By Lawan Bukar Maigana
I learned tailoring before I finished secondary school. I can still remember when my patient father asked my mother to stop me from going to the tailoring shop. I begged her to beg him to allow me to continue going. Thus, she politely explained the importance of allowing me to be an entrepreneur. Luckily, she okayed everything she said and allowed me to continue learning.
I took myself to my boss Babakura Lawan. I was passing by and saw my friends working in his blessed shop. I stopped by, met him, and told him that, “You are my older brother’s friend. Thus, please, teach me how to tailor.”
I knew the way I talked to him wasn’t friendly at all. I was battling childhood at that time. He kindly responded, telling me that he agreed and would teach me if I genuinely wanted to learn it.
It was an unforgettable experience. Guess what! I started sewing in two weeks because of my commitment to learning it. It worked out for me. Tailoring has helped me a lot in both Polytechnic and the University. I would have disturbed my father with many monetary requests if I had been unskilled.
I can’t describe how much grateful I am to my boss. He helped me a lot. I can still remember the times I reported him to my father because he bombarded me with many works. He told me that he gives me more work than others in the shop because he trusts my work.
Graduates who are still unemployed and seeking jobs shouldn’t feel they are late to learn paying entrepreneurial skills such as tailoring and carpentry.
My brotherly advice to graduates is: do not allow arrogance to consume them. Whoever is arrogant may fail in life, especially if they are poor. It is not too late. Stop spending much time on social media. Learn some skills, hard or soft, online or offline.
Look for any learnable skills and learn. We all know that there are no available jobs for poor Nigerians. Only a few will have the opportunity to be employed. So kill the arrogance in you!
Babakura Lawan is a graduate of accountancy from the University of Maiduguri. He has trained more than 25 people in Bolori I, Maiduguri. I called on the federal and Borno State governments to please engage people like him to teach as many graduates as possible. We need many of his likes in Nigeria.
Lawan Bukar Maigana wrote from Maiduguri and can be reached via lawanbukarmaigana@gmail.com.