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As I have established in previous installments, a technical education is necessary for skilled and competent tradesmen. Unfortunately most tradesmen in Nigeria have little or no formal training and this reflects in the quality of their job and sometimes results in complications.
The common trades that have this problem are the Electrical, Air conditioning and Plumbing. Our focus today will be on the electrical trade.
The United States and most of Europe have both adopted standard electrical code (the National Electrical Code and the International Electro technical Commission respectively) that are an attempt to harmonise national wiring standards and determine compliance by electrical tradesmen and inspectors.
These rules are created for safety protection against issues like electric shock, thermal effect, and overcurrent. Also for installation and appliances issues such as wiring systems; earthing arrangements and isolation, switching and control. The consequence of the application of these codes and rules is reduced instances of electrical mishaps.
Unfortunately in Nigeria we, at the moment, do not practice these standard regulations and a code, the result of which is that average electricians (who are mostly self-taught) follow what they presume is the industry standards. These are more often than not out dated concepts.
For example, the current wiring colour code used is as follows; the protective earth is green and yellow stripe, the neutral is blue; the live is brown for a single phase system. For a three phase system, it is brown, black, and gray for the phases, blue for neutral and green and yellow stripe for the earth. This has been the standard since 2006.
In contrast, most local electricians in Nigeria still adopt the old wiring system of red, black and green for single phase and red, yellow, blue with black as neutral and green as earth for a three phase system.
This lack of uniformity is at the root of most electrical or electrical problems in Nigeria both in the domestic and commercial sector such as increased cost of maintenance due to recurring malfunctions which were as a result of improper initial installation. This leads difficulty in handing a job from one electrician to another who may not be familiar with the codes or standards used by his predecessor.
Another consequence is increased electrical accidents, sometimes resulting in fatalities. For example, in the case where a protective device such as a Circuit Breaker, is overrated, its failure of overcurrent protection will lead to electrical fire. Also without the right earthing during installation, there runs a high risk of electric shock which could be fatal especially in rooms such as the kitchen and bathroom.
The onus right now lies on the government to establish codes and regulations that are in line with the international community and make sure these are also taught at all educational levels and ensure compliance by all tradesmen. An electrical technician that has been trained to follow the current codes and standards will always execute jobs that are safe, durable and up to international standards.
JOLOMI GAGAR
Jolomi Gagar is a business developer at Etiwa Vocational Training, Abijo, Lagos
www.etiwa.com /info@etiwa.com
