Nigeria: Apprenticeship in business

An apprenticeship is an act of learning the ropes of a business or trade with an intention to set up a similar business.

It is a common practice in the Eastern part of Nigeria where young lads at a young age are picked from their clans to go to the city to explore their interests in business by undergoing apprenticeship for years with their bosses with the hopes of been paid off and set up in business after serving their patrons. This form of apprenticeship is known among this particular tribe as several families, wealth and businesses have been built based on communal effort within the tribes.

While some other tribes goes to learn a trade for an agreed duration of time with payment and the apprentice gets to graduate with a ceremony called “Freedom” but the patron-only impacts knowledge into this apprentice and doesn’t have any responsibility to set up a similar business for the apprentice in this form of arrangement.

Apprenticeship builds discipline, mental stamina, market understanding, and courage to see a venture succeed.

In a formal business setting as quoted by most business schools, apprenticeship can be in the form of mentorship and job rotation to allow most employees to build capacity to work at different departments to make the organization sustainable over the long haul.

Apprenticeship has availed many young people in Nigeria the opportunity to build marketable skills thereby enriching the economy.