₦airaland Forum

PrinceLat:
Good day all,

An update on my last post here, concerning the wiring of my 3 bedroom, after seeking help from twinskenny and Topsy23 concerning the quantity of wires to be used, i added one each to their proposed quantity to be on the safe side.

Day one
He called that he'll be there before 8a.m, i said very good, he did get there before 8, called me and 30mins later i was there with him, work started and they worked till almost 5pm, he now said he asked me to buy 6 bundles of red 1.5mm, but i bought 5, that now it's not enough, that we will need 2 more, i said i have no cash for that, he then suggested that the 10mm is still remaining so he'll take it back to the seller and use it to get the two red 1.5mm, i was happy, even praising him......

Day two
The previous day, he told me he'll come early again the next day, so i had to give the key to my neighbour, so that he can gain entry when he comes, surprisingly he called around 7 am, that he's on site, like the previous day, i quickly rushed down there again, he brought the two bundles of 1.5mm that he said is needed to complete the job, work commenced, around 3pm, he said the 2.5mm is more than enough that he'll take one bundle of red and black back to the seller and get like half of them back to save money, so that it won't go to waste if he decided to open the new bundles, once again i was excited, i said good choice, go ahead, he quickly put the two bundles in a sack or so i presumed, but while he was working, i decided to check the sack, and saw 3 bundles of wire instead, i challenged him, he said he mentioned 3 not 2 to me, i didn't want to drag it further, so long as we both know it's 3 that's in the sack, no p.....then he says he's stopping the work so that he can come early to finish it as he has other jobs the next day.

Day 3
I told myself something is fishy with this come early style of this electrician, so i decided I'll beat him to his own game, i got to the site 6.20a.m, lo and behold, he came exactly 6.30am, it was so dark, you could hardly see self, so i told him how do you intend to work with the day this dark, he said he needed to quickly finish my job as he is to start another one that same day. I asked him, where's the half bundle of the different wires your said you'll bring, he brought out wires that were hardly up to 20 yards, i laughed and said but you promised 50metres of the wires each, he wanted to start using them, i said no, use the ones remaining.

That was when he started to pull the wires longer than usual, in other to justify him using the one he brought, not to bore you guys with long epistle,

He opened the two bundles of 1.5mm red that he brought simultaneously, which he barely used (claims he'll still use it for looping when we are doing the fittings ....i have like one and a half bundle left) i was able to save wires worth ₦50,500 in cash and still have left over wires that could fetch me ₦30,000 if i decided to sell it,

All these artisans i fear them, it was very obvious in his reactions afterwards that i caught on to his thieving scheme , i remember saying here that except he eats the wires, I'll be there from start to finish, before he devised the early coming tactics when he saw no way for him to steal my wires.

Thanks to the people in this forum, many thanks to Topsy23 and twinskenny, i do not take your input for granted.

I decided to share this, so others can learn, thanks all

somehow:
BTW, we should be a bit careful about the way we post some sensitive information on the Internet.

Not sure if my case is as a result of the above but I'm currently battling identity theft which has gotten to a stage of blackmail and all that, I am working on getting to the root though.

Nigerians are becoming terrible as days draw by.

diordaves:
When it comes to quality borehole pumping machine, I will always go for and recommend a Sumo:

2,000w
2hp
Engine Speed: 2,800 rpm
Flow Rate: over 9000L/hr

If you can lay your hands on the original, you will be glad you did. It's pricey though. Well over 100k.

diordaves:
The issue is multifaceted.

The woodwork industry like every other industry in Nigeria continue to suffer years of lack of investment. To adopt wood as a solution in the building sub-trade, a nation needs a timber subsector (industry/factory) that can kiln or naturally season dry timber and then CUT THE TIMBER STRAIGHT into various sizes for retail purchase to make kitchen cabinets and internal and external doors and windows.

Due to lack of investment over the years, sawmills up and down the country to date still use machines dating way back before independence to saw raw unseasoned timber into sizes for retail purchase. The results are bent wabbled timber not seasoned. It is a challenge to use such poor quality timber to build kitchen cabinets, doors and windows even with the requisite skill and training.

So the adoption of MDF/HDF which are to a large extent seasoned and cut straight is the classical Nigeria short cut ready made and pure water approach to life.

Another fall out of the lack of investment is the death of the apprenticeship scheme in Nigeria since the introduction of okada/Keke business in the 1980s. The young ones who are not academically inclined have not being encourage by the government to learn a trade like carpentry, joinery or woodwork. So they take the short cut route to employment by riding okada/Keke for business. Senior tradespeople were also not encouraged to continue to offer apprenticeship schemes to the young. The technical colleges/school suffer same neglect by successive government. So today we don't have skilled woodworkers, joiners or carpenters. What we have are just fly by night cut and join pretenders. These people will struggle to put together a wooden kitchen cabinets of the type you have in mind. You will probably need to import the needed wood and labour for a wood kitchen cabinets solution. But if you want cut and join, dem full.

I don't want to bring politics here but it is easy for me to say that Nigeria would have imploded long ago from youth unemployment if not for the Igbo Nation and their apprentice schemes; boys and girls learning work from their oga/madam. The Igbo Nation apprenticeship schemes empower youths than the oil sector and communication sectors put together but unfortunately this is mainly only in the retail trade (buying and selling). If only the Igbo Nation can also offer same opportunity in carpentry, the situation will be different I tell you.

Not until we focus on trade skills instead of paper qualifications, wooden kitchen cabinets as a widespread solution in Nigeria will continue to look like rocket science.

somehow:
BTW, we should be a bit careful about the way we post some sensitive information on the Internet.

Not sure if my case is as a result of the above but I'm currently battling identity theft which has gotten to a stage of blackmail and all that, I am working on getting to the root though.

Nigerians are becoming terrible as days draw by.

michlins:
tell you the truth, even the Igbo apprenticeship system is dying.

Right now, traders no longer take apprentices but will rather employ people to work and get paid. Unfortunately these people are more interested in their salaries than taking the skills. For the past few years, not a single young person have come to do apprenticeship program in my business. Not just me but my colleagues too. They will come today and complain about the job being too difficult.

The advent of scam "Yahoo" isn't helping matters at all. Why spend years under the scorching heat of the sun when you can dedicate months on pressing phone and suddenly you're a millionaire.

Wahala dey this country unfortunately both the leaders and masses don't even realize it yet. In a decade or two, our population will explode and there's no job to lubricate the economy

diordaves:
This is sad. Very sad. You cannot build an economically vibrant economy just on paper qualifications only. Nations like Germany have taken the apprenticeship to a whole new level.

Arimann:
your details were used for scam, also by creating a bank account.

twinskenny:
Ogami not funny o someone took over our church WhatsApp group this morning.. still trying to get it back.. lock out all the admins.. these guys are getting desperate

diordaves:
The issue is multifaceted.

The woodwork industry like every other industry in Nigeria continue to suffer years of lack of investment. To adopt wood as a solution in the building sub-trade, a nation needs a timber subsector (industry/factory) that can kiln or naturally season dry timber and then CUT THE TIMBER STRAIGHT into various sizes for retail purchase to make kitchen cabinets and internal and external doors and windows.

Due to lack of investment over the years, sawmills up and down the country to date still use machines dating way back before independence to saw raw unseasoned timber into sizes for retail purchase. The results are bent wabbled timber not seasoned. It is a challenge to use such poor quality timber to build kitchen cabinets, doors and windows even with the requisite skill and training.

So the adoption of MDF/HDF which are to a large extent seasoned and cut straight is the classical Nigeria short cut ready made and pure water approach to life.

Another fall out of the lack of investment is the death of the apprenticeship scheme in Nigeria since the introduction of okada/Keke business in the 1980s. The young ones who are not academically inclined have not being encourage by the government to learn a trade like carpentry, joinery or woodwork. So they take the short cut route to employment by riding okada/Keke for business. Senior tradespeople were also not encouraged to continue to offer apprenticeship schemes to the young. The technical colleges/school suffer same neglect by successive government. So today we don't have skilled woodworkers, joiners or carpenters. What we have are just fly by night cut and join pretenders. These people will struggle to put together a wooden kitchen cabinets of the type you have in mind. You will probably need to import the needed wood and labour for a wood kitchen cabinets solution. But if you want cut and join, dem full.

I don't want to bring politics here but it is easy for me to say that Nigeria would have imploded long ago from youth unemployment if not for the Igbo Nation and their apprentice schemes; boys and girls learning work from their oga/madam. The Igbo Nation apprenticeship schemes empower youths than the oil sector and communication sectors put together but unfortunately this is mainly only in the retail trade (buying and selling). If only the Igbo Nation can also offer same opportunity in carpentry, the situation will be different I tell you.

Not until we focus on trade skills instead of paper qualifications, wooden kitchen cabinets as a widespread solution in Nigeria will continue to look like rocket science.

EgunMogaji2:
I’m living through this right now. I’m very stuck.

I’ll have been done with my kitchen already if I had access to Home Depot or Lowes.

Cabinets in all sizes and configurations, finished and unfinished are available to be taken home immediately.

somehow:
Twinskenny is a man with integrity so far so good.
Thanks for saving some cash for this builder.

Never worked with Topsy23 before but I want to believe he's also a man of integrity.

People that value money more than their name can kill if the money is worth it.

michlins:
you're the one who is concerned about growth and integrity.

Many cares about that quick buck and nothing else

diordaves:
This is the lack of investment I'm banging about. Neither the government nor the private sector invest in value added product manufacturing. The private sector cannot because of killing interest rate and the weak Naira. As a tropical country, we should not be exporting raw timber. We as a nation are stuck in primary production without value added manufacturing.

We export crude oil cheaply only to import the value added refined petrol at exorbitant price and subsidise it. It's madness.

If it is crude raw timber you need, your kitchen would have been completed long ago.

EgunMogaji2:
I want to come to Lagos for furniture shopping. Which area do I need to go to for imported leather sofas and modern mid-century furnitures? Time to sample the Buhari train.
Thanks.

mufutau55:
Oga Ade, very nice as usual. You have never dissapointed all the people I sent your way.
Thanks.

Hajji M.

ceelog:
Very good analysis and strong points made.


So if I got you right...

The plywoods (not other bush cut woods) sold in our timber markets are not well seasoned enough to be used for cabinetry works?

somehow:
The madness in the society right now is just mind blowing. I don't know where we are actually going.

diordaves:
The last plywood I saw in the Nigerian market were imported with exorbitant prices. It is possible that plywood is manufactured in Nigeria but not well enough for a tropical country with a rainforest. Even where there are plywood, you need the skilled joiner which is in short supply.

Look at the challenge Egun is facing with his kitchen. As an example, I have just finished refurbishing of a house I recently bought (London). All I did was to pull down the old kitchen, draw a kitchen plan and went to my building merchant and IKEA with my plan and got all the cabinets and fittings off the shelf: wall/base units, shelves, worktop, doors, handles, hinges, internal drawers, etc. All seasoned, made to measure and well crafted. All were delivered to plan and I just fitted the kitchen.

Across the Atlantic, this is a one week or weekend straightforward job. In Nigeria it is rocket science. This is the challenge facing Egun at the moment. A country like Nigeria should not be in this position in 2022.

michlins:
just recently, I was at a site of one engineer from here. It happened that he already changed his plastering team. The new guys are so good but unfortunately, they're togolese. I talked to him about it and he said his former team got lazy and nonchalant towards the job so he had to drop them. This is a team that is assured of new job every month but they couldn't keep up. Now some of the money will be leaving Nigeria for Togo monthly.

There's fire on the mountain in this country but we're not even aware yet

ceelog:
Permit me to digress

I observed here in Nigeria we rarely use plywood for kitchen cabinetry works and get them painted therafer with high quality wood paints. I noticed most home renos on TV do this a lot and I feel it gives lots of options as years go by.

Am I making sense or are we just resigned to MDF/HDF combo?

EgunMogaji2:
Madam, if you saw the way I shot out of bed. My situation is as described. In the rush of surviving Nigeria I’ve forgotten that an ex is still 100% beneficiary. No way Jose.

twinskenny:


You see the reason why some of them don't grow? How much will he even make? Maybe 80k maybe less.. now there is a dent on his integrity.

Aforxzy:
Warehouse completed and delivered