How the Igbo apprenticeship system has contributed to the success of Anambra people
It is surprising how the worst thing that could happen to a tribe turned into a miracle that would later make them prosperous. The Civil War was supposed to be the end of the Igbo people but through tenacity, they clung to the apprenticeship system.
The apprenticeship system has been in existence since the days of our forefathers. History records that some of the people then would take younger ones to help them with farming activities. After a number of years, the farmers would give the helpers tubers of yams, other food commodities, and some portions of land where they would cultivate. They would go on their own ways while still maintaining a cordial relationship with their master.
After the war which lasted from 1967 to 1970, life was unbearable since there was nothing for the people to fall back on, save the meager 20 pounds they got from the banks. They borrowed a leaf from their forebears and the result was the apprenticeship system metamorphosing from farming into trading.
The Igbo people discovered they have trades running through their arteries and veins. They went into it because of the need to survive but the system turned out to be what made them millionaires and billionaires.
These people understand brotherhood and this has helped in the growth of the South-Eastern region. A man who is doing well in his business would take under his tutelage, someone from his village or elsewhere. It could even be his brother’s son or someone from the next village. There would be talks where the young boy’s family would meet the master with drinks to discuss the trade, years of service, and other things.
The apprentice would live with the master’s family, where he is expected to do house chores and open the shop for business very early in the morning. He would run errands for the master and family and learn the art of buying and selling and the hacks in the area of trade they specialize in.
At the year of maturity, the master would settle the apprentice with some money, and goods, and may even rent a shop for him.
This system is not only found in trading, it extends to services such as auto repairs, laundry, shoe making and repair, carpentry, blacksmithing, and the rest.
Some of the prominent businessmen in Igboland are products of this apprenticeship system. A good number of Anambra people who have a hand in putting the nation on the map passed through this system.
Although the youth of the present day hardly go into the system because of the get-rich-quick syndrome, the fact that the Igbo apprenticeship system has turned the poorest of people with no future into millionaires remains eternally true.
The Igbo apprenticeship system has done so much good for the people of Anambra, Nigeria, Africa and the world.
