Nigerian Artisans, Vital to Cities and Villages, and its Global Economy

Photo Credit: SitiTalkBlog

(Young Woman Artisan Hair Braider Shop - Abuja-Nigeria)

In Nigeria there are a great number of artisans who specialize in making different products, including furniture, decorative arts, clothing and tailoring, jewelry, figurines and statuettes from wood, motor parts, and wheelbarrows; and those in the beauty products and services industry. Artisan skills are not easily acquired and on average are developed over a considerable number of months to years, requiring daily practical training. When you think about how long it takes to become an artisan expert, you can see why Nigerian artisans are one of the best at what they do. For example, there are many different types of art pieces that are made in Nigeria and these can range from sculptures, textiles to abstract paintings. The process of making African wood figurines is a lengthy and time consuming practice.

The Artisans play a big role in an emerging economy like Nigeria’s. According to the Overseas Private Investment corporation (OPIC): the Global artisan economy is annually valued at $32 billion and it is one of the largest employers in the developing world. This indicates how powerful the industry is and what the country stands to gain as being a part of this large economy. Unfortunately people engaged in artisanship face a lot of unaddressed challenges. Most Nigerian artisans ply their materials by the roadside and are part of the huge informal sector of the economy and so are unable to benefit from loans and financial incentives to improve their trade or employ more hands to expand their trade.

OPIC figures show that women are the most engaged in craftsmanship in developing countries like Nigeria and other African nations. It is well known that Nigerian women have suffered marginalization and all sorts of discrimination when it comes to education and progress in the large scale business sector in general. The artisan small scale business gives the uneducated women a reason to wake up every day other than being cooks, maids and laundry women. It gives them joy to do everyday what best they know how to do (create). It gives them income to be able to raise their children and helps guarantee better health for them and their families. The average artisan business guarantees food and shelter for a lot of Nigerian families; and this is why it is important that the Nigerian government, if it is serious about building the economy, both at the local, state and federal levels, should fuel artisan businesses in cities and villages, and within the Nigerian global economy as a whole. Authors of the research paper “Building craftsmanship skill development and Nigeria’s vision 2020: Imperatives and daunting challenges”, Peter O. Adewale, Ahmid B. Siyanbola and Sherifat O. Siyanbola, emphasize the importance of small scale artisan industries to the development of the Nigerian economy.

It is necessary to get the younger generation interested in various craftsmanship training to ensure that they are able to acquire and develop practical skills, to keep them engaged (business-wise) and to make a living. Also, it is critical that safety standards are developed and implemented in required artisan industries, to protect artisans from risks associated with potentially hazardous materials (e.g., stone dust, cement and other materials), which some artisans are constantly being exposed to. Furthermore, use of cancer-causing agents such as asbestos should be eliminated entirely.

Nigerians have an entrepreneurial spirit, and its small scale artisan industries, if well managed, can easily get millions of Nigerians self-employed and take Nigeria close to the level of a developed country by 2020.

References:

http://www.academicjournals.org/journal/IJVTE/article-full-text/339F22E48379

https://www.opic.gov/blog/opic-in-action/the-artisan-as-an-engine-of-economic-growth

http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~mbolin/zaid-popoola.htm