By Kingsley Adegboye

AGAINST the backdrop of artisans in the country which is one of the major challenges confronting housing delivery in Nigeria, Lagos state government at the weekend officially announced its planned take off of Master Craftsman Project aimed at exposing craftsmen and artisans in the building construction industry to the training needed to offer suitable services to the people.

The state Commissioner for Housing, Prince Gbolahan Lawal while announcing the flag off, said the dearth of skilled workers made up of masons, carpenters, steel fabricators, plumbers, electricians, painters, joiners,  tilers and others has apparently led to  the Nigerian housing and construction industry becoming more and more dependent on foreigners to fill the skill gap created as our trained artisans gradually grow old, and new ones are not being trained to replace them.

Lawal who disclosed that the situation has been compounded by the absence of a well-structured training and apprenticeship system for workmen, added that the Lagos State Ministry of Housing as the organ of government performing the major regulatory role in the housing sector has come to the conclusion that state intervention is required to create a platform through which artisans and workers in the building industry could be trained and retrained to acquire necessary skills and certified before being permitted to work.

Meanwhile, stakeholders who were at the capacity filled Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa Secretariat, the venue of the event, lauded the state government for the initiative and urged the government to extend the gesture to professionals in the building sub-sector, as they equally need to be updated in their various fields through training and retraining programmes.

According to the commissioner, “This initiative is being undertaken in collaboration with relevant stakeholders in the industry and will further add value to our housing delivery programme. The training would involve the collaboration of the Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board whose centres at Epe, Ikeja, Ikorodu and Ikotun would be used.

“The equipment in the centres are being upgraded to facilitate the training of the artisans in the different trades.  We hope to expand the centres as the training progresses. Also,  developers/contractors are collaborating with the government to take on the craftsmen for on the job training.

“The Ministry is collaborating with Professional Bodies and Institutions in structuring and in regular revision of the training programmes.  The training will be flexible to accommodate the artisans and workmen already at work or in some form of employment.

A total of 4,000 craftsmen is targeted over a period of a four years.  A data base of all certified craftsmen will be maintained by the government. This data base will identify and categorize trained craftsmen from this programme with a unique identification number that will be verifiable online, real time from anywhere in the world.

Speaking earlier, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Bayo Dipe, an architect, who noted that the ministry has observed with concern just as other stakeholders in the industry have that our well experienced artisans are aging and not enough of the younger ones are being trained to take over, pointed out that old and experienced artisans in the past used to have several apprentices and even members of the family took delight in being part of family business.

According to him, the skill was passed on from generation to generation just as it is done in some other parts of the world where family business could run for centuries and continue to wax stronger. He said nature abhors vacuum, insisting that anywhere there is a gap, it must be filled.

While commending the state for the initiative, Brig-Gen Tunde Reis (retd), President, First World Communities, a real estate development company, said “We have been talking about training of craftsmen in the country for a long time. We should not limit it to only uneducated people. Craftsmanship is not for only those who didn’t go to school.

Even for qualified professionals, they still need to learn from artisans. So, let it be extended to both artisans and professionals”, Reis said. Speaking on behalf of the Nigerian Institute of Building NIOB, Mr. Kunle Awobodu, 2nd vice president, NIOB said the craftsman project by the state government is welcome development.