President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, PBAT
Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, Chairman and Founder of United Nigeria Airlines, UNA, has recommended to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to develop a policy to fine-tune the Igbo Business Apprenticeship Program for adoption as a strategy to take the youths out of joblessness.
Okonkwo made the call over the weekend in Abuja at the sidelines of a public book presentation by the Sun newspapers titled, “The Making of Modern Nigeria”
Okonkwo, a Professor of investment banking said the apprenticeship scheme had the potential to positively engage many youths and make them self-reliant within the lifetime of the Tinubu’s administration.
He announced that he once commissioned the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Business School on the functionality and strategies for reinvigorating the Igbo apprenticeship scheme as a tool for mass employment of the nation’s youths.
Okonkwo, who is also the spokesperson of the Airlines Operators of Nigeria, AON, announced that the outcome of the study indicated that the system was still a very viable option to address youth unemployment in Nigeria.
He narrated thus, “When a youth is engaged as an apprentice, he not only learns the nitty gritty of the trade type or how to buy and sell but also develops character formation as well as resource management skills.”
The UNA Chairman said further, “Don’t forget that a young boy that is engaged to a trade master, who teaches him how to trade, is also learning how to manage financial resources; he will learn aspects of home management and when he grows to become the head apprentice, he also learns how to manage human resources.
He added thus, “Apprenticeship will also expose the greenhorn to the knowledge of banking and stock management and supply chain management”.
“He will learn bookkeeping and product sourcing; he will also be introduced to his master’s business partners abroad, thus improving his network”, Okonkwo submitted.
UNA founder also highlighted the empirical result from the transportation sector of the Igbo apprenticeship scheme thus, “If he is interested in transportation and is attached to a transporter, he will learn every aspect of the business, including fleet management, spare parts sourcing and management, among others”.
He however submitted thus, “I will suggest that President Tinubu looks into this practice which has created quality and valuable human capital for our country as an avenue to tackle unemployment by creating a system of policy administration, whereby graduates can be attached to businesses that are registered and willing to absorb these graduates to improve on their skills, Obiora Okonkwo said.
Speaking further, Okonkwo said it was interesting that the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) was considering adopting the system to help improve the quality of lawyers.
“You will see what the legal practice sector will churn out in a few more years if the NBA gets through with their plan to adopt the scheme,” he said.
Prof. Okonkwo affirmed that “by attaching your lawyers to undergo apprenticeship under very senior and aging lawyers, the NBA would have succeeded in impacting positively on the legal profession by helping to produce more quality lawyers.”
NAN
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