Ibrahim took the only cloth he had and left the house that morning, without breakfast and without a shower. He left with nothing.

He didn’t think of where he was going because he already knew that. On his way, he passed many children going to school, he didn’t envy them, and he didn’t even think about them, he just went ahead towards the mechanic village at Oyingbo.

The mechanic village had been his home for as long as he could remember. His father was a mechanic. Ibrahim grew up in the mechanic village. He was always there with his father.

And now, Ibrahim is 14 years old, and the only life he has ever known is the life of a mechanic.

Ibrahim is not alone; there is Shina who is 9 years old. There is Kunle who is 10. There is Wilfred who is 12. There is Emeka, 15, and there is Wale, 12. And they all have one thing in common. They are all children-mechanic.

Childhood is a very exciting age. It is an age when you have no fear and adventure has no risk. It is the formative age. You can do anything and get away with it after all you are just a child. It’s fun. But what if you spend your childhood as a mechanic? Would it be that fun?

A visit to any mechanic workshop in Lagos will bring you face to face with these children, barely 15 years old running around the workshop and answering to the older mechanics who send them to bring this or that tool. And you cannot help but wonder where their parents are, why are they not in school, what can they even do in the car, and why mechanic for that matter?

Some of the children who spoke to Autosage Nigeria said they go to school, meanwhile, they cannot express themselves in English. They can only speak Yoruba fluently, and a little bit of Pidgin English.

When I spoke to Ibrahim, he said; “I go school. Sometimes, in the week, three times. I am in SS2 class.” He added that he would like to be a mechanic when he grows up and that he likes the job.

I cannot pretend to shut my eyes totally from the realities of the Nigerian society. There is poverty in Nigeria and we know it. There is hunger in this land that people live below one dollar per day in Nigeria. Even here in Lagos, people are suffering so much they have no food to eat for days. This is true.

So, for those people, education is not a priority neither is anything above daily survival. And for their children, childhood is not fun. They could end up as children mechanics.

UNICEF puts the number of out of school children in Nigeria to 10.5 million. That was in 2014 and four years later, the president Buhari led administration says they have reduced the number to 8.7 million children. Whether it is true or not, we know that out of school children are everywhere in Nigeria. And some of them have ended up as children mechanics.

However, let us turn this argument to a more positive side. How can Ibrahim and his co-child mechanics not end up as depraved members of the society?

The answer is simple.

“There is the need for organised and balanced skills acquisition that includes the right amount of education at the right time. Children under the age of 18 training to be auto technicians is not wrong, but it becomes evil if they sacrifice education for this skill.

“At the end of the day, they would not be able to communicate properly and therefore would not fit into the future scheme,” said Kayode, a car owner, who came to fix his car at the mechanic workshop.

He added: “The point is that nothing can replace child education, not even technical skills like an auto technician. The cars of tomorrow are too smart and will continue to be too smart for anyone who is not educated let alone for someone who is not literate.

“So that these children might end up much confused and unable to fix cars when today’s cars have vanished. Even today, most roadside mechanics cannot attempt to fix some complex issues in today’s cars. So is it not the same limited knowledge they are teaching these children.”

Also Read: [url]Revealed: 4 Reasons Why Your Car Consumes A Lot Of Fuel[https://autosage.ng/revealed-reasons-car-consumes-fuel/]

Some people argue that in some other developed countries such as China, children are already tech-savvy by 15 years of age.

But this comparison could be very inappropriate. The reasons are that in a country like Nigeria, things are completely different and are still at a very basic level.

Let’s take language for instance. The official language in those countries always happens to be their main language of communication. So these children go to school to acquire skills and other knowledge. And these things are done in school and not outside of school.

Again, Communication is no longer their problem. Language is no longer a barrier.

But here in Nigeria, if Ibrahim cannot speak English, his association will be very limited. And no matter what he knows his world will be very limited.

And Ibrahim would not be able to operate a computer, and the cars of now are built into a computer. Majority of the cases in cars today cannot be attempted without proper diagnoses with a computer. This goes to buttress a point that nothing can replace a child’s education.

To conclude, to reduce the rapid unemployment rate in the country, skills acquisition is the key. Every human being in this country should know how to solve one problem. But we cannot rob Peter to pay Paul.

When you deny a child the right to acquire a basic education, primary and secondary, you have denied him the right to live in this society peacefully and to contribute meaningfully to it. This is a digital age, and quality basic education is the best tool a child can acquire while growing up as he acquires any other skills.


Source:[https://autosage.ng/meet-lagos-kid-mechanics-sacrificing-education/]

Them plenty for Lagos here



Better than those using plate to Waka up and down looking for who go dash them food

May God elevate you kid

This country is just a joke. These kids without proper and necessary education, eventually become more knowledgeable in automobile repairs, than the Nigerian university graduates of Automobile Engineering. Technical schools should be encouraged and explored, with the Government giving out scholarships to kids interested in attending technical schools..as some sort of encouragement.
Practical without theory, makes you a Kazeem.
While, theory without practical may land you in a different field. Perhaps, ‘Banking’.

The only bad thing i see here is the lack of schooling.

See, the way Nigerian is going, all my kids will in addition to going to school have an artisan knowledge either in Music, Instrumentalist, barbing/hair dressing, Mechanic, Upholstery/carpentry, etc.

All he needs now is to have online presence, to do that he needs to contact me or see my signature

In other news, do you want current and updated FRSC CBT and interview questions? contact me right now, you get it under 30 mins.

There’s poverty in the country. No good inflow of cash amongst the masses. What do you have to say about the ones selling Sachet water or the ones running after fast moving vehicles selling gala and Fanta

Meanwhile in a sane environment, those kids could be working up their way to great heights. I Know of a guy in my area, was a mechanic here in Nigeria, he’s in U.K. now and he’s making mad ass money over there.

I wish they could get connects and leave this shithole and practice their expertise.

This life is confusing, there are graduates that are learning what this little children started without education. There’s no work in this country and education is not the way out. It just gets the wise ones prepared for the cruel world

Perhaps he had seen the future of this country, no hope for education

A

Gj

This one better pass street hawking nah.

nothing wrong but I still think they shouldn't be denied education as well, I knew someone who always return to mechanic shop after school,. at least they will be able to post on nairaland to market themselves on like us who is on nairaland for nothing and we still get ban for fighting

That's the kind of education that we ignore and look down upon here.


I'm sorry to say, but those boys know more practical stuff about fixing cars than some of our engineering graduates who only have paper qualification.


The boys only need to learn how to express themselves, read and write well in English and they are good to go with this skill they've learnt.

Even if eventually, they can't go back to school, they will still make a living out of this because they can still communicate in pidgin.

evansjeff:
In other news, do you want current and updated FRSC CBT and interview questions? contact me right now, you get it under 30 mins.

bros pls i need it o,
dammilare@gmail.com

Good. Nigerian schools are scams

Alvin007:
This country is just a joke. These kids without proper and necessary education, eventually become more knowledgeable in automobile repairs, than the Nigerian university graduates of Automobile Engineering. Technical schools should be encouraged and explored, with the Government giving out scholarships to kids interested in attending technical schools..as some sort of encouragement.
Practical without theory, makes you a Kazeem.
While, theory without practical may land you in a different field. Perhaps, ‘Banking’.

the parents are just their problem. Basic education up to secondary sch is free in Nigeria

If u like Laugh at them, nobody hold your mouth until the good schools u send your own kids to pays off and they grow up with all the benzo and Rolls Royce, but time for repairs will surely come, These guys will so Bill them, they'll have to be going for repairs on a monthly basis at the end no original part will be left in that car. Las las all things become equal

eazisky:


bros pls i need it o,
dammilare@gmail.com

it's just for a token of 500h.

first bank account number 3051061930.

I too bought it, I don't just want to hike the price. be rest assured it's genuine.

I blame Buhari for this. Meanwhile Buhari is still ruling Nigeria with NEPA bill. Issoryte..

Kingwizzy16:
Them plenty for Lagos here



Better than those using plate to Waka up and down looking for who go dash them food

They generally end up d same way!


Terrorise their immediate community!

One as BH

The other as Agbero

kudos to them

Catch them young

ashjay001:


The generally end up d same way!


Terrorise their immediate community!

One as BH

The other as Agbero

Thank you! And you know we Afonjas love Agbero work. Moreover, i see agberosm in the eyes of that cone headed little Afonja boy.

JIDEproudAFONJA:
Thank you! And you know we Afonjas love Agbero work. Moreover, i see agberosm in the eyes of that cone headed little Afonja boy.

Well, I'm Yoruba n not Agbero! Can't tell abt ur lineage though!


Agbero, is a nuisance in every tribe!

ZarahBuhari:
Now, that's the real education right there!!!

No one teaches you this in the Nigerian University. Hence, education remains a facade in the Nigerian educational space.

But I still prefer they have basic education, because there are certain things school teaches u that they can gain here.

in case you don't realize it what those kids are undergoing is the real education in our present day clime. It is the appropriate path for the socioeconomic realities they face on a daily basis. Less than 10 years from now all our professors of mechanical engineering will be bringing their Toyota Camrys etc for repairs and maintenance to these same kids by which time majority of the graduates will be at home unemployed and collecting upkeep allowance from daddy and mummy. Whose income generation capacity is more secure now? Who's more socially impactful? Who's meaningfully contributing to our total good? The most indolent set of people I've actually seen are unemployed graduates majority of whom simply sit around blaming Buhari and PDP and everyone blameable while spending their lives on social media and meagre resources on nairabet. We need a total thinking reset in this country. A paradigm shift. An overhaul of our social construct.

Alvin007:
This country is just a joke. These kids without proper and necessary education, eventually become more knowledgeable in automobile repairs, than the Nigerian university graduates of Automobile Engineering. Technical schools should be encouraged and explored, with the Government giving out scholarships to kids interested in attending technical schools..as some sort of encouragement.
Practical without theory, makes you a Kazeem.
While, theory without practical may land you in a different field. Perhaps, ‘Banking’.

Exactly, that's why we have a lot of trial and error mechanic, technicians in Nigeria.

Thus is education too. Nt formal but informal education.

jidxin:
the parents are just their problem. Basic education up to secondary sch is free in Nigeria

For real? Free keh