Artisans decry poor pay, conditions of service

Director of Operation of BACSAAN,  Mr.  Amen Richard Osagiede expressed the association’s displeasure in an exclusive interview with Daily Trust yesterday.
He debunked the claims that the country lacked skilled artisans, saying the country has many qualified artisans, but the wages being paid to them is nothing to write home about.
  He said, “The truth is that we have skilled artisans but if we look at the Nigerian way of doing things we always belief in cheating. For instance, if you give your client your quotation, the client will like to reduce what you have submitted to him.  They always want the cheapest and the artisan belief that if he doesn’t do it another person will do it for the same client so at the end of the day you just agreed. That is actually destructive and that is what is leading to poor workmanship in the construction sector. The fault is not entirely on the artisans.”
Speaking on the current situation where some Nigerians prefer the choice of artisans from neighboring countries like Benin Republic, Ghana amongst several others, he said that the foreign artisans usually engage sooner than later abandons sites when they realized the actual value of the amount they were being  paid.
“Just like Nigerians if we go to America what they pay will seem high considering the value of our currency. So when these people come here for the first time, when you tell them I will pay you 12 thousand for a particular job, they will look at that 12 thousand naira as a big money. Until  he discovers the actual value of the currency and not making headway. By the time you now realized the cheating and you decided to say ‘no’ they disengaged you and bring another person.  Bringing in foreign artisans is all deceit and that is really affecting the economy of this nation.”
Osagiede said that artisan’s belief more in the practical aspect of construction, adding that the theoretical aspect is better handled by professionals like Engineers, Architects etc.
“There is nothing difficult in all these artisan work if you are a mason and you work for 2-3 years you will know all the techniques in mason work,” he said.
Asked about formal training for the artisans, he said, “We the artisans, believe more in practical. You learn from the professionals; even if you are not educated you can go ahead and do a perfect job. But we now believe that there is a need for that formal education because:  you need to give quotation, you need to modernize your style of working. So all these, without formal education, you cannot improve. So these are the packages we now decide to bring to the artisans.”
Osagiede disclosed that the FCT has about 1.5 million registered artisans competent enough to handle any construction work even as he enjoined the residents to always consult the association for artisans who render them quality service.