- Laments low patronage of locally-made products
BY AGNES NWORIE, ABAKALIKI
Oluchi Awoke is creativity personified just as she is business inclined. From childhood, 40-year-old Awoke discovered that she was not cut out for white-collar job. As a young girl, she started making beads without prior training.
Although she is a graduate of Human Anatomy today, for Awoke, her passion is entrenched in vocational skills.
In an encounter with The Point correspondent in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Awoke, director of a fashion designing and shoemaking outfit in the state, shared the story of her successes and challenges.
For her, the best choice for the Nigerian youth is to take advantage of whatever comes their way irrespective of their specialties.
According to Awoke, Nigerians prefer foreign goods to locally-made products. She, however, said that she never felt discouraged by such a mentality. The lady said that her mates always made fun of her when she started learning the crafts but she never got deterred.
Awoke said that she developed thick skin by rising above pessimism. Since she graduated, Oluchi said that she had proved to the world that “What a man can do, a woman can do better.”
Today, her outfit produces shirts and foot wears such as shoes, sandals and slippers for male and females of all ages.
Asked what motivated her, Awoke said, “People actually regard shoe making as a man’s job but it is not true. I chose this job because I have had a passion for vocational skills from childhood. During my secondary and tertiary education, I started producing beads without any tutelage. The way it happened I don’t know. I concluded within me that vocational skill is what I am cut out for. I love what I can produce with my hands.
“I studied Human Anatomy. I combined University education with skill acquisition. I would sew both male and female clothes. When I graduated and went for the National Youth Service Corps in Niger State in 2008 where I served my country Nigeria for one year, I paid serious attention to the Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Department programme.
“I had different skills, but I concentrated on leather work because I like something unique. I was posted to the School of Midwifery in Minna, Niger State. I would train my students and leave for other tasks. I spent the remaining time making foot wear which I sold to people. It was the profit that I made and the allowance from the Federal Government that sustained me because the Niger State government didn’t pay us.
“When I passed out and returned to my state, I continued to do my dream job with the little savings that I made during my service year instead of waiting for a non-existing white-collar job. As God would have it, you can see the level we are now. I was sharing a shop with someone but now, I have rented a full flat as my workshop and showroom. I have a foot wear making section and a polo sewing section.
“One thing in life is having passion for whatever thing you derive joy in doing. You must put extra effort to achieve it. During the NYSC service, some of my colleagues were laughing at me, some said you came to the North to do aboki shine my shoe, but I didn’t listen to them because what I do gives me joy and I know what I want.
“I supply my products to traders at the international market in Abakaliki, to boutiques, schools, and individuals. Celebrities place special orders with me for shoes and shirts to match for special occasions.
“My advice to fellow youth is that they should utilize any opportunity that comes their way because opportunity comes but once. Most importantly, people should stop waiting for non-existing white-collar jobs. Our population is even more than the available jobs. It is better if you use the money that you would have used to get a job to acquire skills.
“In this part of the country, you rarely see women doing shoe making. People should embrace the fact that there is no job which is exclusively for a man or a woman. What matters is the willingness and ability to do the job. What a man can do, a woman can do better. Gone are the days when people regarded the vocational field as a field for those who don’t have the opportunity to go to school. No! School is good because you acquire knowledge on how to read and write but that shouldn’t stop one from learning vocational training. There are female mechanics, welders, barbers and keke riders in the state and they are doing very well.
“I have people who I have trained. I have trained about 25 people, including boys and girls. I equally have three workers that I pay monthly and I am looking for more to employ. The National Directorate of Labour and Employment sends their candidates for training in my workshop.”
Oluchi said that she started business with a meagre sum of N5, 000 that she was able to save while in service.
“Nothing good comes easy. I started with only N5, 000. I sourced a loan from the Central Bank of Nigeria and that was what helped me to expand the business to the level. I am looking for more loans and grants to buy equipment that will make my work faster and better. I take my products to Aba, Abia State for monogramming and 3D printing. Once I have such equipment here, I can employ many more people.
My target is to supply products to about 15 states starting next year.”
On the attitude of Nigerians to locally-made products, Oluchi said that “Nigerians are not patriotic, they don’t patronize locally made products and that has been the main challenge to local producers.
Most Nigerians prefer foreign goods even if it doesn’t last. Here in Ebonyi State where I am, there is no industry or factory. They just build hotels and petrol stations. I travel as far as Aba to buy materials for my work. I need funds to expand my business more.
“My workshop is hidden, it is not in a strategic place but it doesn’t matter. What matters is the quality of the job that you do. People buy my products and come back with their families and friends. The problem is that many Nigerians don’t patronize locally made products. They always look for foreign products.”
