Dayo Bello is the Managing Director/CEO of Innovative Logistics and Transport Limited. He’s also the CEO of Global Sight Services Limited. In this exclusive interview with Ranmilowo Ojalumo, he proffers useful advice to employees that have lost or may lose their job as a result of Covid-19 or other reasons. Excerpt.
Tell us briefly about yourself and your organization.
I am the Managing Director/CEO of Innovative Logistics and Transport Limited as well as Global Sight Services Limited. Global Sight Services Limited engages in data collation and when we started from the onset, our aim is to identify and provide solutions to many challenges in Nigeria. Presently we consult for the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment in the areas of artisans and technicians also referred to as informal sector. We are also consulting for SMEDAN in that same area. We started by proposing collation of data of all artisans and technicians in the country and from there, we started seeing so many gaps that need to be closed and we have been working on those gaps. By the grace of God, we have been able to do tangible things but we still have a long way to go, but we believe with the cooperation of the artisans, the government, the private sectors and some individuals, we are on the right track.
Many people have lost their jobs due to covid-19 and even before covid-19, and many would still lose their job. The vice president, some weeks ago said job lose may hit four million soon, what is your reaction to this development?
Yes, the job lose is in the formal sector; you can’t hear of job lose in the informal sector and that is because they are craftsmen. Nigeria is not a producing country, we import most of the things we use and then look for people that will maintain them for us. Today, we import the vehicles that we use in the country and we have many auto technicians but the auto technicians are not even enough to maintain all the vehicles that are on the road. So, there is a big gap in that sector. I know of a group called NATA (Nigeria Auto technicians Association), they are over five million in Nigeria, but there is still gap because many people have five or more vehicles. So, when you talk about job lose, it can only be heard in the formal sector not in the informal sector. Now, since there is gap in the informal sector that needs to be filled, the door is open for people in the formal sector to come and fill the gap.
How do you mean?
I will give you an example, I know of a man that work in a bank, but later lost his job. Do you know what the man is doing now?
No
The man is now fixing air condition and he’s doing very well. He studied purchasing and supply but he’s now a technician, doing very well. My point is this, those of us that have education, our brain has expanded, so we can bring in so many things into our brain and we will do it very well, but laziness will not allow many people to do the needful. If you want to look at it critically today, you will be surprised that informal sector is making more money than the formal sector. If you come to the informal sector, you will become an entrepreneur and government is looking for such people that are willing to become an entrepreneur.
Really?
The government is providing the enabling environment; all we need is to key into it. In those days, when people finish their education and go for youth service, there is a program you have to pass through to acquire skill, but how many people are willing to acquire the skill? Instead of acquiring the skill, we all want to knot tie, looking for white collar job; the white collar job that will not last. It is always good when one acquires skill and that is where the system is going. With the advent of computer, knowledge acquisition has become easier. Auto technicians now use computer to diagnose vehicles. There are a lot of opportunities in the informal sector for those losing jobs in the formal sector. The job is not a problem as far as I am concerned; it is for people to know the right thing to do.
Are you saying those that lose their job should move to the informal sector?
That is the way to go. Go and acquire skill in the informal sector and become an entrepreneur. Acquiring more skill will bring you back to where you are supposed to be. Incidentally, one can even learn some of the skill online. Government also has institutions where one can acquire the required skill. For instance, there is Industrial training Fund (ITF). At ITF, one can acquire skill on tailoring, air condition installation and repair, vehicle repairing, welding and fabrication among others. All we need to do is to put ego aside and move to where one can do better. Auto technician job has been so refined now, such that, computer will answer so many questions, so it is no more a guess work as it used to be when you have to dirty all your cloth before you know where the problem is. I see no reason why people in the formal sector will be worried that they lose job or be afraid that they might lose job. Instead, they should be thinking of moving into a better thing which is the informal sector and then upgrade the informal to formal.
What do you mean by “upgrade informal to formal”?
Let me start by saying that informal is when you are doing your business and the business is not well registered, not well structured. Somebody that is coming from a bank, in a structured environment and start a business will run it like a normal business. Registering your business has made it formal. A business that is registered with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) is a formal business. So if you want to take advantage of the gap in the informal sector, you can acquire the skill even in the informal way and them formalize it. This is why you will see a tailor that calls himself / herself a fashion designer; and at that level, he begins to interact with people abroad, he begins to display his/her products on social media. Do you know the number of Nigerians abroad that need our traditional attires? The gap is there. Yet there are ways that government can create massive business for our tailor or call it fashion designers.
What are the ways?
Today, we import a lot of foreign dresses, but government can come out and say look, from now on, everybody must wear our traditional wears to work at least three times in a week. With that pronouncement, you will see how people in the bank will begin to rush into fashion design. So government can create market for people because when government creates market like the illustration I just gave, the market will become wider. Take the case of the current trend which is facemask; do you know the number of people that are making good money from mask? People that are doing branding are making money from it just as tailors are making money from it. It may interest you to know that many multinational companies in Nigeria today are using locally made branded mask. What I am saying in essence is that there are opportunities but it is left for people to see the opportunity and take advantage. There is nobody that doesn’t have a skill. Everybody has an inbuilt skill, but as we grow we jettison the skill and begin to dream of becoming a banker, accountant.
Let me come back to the issue of job lose and the informal sector, imagine someone working in the bank and lose the job, do you realistically think such person can ever think of becoming a barber or mechanic? How do think such person will feel seeing himself barbing hear or…can he make as much money as …
I can tell you that person can make as much money as he’s making in the bank and even make more. Bank was formed to make money. Now while working, that person must have acquire some knowledge in the bank on how to turn one naira to two naira. This is the knowledge most of the people in the informal sector don’t have. The managerial skill in the informal sector is poor. The informal sector doesn’t have financial management skill. The only skill they have is the technical skill. So someone coming from the bank to the informal sector will add his managerial and financial skill together to make things happen. Infact, he can set up the business and employ those that have the skill, while he will be managing the business. He however still needs to acquire the skill so that he can direct and manage the business properly.
But So many people have ideas and intend to set up business but they don’t have money
It depends. Today there is Covid-19 loan that people can access.
But it is not easy to access loan because I know people that applied for the loan but have not gotten anything
The question is, what is their level of education? Do they follow the laid down rules? if you follow the laid down rules, you will get the loan. Do they go through training? It may interest you to know that some people will present business plan that is not realistic. The money is not just for anybody. For instance, somebody that has worked in the bank at the managerial level will understand how to access the loan because he can present a realistic business plan, whereas people in the informal sector cannot write a realistic business plan. For an instance, like I said earlier, a banker that lost his job can present a business plan, access the loan, set up a business in the informal sector, formalize it and employ those that have the technical skill that will do the job. Many people cite an excuse that there is no money. Whereas, money is secondary; if you have a realistic business plan, you will get loan to finance the business. Apart from the Covid-19 loan, there is agric loan. That one has been there for a very long time. The point I am trying to make here is that people from the formal sector can really make it big in the informal sector because of the knowledge they already have.
Even now, there is fear of job loss in every sector own to Covid-19…
Covid-19 has affected many companies, but there shouldn’t be any reason for fear if people can think and read in between the line. Infact, many companies that don’t want to sack now are only paying half salary. When full salary hardly meets your need, is it half salary that will meet it? So in the face of this circumstance, look for a skill you can learn/acquire. There are a lot of things people can do. Just look out for what you can do. Some people are good in buying and selling. Look for something you can do on your own, there shouldn’t be fear. What will make people to be afraid is laziness. People need to take bolder step, even before they sack you, you can resign. Imagine the teachers in private schools; are they receiving salary during this lockdown? Students are not in the school. They have lost their job automatically, but there are a lot of thing they can do if they are not the lazy type. The good thing is that you have the education to manage business and do it better than those that don’t have formal education at all, so do something. If I may ask, for instance, is driving a profession or not?
Driving…?
Whether you like it or not, driving is a profession and people have been professionalizing it outside Nigeria. How many professional drivers do we have in Nigeria? Most of the drivers in Nigeria today are school dropouts and those without education at all. The question to ask again is whether driving is profitable of not but the truth remains that driving is profitable. I can tell you that some of my drivers built their house before I even built my own.
Really?
Yes! That is to tell you how profitable driving can be. It is an area anybody can look at. Some people love driving, so if you love driving, why can’t you take it as a profession? If you lose a white collar job and you can’t get another better one, yet you love driving, why can’t you take up driving? You can learn truck driving and become professional truck driver; your education will make you do better than the illiterate and the semi illiterate that we have there now. Unfortunately people look down on those jobs. People think it is not meant for graduates, which is a wrong perception. With time, going by what we are putting together in the transport sector for drivers, I can tell you that drivers will be richer than some real professionals that think they went to university, but that is a discussion for another day.
On the mass job loss or imminent job loss as a result of Covid-19, what is your message to the government?
I have been saying it and I will continue to say it, when Covid-19 started, the Nigerian government was really proactive
In what sense?
The government respond so fast by coming up with Covid-19 loan through CBN, which is about N50 billion. The loan is there as we speak. Many people will keep saying that they want to do business but they don’t have money, now the loan is there. The only part I want government to do more is in the area of skill acquisition for those who want to acquire technical skill. The government can run the technical skill acquisition through ITF, National Automotive Council (NAC) among other and also encourage some private agencies too that are into training to train those that are interested. It is not all about giving money alone; give them skill as well so that they can utilize the money you are giving them optimally. The manufacturers are also willing to do something in that direction as well. For instance, somebody that is manufacturing tiles/ceramics will want to train a tiller and if I may ask, how many good or professional tillers do we have in Nigeria? Somebody can take that as a profession and make a fortune; do you know the number of new buildings that are coming up every day in Nigeria? As I speak now, the people taking the tilling jobs in Nigeria are from Benin Republic and Togolese.
Why not Nigerians?
Because nobody is willing to acquire the skill; whereas, the companies producing ceramics are willing to train interested people, which we can facilitate. As a matter of fact, the opportunities are there, people only need to take advantage. There are a lot of things that serious minded people that are not lazy can do rather than carrying file up and down in one office and earning peanut. It is no longer the question of how do I get the money to start a viable legitimate business, the money is there to access as a soft loan.
But many people don’t really know how to get the money
Go through SMEDAN, their door is widely opened to everyone, just go the internet and Google SMEDAN, from there you can get the require information. Thank God SMEDAN is not in Heaven, so anybody can approach them and they are accommodating.
What is your message to people in the informal sector?
My people in the informal sector are enjoying themselves. The truth remains that the available jobs in the informal sector is more than the people there now. You might see a lot of people in the informal sector, but how many people really have the required skill? There are a lot of quacks in the informal sector. But if you are not one of the quacks, the job is there. Everybody is looking for those who know the job so as to give them the job. That is why you need to update yourself and acquire more skill from time to time. Technology is advancing in every sphere of life every day, so people in the informal sector need to move with technology. Truth must be told, Nigerians don’t like to be trained, but the wise ones don’t run away from training and that is why we have few professors but many B.Sc and master degree holders. Nigerians don’t really strive to acquire more knowledge/skill. Why can’t we have about 90% of people that passed through university becoming professor? The same thing is happening in the informal sector, people are not willing to acquire more skill.
