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ABSTRACT

Fine and Applied arts has long been reputed as an important vocation in capacity building and self-reliance, and as such can be a pivot in helping to achieve the first point of the Millennium Development Goals, which aims to “eradicate extreme poverty and hunger”. This paper attempted to use Fine & applied arts as a platform to assess these possibilities and made recommendations to how poverty can be reduced through skill acquisition which are, viable options that can  lead  to self sustenance and poverty alleviation which will help in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

INTRODUCTION

The United Nations (U.N) in its September 2008 world summit, at the UN headquarters in New York, United States of America came out with an eight point agenda christened “UN Millennium development goals” which aims to improve on societal and human values by the years 2015, these goals were;

1.     Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.

2.     Achieve universal primary education.

3.     Promote gender equality and empower women.

4.     Reduce child mortality.

5.     Improve maternal health.

6.     Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

7.     Ensure environmental sustainability.

8.     Develop a global partnership for development.

These goals were introduced with the sole aims of providing better standards of living for developing countries in particular and the world in general. Nigeria has been grabbling to come to terms with these goals and sought various possibilities to achieve them. Agencies were formed to help actualize the goals. These include NEEDS, PAP, NAPEP and many more. However reports emerging have shown that there is little improvement, and more needs to be done. Igbuzor (2006) stated that issues of the Millennium Development Goals should not be restricted to what is measurable but to address them, holistically if meaningful progress is to be made.

          One of the most challenging aspects of the MDG is the first point which centers on eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.

UNDP (2003) stated that poverty is the main architect that militates against achieving the millennium development goals. For sustainable development to be attained the issue of poverty has to be faced squarely, so as to provide a base for the other MDG to be achieved.

POVERTY IN NIGERIA

Poverty, as defined by the Microsoft Encarta Dictionary is “a state of being poor, deficiency or lack of something. Jakonda (2003) stated that poverty is to be handicapped to take care of basic necessities like housing, clothing and shelter. Aluko (1975) refers to poverty as a lack of command over basic consumption needs, which means that there is lack of Good, shelter and clothing which are essentials of life. This leads to the inability to participate in society with dignity due to low self esteem necessitated by these factors.

          Nigeria is estimated to have a population of 140 million (NPC 2006),UNDP (2007) and an average annual growth of 2.8% (world development report; 2002) and most of the people live on less than a dollar per day despite the rich natural resources the country is blessed with Nigeria is rated the 6^th largest oil producing country in the world, yet the poverty levels are offering a population surviving on less than a dollar a day amounts to 70.2 percent its total population: Odusola, (2001). World Bank (1996) described Nigeria as a paradox, and it was so described because events have shown that the poverty levels contradict the immense wealth the country is blessed with (Obadan 2006).

          The Federal Government has tried to make progress by setting up several agencies to try and tackle poverty in Nigeria. The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) which was formed in … was saddled with the responsibility of providing employment for Nigerians, especially the youths which are the fulcrum of the society (NAPEP), the National poverty Alleviation Programme was also formed to formulate ways of alleviation poverty. These and other agencies were primarily established for the attainment of rapid increase in the nation’s productive capacity with a view to improving the living standards of the people and over reliance on the government for white collar jobs. It is an important strategy for increasing the nation’s per capital income and in the long term, poverty. Fafunwa (1979) made it clear that the future of Africa will depend on technical skills acquisition He went further to say that African leaders of tomorrow will be drawn from an army of skilled technicians, engineers and scientists as well as those with elementary, secondary or University education who are also able to turn screws, wield axes and use the hands as much as their brains. This cannot be further from the truth and if poverty is to be reduced in Nigeria, skill acquisition must be encouraged and promoted.

The poverty related objectives enumerated were:

a)     Increase in per capital income

b)    An even distribution of income

c)     Reducing unemployment.

d)    Manpower development. Nwagu  (2004).

All these points are important if poverty is to be tackled effectively. Obadan (2006) stated that an increase in per capital income simultaneously with an even distribution of income would lead to poverty reduction. This is true because a reduction of employment would mean an increase in per capital income, coupled with an even distribution, will determine the levels of poverty reduction.

It is imperative from the analysis that employment is a bane to achieving the millennium development goal of poverty reduction, consequently a more salient and practical approaches to be determined.

          Skill acquisition is a very important step to reducing unemployment

FINE & APPLIED ARTS AS A TOOL FOR SKILL ACQUISITION  

Fine and applied arts has the potentials to be a venue for acquiring creative skills and craftsmanship because of its devise nature. Fine and applied arts is best described as a means of visual representation for aesthetics and functionality. The Encarta Microsoft student defines art as the product of creative human activity in which materials are shaped or selected to convey an idea, emotion or visually interesting form. Art can refer to the visual arts including painting, sculpture, architecture photography, decorative arts, crafts graphics design and most recently glass technology. Art can be a platform for youths and individuals to acquire certain skills that can help them to start a business or to broaden and enlighten their horizons.

Palmer (2004) enumerated the objectives of Art in Nigeria:

·        To foster creative self-expression

·        To develop keener awareness of aesthetic and social values

·        To develop mental and physical awareness and capabilities.

·        To train perceptual, manipulative and organizational abilities.

·        To enhance personality growth and self esteem

·        To develop individual creative intuition for self-sustenance.

This cannot be far from the truth as fire arts as an in road towards self awareness and self reliance

          Skill acquisition basically means building up acquired skills for economic benefits, Okoro (1994) Defined skill acquisition as an education where the individual acquires skills, knowledge and altitude required for employment in specific occupations. Skill acquisition can also be said to be fact aspect of education which leads to the acquisition of practical and applied skills as well as basic science knowledge.

Fine & Applied Arts is a viable platform for skill acquisition because of it’s diverse nature, as it has various branches that can be of immense importance to the recipient, some of these. Areas include:

Textiles

This is the art of fabric production and decoration. It also involves paper works, batik, tie and dye, blocker screen printing. Textiles is an important branch of the arts where fabric to be used are decorated in an aesthetic manner, To achieve the desired patterns on the fabric, designs are first made on paper in repeated patterns and their transferred on to the fabric planned by printing on machine, Screen, Stamping or stencil. This vocation is hugely popular in Kano state northern Nigeria and Oyo state, western Nigeria.

 

          Graphics:

 A viable and commercial art in which forms, shapes and other elements of design are arrangement meaningfully and orderly for visual communication. Individuals trained in this vacation stand can use these skills to produce bill boards, sign posts or even work in a printing press; it is commercially viable because the market is readily available. Computer graphics which is quite recent in Nigeria is another goldmine waiting to be explored.

Ceramics:

          This skill is also very important and can create business opportunities. Ceramics involves the production of articles made of clay material and making them into fine, finished, beautiful utilitarian pieces like pots, jugs, plates, Mugs, Sanitary wares, bricks, tiles. The late Ladi Kwali epitomized this vocation, she used her skill to generate income, employ youths around the Kwali Municipal council of Abuja and thereby reducing the poverty rate around that area.

Sculpture

          This art deals with forming figures and objects in three dimensional way, either in relief from or in the – round. Acquiring these skills will lead to Opportunities to decorate towns, cities or even homes. It is quite popular in Southern Nigeria where people use these pieces for decorative or commemorative purposes.

Painting

          This is another aspect of the art that can series as a spring board for gainful employment. It is the art of illustration executed with paints, brushes and palette knives. This are is purely decorative and aesthetic purposes.

Crafts

Crafts (also called handcrafts) is the making of decorative or functional objects generally by hand. It can come in various medium, glass, leather, paper, fiber or more. The vocations are known to be quite marketable in Nigeria; the opportunities are there to be taken are can be learnt in two ways

1. FORMAL LEARNING:

Skill acquisition can be through formal learning. This involves teaching of skills in an organized setting with curriculum to back it up, the methods of learning are laid out for certain period of time, where students or individuals are tested and graded periodically. Examinations are conducted, practically and in written format to assess their progress and to motivate them to do better, examples of these include: primary, secondary, tertiary institutions, and NAPEP learning centers.

2. INFORMAL LEARNING:

This type of learning is done without restrictions and is usually done at a much slower pace than the formal setting. Most recipients are normally adults or youths who do not have jobs and are looking for ways to learn a trade to be able to earn living, organized training centers are manned by professionals who take their time to instruct the participants, most whom are semi-illiterates or illiterates, in the case of apprenticeship, the learner is attached to the “master”, for a period of time where he learns the rubrics and tricks of the job, when he is certified qualified, he is then released and given some amount of money to start a business.

These methods do have their pitfalls in so many ways and they need government and private sector support to thrive and be more viable

SKILL ACQUISITION FOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION

The main stay of skill acquisition through fine and applied art is for employment or self employment. As earlier noted, gainful employment means

income.generation and this leads to poverty reduction and economic development. Fine and applied arts provides a great opportunity to learn skills that can help individuals start businesses of their own

These acquired skills can go a long way in providing avenues for individuals to be gainfully employed and contribute to the society. Many unemployed, impoverished citizens can benefit through these branches of art, formally or informally. If they are engaged and make a living, poverty levels will decrease; Nwagwu (2004). Investing in human capital is the surest way of reducing poverty, and if this is to be done, it has to be restructured, such that individuals will be the focal point, they should be empowered with the requisite practical skills that can help them generate income and better their standard of living. Individuals can be encouraged to start small and medium scale enterprises, so as to engage themselves and be beneficial to their families and communities as a whole, in the face of declining government and private sector jobs, the way to go is to acquire skills, that should lead towards self-employment, Aluwong (2008). If Nigerians are gainfully employed, poverty levels will definitely decrease and this will go along way in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

CONCLUSION

Poverty eradication is fundamental in achieving the millennium development goals, its consequences reverberates itself in arrears like gender equality, HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, education and much more. Nigerians should strive to be job creators and not job seeker so that they can earn incomes and reduce the dependency on government, this will definitely lead to national development and an in increase in the nations per capital income. Fine and applied arts education can be a bridge to that effect because it provides a platform to learn requisite practical skills in woodwork, painting, ceramics, sculpture and more recently, computer graphics, if they acquire these skills they can be self-reliant and guided to establish businesses that will eventually lead to more employment opportunities for others. This circle, if well implemented will go a long way to help in reducing the effect of poverty and hunger in our society, curb a lot of vices that might stem from lack of work or opportunities, an engaged society can only thrive and be beneficial to all, thereby paving the way to achieving the Millennium Development Goals , hopefully ,by 2015.

 

 

RECOMMENDATIONS:

·        Government should do more to encourage the teaching of fine and applied arts education through the provision of funds, facilities and materials needed for effective teaching.

·        Teacher / instructor training and re-training should be given more attention by the relevant authorities.

·        Fine and applied arts should be made compulsory from primary school through secondary school.

·        Private sector involvement should be more robust in supporting individuals and cottage industries that require loans to establish or expand their businesses.

·        Vocational training centre where various branches of the art can be taught should be established in rural areas to stem migration to urban areas.

·        Core fine and applied art courses should be included in the C.A.P (capacity acquisition programme) initiated by the Federal Government through NAPEP.

·        A periodic start up tax haven should be provided for young, upcoming entrepreneurs.

·        Small and medium scale enterprises should be encouraged

 

REFERENCE:

Igbuzor. O (2006) Review of Nigerian Millennium Development goals 2005 report, a paper presented at the MDG/GCAP Planning meeting at Abuja. Nigeria.

Jakonda, S.Z (2003, May 3), Poverty Alleviation, RURCON Gazette, 12, 9-10.

Nigeria. Federal Ministry of Finance (2000) “Nigeria CG, Poverty reduction paper”.

 

Nwagwu, J.U (2004), Alleviating poverty through vocational education: the Nigerian Experience, published paper, Faculty of education, Imo State University, Owerri.

 

Obadan, M.I (2006) “Poverty in Nigeria: Characteristics, Alleviation Strategies and Programmes”, NCEMA Analysis Series, Vol 2, No 2.

 

Odusola, (2001), cited in Nwagwu, J.U (n.d) Alleviating Poverty through vocational education: The Nigerian Experience, published paper, Faculty of education, Imo State University, Owerri.

 

Poverty (2007) Microsoft Student 2007 (DVD) Redmond, W.A: Microsoft Corporation.

 

World Bank (1996) Nigeria, Poverty in the midst of plenty: The challenge of growth with inclusion. Washington D.C, World Bank.