Skills gap doing damage to Nigeria’s manufacturing sector
Joseph Okeke was a mechanical engineering graduate of Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Kaduna State, north-west of Nigeria. Like numerous Nigerian graduates who sought non-existent employment, he hoped to secure a job one day, having gone for so many interviews where the people who finally got employed did not even participate in the tedious and tortuous processes.
Okeke finally got notice of an aluminium manufacturing company based in Lagos, located in south-west Nigeria, that needed the services of a competent mechanical engineer. Unlike the previous other interviews he had attended, the 27-year-old Okeke noticed something different from this one.
‘’Mr Charles Ochai, the chief executive officer, wanted to me to address some mechanical faults in the production department. Unfortunately, I could not even press any button,’’ Okeke said, while stating his disappointment, since he was not found worthy of the position. This was in 2012.
Similarly, Charles Smith was an American investor who set up a medium-scale beverage manufacturing firm in Ogun State, also in south-west of Nigeria. Due to expansion and increased demand for his products, Smith wanted to engage a quality control expert, who understood the industry. His job would be focused on ensuring that output quality met international standards.
‘’Unfortunately, I could not find any who understood the job here in Nigeria. I had to quickly address the problem by bringing in someone from India,’’ he said. This happened in 2014.
Ike Ibeabuchi, managing director of MD Services Limited, a chemical-making firm located in Enugu State, south-east Nigeria, told this writer that he had interviewed 17 Nigerian graduates of chemical engineering in the last 10 months but could not find anyone to fit into his company as the assistant quality control officer.
“The point is that a number of them did not understand chemical terminology. I felt that this could prove disastrous if I employed them,” Ibeabuchi said.
Analysts believe that these tales of woes are indications that Nigeria’s educational system are ‘flying in the wind’, as they are not meeting the needs of various industries.
Experts express concern that, with the nature of Nigeria’s education curricula which tend to concentrate on theory rather than practice, both in polytechnics and other higher institutions, the sector’s problems may linger.
‘’Where do we go from here when our schools are theory-based,’’ said Samuel Ugbesia, a manufacturer in Aba, Abia State, South-East Nigeria.
The need to align the Nigerian educational curricula with the demands of modern-day industrial sector has become paramount. According to research, there are many vacancies in many manufacturing concerns that are yet to be occupied, owing to skills mismatch. Manufacturers suffer shortages in those areas or, like Smith, go as far as bringing in suitable experts from other countries of the world to fill the vacancies, in order not to lose revenue or close down.
The African Economic Outlook, an online-based media firm that centres on Africa, recently undertook a study on education and skills mismatch in several African countries. From the research on Nigeria, it was gathered that there were vacancies in some technical areas which could not be filled because no competent person was handy in the labour market.
To analysts, this is an indication that the educational curricula of the country needs to be tinkered with.
‘’The curricula of our universities should reflect the needs of the modern-day industries,’’ said Remi Bello, immediate past president, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry(LCCI), in a telephone interview in 2014.
Industry analysts say the particular area of need is technical-based areas. According to them, graduates employed on the basis of grades could hardly fill in vacancies since many of the situations they would face were not taught them. Others also add that Nigeria’s less interest in technical courses has become a problem in the sector.
‘’A situation where the technical colleges of those days are no more; a situation where skills centres of those days have been phased out, calls for action,’’ Bello added.
But Bello was quick to say that such shortages were often found at the mid-level, insisting that though there were unemployable graduates in the country, manufacturing companies, especially multinationals, should not use that as an excuse not to engage Nigerians.
‘’Let me tell you, you have to place fresh graduates on probation, a period when you train and re-train them.
Our graduates excel abroad. Most times people just give a dog a bad name to hang it,’’ he said
Bolaji Ogunseye, an economist and former staff member of Shell, told this writer that the major cause of this situation was the poor structure of Nigeria’s educational system, which tended to drive students to the arts, rather than science, engineering, technology and economics.
“Industrial growth is driven by science and technology,” Ogunseye, who is regarded as a management expert, said.
“Many students run away from them and, often, funding for industry-targeted courses is low,” he said.
Ogunseye said many students applying for admissions into higher institutions often preferred arts to science and technology, adding that only very few would be interested in courses that could drive industrialisation.
The neglect of metallurgical institutions and other specialised institutions is also seen as a key factor, given that many of these centres have shut down while the rest are poorly funded by public institutions.
“The point is that many of the graduates from these institutions cannot even find jobs, because manufacturing companies that need them sometimes cannot locate them,” said Peter Jamos, a lecturer in one of the metallurgical institutions located in the South-East of Nigeria.
“Another challenge is that if you get employed by these companies straight from a specialised institution, you will remain in low cadre because you do not have a university certificate,” Jamos said.
“You can hardly become a manager. How then do you want other young people to go there, in a certificate-driven economy?” he asked..
Observers insist that restructuring the Nigerian educational curricula to meet the demands of the ever-changing economy will not only help employers but will also reduce over 50 percent youth unemployment rate in the country.
‘’I am convinced that the educational curricula should be restructured to meet employers’ demands,’’ said Justin Onwujekwe, lawyer and industry analyst.
But there are some sections that attribute skills shortages to brain drain. For instance, over 40,000 Nigerian doctors work in the United States, according to findings. Competent engineers in different specialties, technicians, among others have left the country, owing to political and social crises, poor wages and conditions of service, among other issues.
‘’You do not remain in a country where your labour rights are constantly violated, while political and economic climates are cloudy,’’ admitted Egbuna Vincent, a Nigerian engineer based in the United Kingdom.
Nigeria has been named a member of MINTs, involving Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey by Jim O’Neill, former Goldman Sachs economist. These economies are expected to surprise the world in the next twenty years.
The country is currently the largest economy in Africa, but yet suffers poor funding and capacity, resulting from low level of education.
“The poor standards of education in Nigeria have the consequence of producing graduates ill equipped to be entrepreneurs or who hardly qualify as employable in micro, small and medium enterprises,” said Agusto&Co, in a research commissioned by FATE Foundation.
“Some small business owners cannot read and understand business registration procedures, bank account opening procedures or loan requirements,” Agusto& Co said.
The research firm added that steps must be urgently taken to make entrepreneurial, managerial and financial training opportunities for MSMEs more pervasive.
Some analysts say lack of skills could mar the country’s quest to consolidate few achievements made in manufacturing sub-sectors such as sugar and cement, automobiles, among others.
“Lack of expertise is one of the key factors that will prevent Nigeria from fulfilling its potential,” said Kevin Korgba, managing director, ETK Group, a United Kingdom-based consultancy group, in a recent chat with African Business Review.
“There needs to be an urgent focus on addressing this through increased access to education and training.
“We would also emphasise the importance of understanding the nuances of local markets,’’ Korgba added.
ODINAKA ANUDU