Igbo Apprenticeship System and Sustainable Development in Southeast: An Imperative for Sound Economic Base in Nigeria.

The study examines the relationship between the Igbo Apprenticeship System (IAS) and sustainable development in Southeast, Nigeria. The study intends to investigate how the IAS contributes to youth employment, examining the institutional and operational constraints that weaken its developmental potential in a rapidly changing economy.The study is anchored on a descriptive survey design and supported by key informant interviews. The target population comprises masters, apprentices, settled former apprentices and market association leaders in selected apprenticeship-intensive commercial clusters in Enugu State. A sample of 345 respondents is drawn from an accessible population of 2,450 using Taro Yamani’s formula. Data are collected through structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, and analysed using frequency distributions, mean scores and chi-square tests. The findings revealed that the IAS significantly improves youth employment, however, its developmental effectiveness is constrained by inadequate settlement, absence of written contracts, limited access to finance, uneven digital adaptation and occasional exploitative labour practices. The study concludes that the Igbo Apprenticeship System remains one of the most important indigenous pathways to sustainable development in Enugu State because it combines skills formation, mentoring, social capital and business incubation within a locally legitimate institutional framework. Nevertheless, its long-term contribution depends on institutional strengthening, fairer settlement practices, digital upgrading, gender inclusion and policy integration into state-level employment and MSME frameworks