John Okongo

A practical government policy on apprenticeship is a requirement to continuously advance and encourage the company toward top performance and adaptability for a long-term sustainability. In Nigeria, which has a significant young unemployment problem, apprenticeship has emerged as a key to reducing youth unemployment. Thus, sustainability of family businesses is a source of employment, and continuing apprenticeship practices have also raised the likelihood that an individual will obtain employment in the southern regions of Nigeria. This study aimed to examine how job creation, vocational and technical training, and apprentice competences aid in sustaining family business growth in southern Nigeria. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey and stratified sampling technique; a sample included 329 apprentices in 48 SMEs in southern regions of Nigeria. Using a five-point Likert scale questionnaire, data were analyzed using a normality test, linearity test, and multicollinearity test to ascertain the adequacy of the data. Correlation analysis was used to test the hypotheses. Findings revealed that job creation is related to sustainable family business growth; however, the strength of the correlation, though weak (30.0%), was statistically significant; a significant degree of association also existed between apprentice vocational training and sustainable family business growth; lastly, apprentice competences relate significantly to sustainable family business growth (72.1%, p < 0.05). The study concluded that continuous apprenticeship practices influence the objective of business growth as a pivot for socioeconomic development and a long-term sustainability of family businesses.

Acknowledgment
The authors would like to sincerely appreciate the Editor-in-Chief and Reviewer(s) for their helpful comments that, in our view, have helped significantly to improve the quality of the manuscript.