To enable finished leather manufacturers in Aba, comprising shoe, belt, bag and trunk box makers to standardise their products, the management of Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, says it has designed a special entrepreneurial curriculum for the sector.
The 3-6 months course, which will cover quality control, record keeping, business management and entrepreneurial development, is structured to enable the operators to improve their skills to enable them compete favourably in the market.
To show the seriousness of the institution in starting the programme, the rector, Ezionye Eboh, a professor, has set up a four-man committee to draft the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the institution and the finished leather manufacturers, represented by the Leather Products Manufacturers Association of Abia State (LEPMAAS). The programme is expected to start January 2018.
The committee, headed by Amos Alozie, deputy rector, Abia Poly, also has Friday Omenihu, school bursar, Emeka Iroanya, head legal unit, and Kalu Fijo, director, Entrepreneurial Education Department, Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, as members.
The Abia State Polytechnic rector, while addressing the committee, said it was necessary for the institution to empower clusters in Aba, especially the finished leather cluster.
According to Eboh, “They have up to 80,000 persons in the cluster, and shoemakers constitute about 30,000 of that number.
“Abia State Polytechnic is the only institution in this State that has the technological expertise to drive the industrialisation of the State. You know what Aba represents and there is no need for us to continue to play to the gallery, we must live up to expectation.
“If we have such a cluster that has close to 100,000 people engaged in production, without us contributing our efforts to ensure that the artisans carry out their trade within the context of best business practices, then we are not doing well as an institution.”
The partnership between the institution and the Aba finished leather cluster is a synergy that should work, as it is in line with the vision of the new administration in Abia, Eboh said.
“More than ever before, I have never seen an administration that is interested in promoting Made-in-Aba goods, which within a space of two years, has taken the name of Aba beyond Nigeria,” he said.
He explained that the programme aimed at braking the psychological factor of some Nigerians that see locally made products as inferior to imported products.
He stated that Made-in-Nigeria products are not truly inferior, but observed that some Nigerians do not believe that a good product can come out of the country.
To break that psychological barrier, the rector, said that the institution would give the participants certificates and expressed joy to be part of the discussion.
“There is nothing that emboldens someone like having a certificate. And so, I welcome all of you, we are ready to partner with you. It is a partnership that will work.
The institution wants to empower operators of Aba finished leather cluster by giving them special training, Fijo explained.
Fijo said, “Some of them did not go beyond Senior Secondary School level (SSS), while some are not educated at all and so, we want to teach them the rudiments of managing an enterprise from the scratch to maturity.”
He explained that the programme would enable the institution to impact positively on its environment as well as create awareness for Made-in-Nigeria goods, which according to him, is the major thing.
Okechukwu Williams, president, LEPMAAS, expressed gratitude to the institution for accepting their proposal and hopped that the training will change the mindset of the artisans and local consumers.
“Like the Rector rightly observed, one of our major challenges, is lack of confidence and that is why most of us emboss foreign labels on their products.
“We need this programme to change that perception that our products are inferior to foreign made ones. We have the skill and the manpower to provide footwear and other leather product needs of Nigerians, consequently, this capacity building programme, would further boost our activities, “he said.
