Adding vocational skills to the curriculum: A key to citizen well-being

The Federal Government (FG), through the National Orientation Agency (NOA), has announced the addition of vocational skills such as hairstyling, plumbing, mobile phone repair, makeup artistry, and twelve others covering the home improvement, technology, agriculture, and lifestyle industries to the Basic Education curriculum. Basic education is pre-primary education, primary education, and lower secondary education, ideally covering the individual from the ages of four to fifteen.

“Basic education looks down on vocational skills as something you turn to if you don’t pass your exams.”

For over four decades, Nigerian Basic Education has trained its recipients how to get an office job. This strategy has led to mass unemployment and underemployment during this time because there are significantly more secondary school and tertiary education graduates than office jobs. Basic education looks down on vocational skills as something you turn to if you don’t pass your exams. Nigerians, including myself, who were taught basic education over the last forty years, were raised to believe vocational skills were for never-do-wells. Because of that, many Nigerians in this category refused to engage in vocational skills training even in the face of prolonged unemployment or ongoing underemployment but have no problem working these vocational jobs in more economically stable countries, particularly in Europe and the United States.

However, with the advent of social media, particularly Instagram, in 2010, the tide shifted, as Nigerians saw they didn’t need to pay an advertising agency to create advertisements for their goods and services. They saw they could reach customers and clients more directly. I believe this is what the FG through the NOA has tapped into to establish this welcome initiative.

Prior to now, basic education has never taught Nigerians how to make money; for the most part, it socialises you, teaches you how to read and write, teaches you cleanliness, and teaches you how to organise yourself. While these are essential for life, the dependence on a limited mindset and education that no longer serves the present reality of Nigeria has kept most of our citizens in poverty for too long, stopping them from reaching their full potential. The most economically stable countries in the world have long promoted the idea that office jobs are not for everyone and that all professions are essential.

These newly introduced vocational skills will make Generation Beta (those born from 2025) wealthier because they will be entrepreneurial from their teenage years. The ripple effects of that wealth are numerous: Nigeria’s GDP will be higher, leading to increased employment, higher disposable income, improved standard of living, and overall economic stability. Currently we have the fourth highest GDP in Africa, with South Africa holding the top spot. While Nigeria has no divine right to have the continent’s highest GDP, our status as the most populous Black nation on Earth behoves us to deliver Africa’s best results politically, economically, socially, technologically, legally, and environmentally.

Nigeria is currently celebrated globally for our Afrobeats music and culture. I believe the introduction of these vocational skills will make Nigeria celebrated globally for delivering the world’s best vocational services. The evidence is in other areas we have conquered, such as giving the world celebrated footballers, doctors, nurses, carers, and engineers, just to name a few professions. Why can’t we give the world celebrated beekeepers, rabbit rearers, POP installers, and plumbers?

Making a decent living from being paid for delivering a service that has been learnt gives the service provider extreme confidence: there is, indeed, dignity in labour. Crimes will reduce, Nigeria will be safer because there will be more people working, and idleness will gradually be frowned upon.

Obinna Inogbo is Founder & Principal PR Executive of Worktainment Limited.