Nigeria: Occupations

Farming

Traditionally, Nigerians were predominantly subsistence farmers of sorghum, maize, millet, cassava, yams and plantains, however due to a lack of investment in technology, infrastructure, roads and marketing, agriculture has failed to keep up with the growth in the population. Cash products such as Cocoa, Groundnuts, Rubber, Palm oil and Palm kernels earned significant amounts of money for the government but with the discovery of Petroleum oil in the early 70's, sadly agriculture has been on the decline and today Nigeria imports a great deal of the food that she once used to produce. The current government acknowledges that agriculture is the backbone of economic growth and is committed to improving agricultural performance.

Hunting

Hunting is another traditional occupation and bush meat is a delicacy often sold by the road side on the motor ways and markets all over the country. Bush meat is hunted not just for food but hides for leather goods and medicinal purposes as well. African wild life is being depleted due to the illegal exportation of wild animals and the increase in logging and deforestation which is destroying the natural habitat.

Traditional Healer/ Doctor

A traditional healer combines indigenous beliefs with knowledge, skill and cultural practices. An Herbalist is a traditional medicine man or doctor who specialises in treating his patients with herbs which can be found everywhere and are relatively inexpensive. He or she would use natural remedies to cure sickness and disease. Today a lot of these herbal remedies are taken side by side with western medicine, however in the past for some; traditional medicine was the only option available because Western medicine was not affordable.

Witch doctors specialise in spiritual healing and make use of charms and incantations. Some traditional healers practise both side by side.

Today there are teaching and private hospitals all over the country and successful Nigerian doctors can be found all over the world.

Blacksmith

The traditional blacksmith makes things from iron and metal such as farming tools e.g. hoes and cutlasses, knives and axes for butchers, gongs for the town criers and special needles which tanners use to sew leather products and pails for fetching water. There isn't really much that a good blacksmith can do really, they are a very integral part of the community.

Fishing

This used to be another common occupation in the past among locals who live in the delta areas. Large scale fishing like farming is very much on the decline due to lack of investment, technology, oil pollutions, poaching from foreigners, which is facilitated by a lack of monitoring and policing and piracy in our waters. According to the president of the Nigerian Trawlers Owners Association Nigeria has lost over N600 billion as a result of piracy and this has dire consequences not only for home consumption, but attracting large scale investors and export as well.

Grass Weaving

This is still popular in the northern parts of the country, where grass which is abundant is woven into baskets, mats, tables and fans. Some have very ornate patterns and lots of different colours and may be used in the home or sold as gifts.

Carpentry

This is common all over the country and indeed flourishing. Wood carvers traditionally built shrines which are used to worship traditional gods and lots of their work centred around masks and figures in this regard. However, they also make lots of figure ornaments and carvings of people and animals. Some of the furniture made in Nigeria is very elegant and sophisticated indeed. Wood carving is one of the country's main crafts and a lot of the products are on show and sale for tourists.

Bronze and Metal Casting

Ife and Benin are famous all over the world for their bronze and metal carvings. Traditionally a lot of these elaborate masks and carvings were made to decorate the royal palaces, or for use in ceremonial occasions and traditional shrines. Sadly a lot of these national heirlooms are now housed in museums or private collections around the world.

Ivory carving is another art form that was for many years also used to decorate palaces, temples and shrines. In modern times ivory is used to make various ornaments to decorate around the home, in the office and gifts for special occasions.

Pottery

Nigerian pottery ranks very highly in the world and the late Dr. Lade Kwali and Alhaja Sifawa Jimoh are both famous in this regard. Among the Yoruba, potters were traditionally women, but in the north they were men. Traditional pots were made for ritual purposes, water vessels and cooking. Today all sorts of ceramics are made using a combination of the old and modern methods. The products are used for everyday use as well as gifts and the work of some Nigerian potters is highly sought after Worldwide.

Cloth Weaving

Nigeria is famous for the numerous types of fabric which were traditionally woven by hand, but today modern technology has taken over. Fabrics include the famous “Aso oke”, traditionally worn by royalty but nowadays for special occasions, “Adire” or tie and dye and “Ankara” among the Yoruba and “George” among the Igbo. Modern fabrics include lace, voiles, brocades and damask, the later is also used for elaborate upholstery and curtains. Nigerians are very elegant and stylish in their mode of dress which is very bright and colourful.

Palm Wine Tapping

Palm wine tapping is another occupation from the past which still continues today. The female or red Abe (Oil palm tree) is used for palm kernels from which you get palm oil used in cooking, manufacture of margarine and soap. The sap of the male or white Abe is used to make Palm wine, which is a popular traditional beer all over West Africa. The Abe has many other uses, for example its branches are used to make mats, baskets, brooms and roofing.

Modern Occupations

Today Nigeria has doctors, architects, Sports men and women, scientists, lawyers, engineers, teachers, lecturers, bankers, business men, fashion designers, artists many of whom are on the world stage: Wole Soyinka , Chinua Achebe and Chimanda Ngozi Adichie- writers , Dr. Phillip Emeagwali, computer scientist, Dr Ferdinand Ofodile –Plastic surgeon, Priscilla Kuye,-Judge, Oba Nsugbe QC, Boma Ozobia – Chairman Association of Women solicitors UK, Jay Jay Okocha and Nwankwo Kanu- footballers, Sade, Ola, Lemar, Sunny Ade- musicians, Yinka Shonibare- artist are just a few player.