Rotary Club of FESTAC Town empowers artisans in Lagos

Rotary Club of FESTAC Town has organised a vocational seminar/award with the theme: ‘Work na Work’ through which it empowered many artisans in Lagos State.

Speaking during the occasion, which was held recently to mark the 2022-2023 Vocational Services Month, the Guest Speaker, Dr. David Kayode Ehindero, noted that the event was timely, saying that focusing basically on natural resources has not helped Nigeria to grow.

Ehindero, who is the Executive Director and Lead Strategist at the Nigerian Workforce Strategic and Enlightenment Centre (NIWOSEC), said: “Globally people are using their most important resources which is human resources. We have dichotomised work too much in Nigeria. We don’t see any other thing that people do as important.  It is high time we encouraged people to upskill in whatever they are doing so that the productivity level of Nigeria can grow.”

He regretted that Nigerians had been underproductive, saying they rely more on external than internal productivity.

“In agriculture the farmers are doing very well. They are giving us what we eat . We are eating what we produce in Nigeria. In the processing world we are not there. There are industries that are supposed to grow around agriculture for us to preserve our products by ourselves after being produced by farmers but they are not there.
“In engineering, do you know that Nigeria can design a road that is of our own style? The eHe urged the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to change the nomenclature of its demands by tasking government to invest in the educational sector rather than asking the government for money.

He recalled that there is a place called Shenzhen in China, where everybody is a millionaire, noting: “Unfortunately in Nigeria the villages are not being developed so everybody goes to Lagos or Abuja to look for money. It is a problem. We can all stay in our villages and do something to make money. I have a small place in my village where I do my agriculture. I intend to build my house there and live there.
“The world is a global village. I can exist anywhere and be productive and take my product anywhere. Look at what is happening on the internet. Young men are doing their content wherever they are and the whole world is watching. But Nigerians want everything to come from Abuja.”

Also speaking, the President of Rotary Club of FESTAC Town, Rotarian Placid Oluigbo, explained that the vocational services programme is a yearly event where the club celebrates people that have excelled in their vocations.

He said: “Rotary celebrates vocations in January. We decided to honour the people who have excelled in their vocations. The programme was divided into two parts. We presented some awards to our people who have affected humanity with their vocations and we held the seminar for the artisans to encourage them to know that there is dignity in their work.  Because of the way most people in our society look down on the artisans, the artisan also does not believe in himself.
“They see what they are doing as dirty jobs, feeling that if they have the resources they can do other things, not knowing that they are very important in the society. Like I said in my opening speech, assuming you are going to work with your car and you have a flat tyre and there is no vulcaniser around, how do you take care of that situation? It is then you will realise the importance of that man you hardly notice each day you pass his place of work.
“That is why we termed our vocational programme today ‘Work na Work as Long as it Adds Value to the Society’. Every work you do and you add value to the society is work and God can bless you through it. That is what informed today’s programme.”

He stated that participants at the programme included members of the National Automobile and Technicians Association (NATA), the National Association of Beauticians and Cosmetologists, vulcanisers and hairdressers.

“We invited them for the seminar to encourage them to do their work and feel honoured in the work they do. That is the main essence of inviting them so that they don’t look down on themselves. First of all, they should be proud of what they are doing. That was why we invited a man from Kwara State to come and give that talk ‘Work na Work for as Long as it Adds Value to the Society’. So our slogan today is ‘Work na Work, Do Something’.