Traditional Apprenticeship in the Old Africa and Its Relevance to Contemporary Work Practices in Modern Nigerian Communities

Unemployment is one the major challenges facing Nigeria’s process of development. Various attempts had been made to improve the employment situation especially among the youths with little or no result. This paper therefore discusses how Nigeria can adopt, restructure and improve on one of her traditional heritages: traditional apprenticeship to improve the employment situation among the youths, early school leavers and graduates of the formal school system in the country. The paper also discusses the problems facing practice of apprenticeship in Nigeria and suggested the way forward. This discourse concludes that using traditional apprenticeship to productively engage idle and unemployed youths would not only create employment and enhance technological advancement; it will also impact positively on issues of security in the country.