Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Chairman of the United Nigeria Airline, Dr Obiora Okonkwo, have said that Nigeria would need to embrace Igba Boyi, an Igbo apprenticeship scheme, if it cares for economic revival and growth.
Osinbajo said that the widely celebrated, tremendous successes of Ndigbo in various fields of human endeavour, particularly in business, were facilitated by the Igba Boyi scheme.
The duo spoke in Awka, the Anambra State capital during the National Summit on Igbo Apprenticeship themed ‘Repositioning the Igbo Apprenticeship Scheme for Sustainable Economic Development’ organized by the Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS) and Awka Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (AwkaCCIMA).
Osinbajo said: “For several generations, legions of businessmen, traders and entrepreneurs have emerged and come into their own through the conveyor belt of the Igbo apprenticeship scheme otherwise known as Igba Boyi.
“It is, perhaps, the most popular indigenous Nigerian economic institution that has been globally recognized as the world’s largest business incubator. This clearly demonstrates that, as a people, we possess socio-cultural tools with which to forge a future of sustainable prosperity.
The Vice President said that the summit was timely as it provided an important opportunity to reflect on the scheme, and more importantly to fashion ways by which “we can calibrate the scheme for national use and to meet the realities of the 21st century.”
He spoke further: “So, we must ask ourselves, for example, how do we scale up the scheme to maximise its potential as an engine of wealth creation and economic growth? How do we bring the scheme into the formal economy? Are there aspects of the scheme that technology can enhance?
“I believe that the Igba Boyi Scheme has the potential to do for our economy what similar apprenticeship schemes have done in other parts of the world.
“The notable ones are the ones in Germany and India. They have something unique to teach the world. And I think that this is a good start to begin to teach the world something original that comes out of the Nigerian business environment.”
On his part, Okonkwo said: “All who are familiar with the apprenticeship scheme would readily attest to its immense role in lifting the Igbo out of the devastating impact of the civil war and their quick re-emergence as key players in the Nigerian economy, even if mostly in the informal sector.
“However, unlike the industrial apprenticeship system mentioned earlier, the Igbo apprenticeship scheme is as much about learning the skills of a particular trade or craft, as it is about inculcating the right values required to be a respected member of society – Ezi Afa Ka Ego (Good name is better than money) as our people often say.”
“The Igbo Apprenticeship Scheme, the foundation of the famed Igbo enterprise has a long history dating back to pre-colonial times. However, a combination of factors during the Nigerian Civil War, and its aftermath, provided the impetus for what some have called the massification of the apprenticeship scheme. Such include the destruction of the means of livelihoods of most people and the resurgence of the communal spirit of solidarity and oneness.
“This was the bedrock that saw young boys from very poor homes climb the social ladder, registering their presence of not only arrival, but also a vehicle for the transformation of others, who would have been forgotten as dregs of society.”
