Nigeria's expanding university system has failed to produce the skilled workforce its economy needs, and a prominent education entrepreneur is proposing a German style apprenticeship model as the answer.

The country currently operates 270 universities, 150 polytechnics, and 90 colleges of education, yet manufacturers in industrial hubs such as Aba and Nnewi continue to struggle to find qualified machinists, technicians, and fabricators. Each year, 600,000 graduates enter a labour market that has little use for their certificates.

Alex Onyia, Chief Executive Officer of Educare, captured the problem directly: "We have degrees, but we don't have enough skills." Onyia is not calling for more universities. He is calling for a structural overhaul of how Nigeria trains young people for work.

His proposal centres on Germany's Ausbildung system, a paid apprenticeship model in which young people train inside real companies from the age of 17, earn a wage throughout their training, and graduate with globally recognised certifications. More than half of German youth pass through the programme. Participants frequently out earn university degree holders.

Onyia intends to launch the initiative in the South East, which holds Africa's densest concentration of indigenous manufacturers. "This is not 'Igba Boy'," he stated. "This is world class." His apprentices in Aba are training in industrial fabrication, those in Nnewi in automotive engineering, and those in Onitsha in electronics.

The broader economic context makes the urgency plain. Nigeria imports toothpicks, mattresses, leather slippers, and plastic buckets, despite running one of Africa's largest tertiary education systems. The National Bureau of Statistics recorded unemployment at 5.4 percent in 2023, covering 4.8 million Nigerians without work, though critics note the figure counts anyone who worked one hour in a week as employed. Under the previous methodology, the rate stood at 27 percent.

Onyia argues that degrees have displaced competence. He identified three conditions necessary for the apprenticeship model to succeed: reliable electricity supply to industrial clusters, government tax incentives for companies that take on apprentices, and a cultural shift in how technical careers are valued. "The next millionaires won't all write code," he argued. "Some will build the machines."

The University of Ibadan, Nigeria's first University, was established in 1948. More than seven decades later, the country still imports toothpicks.