"The aging and debilitated bricklayers must be replaced by younger ones, president says

The President of Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG), Mr. Kunle Awobodu, is advising the youths to join the bricklaying trade.

He said youths need to join the art in order to preserve and increase the number of artisans in the country.

“Nature abhors vacuum. The aging and debilitated bricklayers must be replaced by younger ones with time in order to ensure continuity of this essential service to humanity.

“Importation of bricklaying and rendering or plastering services from neighbouring West African countries is shameful and of great disservice to the Nigerian economy.”

Awobodu announced an agreement between the Nigerian Institute of Building, Industrial Training Fund and the Cement Technology Institute of Nigeria to train artisans as a solution to this issue.

“It is a subsidised training scheme that will attract Nigerian youths to acquiring both theoretical and practical knowledge in various building trades. There will also be skills upgrading training for the existing or old artisans to enable them graduate to the craftsmen grade.

“In addition, building artisans and craftsmen will now have the privilege of undergoing certification process through the National Vocational Qualification Framework of the Nigerian Institute of Building. The National Board of Technical Education has also recently given the NIOB the awarding status for trained artisans’ certification.”