nigerians. When you give them target for a day, or week or month, they will meet up the set target with excellent result to show for it.
A lot of developers we spoke to said, they blame Nigerians for creating such opportunity for them, saying “the urge by our own citizens to milk you given the slightest opportunity, has made many to prefer these foreigners. The charges by Nigerians are much higher that of the foreigners who are very much concerned in doing excellent jobs.”
“Whatever opportunity that comes up, they make the best use of it knowing that they have to make money to take back home. And you would realize that the jobs Nigerians are rejecting, they are keen to take them up. If you give them a job, they do it and deliver quality service. People who had engaged them once would like to use them over and over again, based on the fact that they do quality and affordable jobs.”
