She brags about her tailoring skills and the fact that she knows her onions when it comes to the art and science of dressmaking. She would think herself a true “Architect” of clothing- a designer and builder of elegant garments.  She is a seamstress like no other – reliable, creative and always meets her deadlines!

A “swegbe tailor she is not but a true “Pako” tailor as she vaunts. Just like the Legendary Fela would sing:

             “Tailors wey dey sew like carpenter na sowegbe , na swegbe!

             Tailor wey dey sew like tailor, na Pako, na pako””

A highly sort after couturier so much in demand that she picks and chooses her clients and their jobs!” She is indeed proud of her needle work.

No wonder her clients call her “ The Iyanga tailor.

Why would she not be overly proud when she belongs to a small but diminishing class of handymen and artisans-  who are professional , proud of their skills and who would be trusted to leave the clients without the need for second or third visit to get things right and to leave them in  a rage!

This class she belongs to is increasingly becoming so rare and virtually extinct that people often ask :

”A reliable and honest workman where can one find?

Where indeed?

It is probably easier for The Iyanga Tailor to pass the thread through the eye of a needle with her eyes closed than for one to find a competent and honest workman in Nigeria

Most of the competent ones are dishonest and the honest ones are incompetent.

Bad workmanship is the bane of Nigeria.

It is indeed risky to contract a workman and assume that the job will be done correctly! NO Sir!  Eternal vigilance and scrupulous supervision is required:.

Engage a plumber to clear a blocked drain and he will cause a  deluge in your house; take your vehicle for a routine service and it will develop an overheating problem; when vulcanizers change your tyres, please watch out, one nut will disappear each time;  and drivers? Oh dear!

One of my in-laws was asked why he fired his new driver and his response was epic:               “ Na dey guy hold the steering, but na me dey drive the motor! I am the one to tell him the right time to overtake, when to slow down ,  how to indicate change of lane. Its better I just drive myself.”

In dealing with Nigerian workmen, You buy “a dog “and you still bark yourself.

Of course, there are a few good, skilled and honest ones but because they are so few, they eventually get overwhelmed with demands and swamped with more jobs than they can handle. Very soon they too become unreliable.

Any Hope in sight?  Unfortunately, no!

The problem is getting worse as the production line for skilled artisans is virtually shutting down. The informal sector apprenticeship scheme is facing shortage of intakes. Young men would rather become commercial motorcyclists and start earning cash instantly than spend a few years learning a trade or skill. The 6-3-3-4 educational programme that was supposed to promote technical education was dead on arrival while Nigerian tertiary institutions produce corporate engineers who are too learned to get their hands dirty to fix basic repair works.

One engineering friend of mine who “wasted” five years studying mechanical engineering kept us in dark in his house and made us miss part of an important football match because he was waiting for a semi-illiterate boy to help clean his generator’s carburettor.  And when I asked why he couldn’t fix it, he proudly informed me that he was an engineer and not a generator repairer. And my reply was: “Duh”

Little wonder we have analogue mechanics trying to fix digital cars!

Faced with the shortage of skilled workmen, Nigerians have resorted to their favourite pastime- Importation! We now import chefs from Togo, Nannies from Republic of Benin, Masons from Ghana and now electricians from China! But since they have arrived in the “Rome” of bad attitude and bad workmanship, they have to behave like the Romans. They are becoming untrustworthy and unreliable like their Nigerian counterparts!

So the problem remains! We have no choice but to patronize and pay exorbitant charges for the few good workmen who we also often have to beg and cajole to work for us. The customer is no more king, the workmen are!

I guess the few skilled and proud workmen and women will continue to vaunt and brag of their skills just like Justina-Our Iyanga Tailor!