Caleb Ijioma
In a bid to promote entrepreneurship among students, Mass Communication National Diploma 1 students at the Abraham Adesanya Polytechnic, Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State, held a two-day trade fair at Abusi Edumare, the institution’s annex. The trade fair was the practical for a course on fundamentals in marketing. Students were delighted as they displayed their products.
The lecturer in charge, Mrs. Adedoyin Oshobughie, said the fair was planned to help students understand marketing principles aside taking notes in the class.
“When we say something is marketing, it involves business and transactions. We planned this trade fair to help students understand marketing principles, aside taking notes in the class, they should also see by themselves and have transactions with customers for them to experience marketing principles and to know more about entrepreneurship. It is not only about note-taking, but also about physical performance, so that they can get more ideas about the business, especially when they do transactions,” she said.
She expressed satisfaction over the turnout of students and said she was overwhelmed by the spirit of entrepreneurship they portrayed.
Oshobughie noted that the fair will give students the opportunity to learn about the different dynamics of entrepreneurship and will make them employed instead of waiting for white-collar jobs.
“This trade fair will always offer a lot of approaches to learning about customers and consumers, including the fact that they don’t need to wait for a white scholar job before they start earning money. They can as well be entrepreneurs and still do a white-scholar job. There are some platforms on social media that they can use to market their goods. So, this course and trade fair help the student not to be limited to the confinement of white collar jobs,” she noted.
Student entrepreneurs who spoke to CAMPUS LIFE noted that they recorded enough sales from their businesses during the trade fair when compared to previous sales.
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Adenola Hamdallah, a brand owner who sells Muslim clothes and jewelry, noted that she hadn’t made much sales, during the Muslim festival, but upon bringing her goods to the trade fair, she was able to sell everything.
“My business name is Hamdallah’s Couture and Ladies’ Wear. I sell jalamias, hijabs, hijab pins, studs, and earrings.
The trade fair helped me because I needed some particular amount of money to add up with what I had with me. I decided to use the money to buy some jalamias, and fortunately for me, they sold out during the period of the trade fair, so I got twice the money I needed,” she said.
Similarly, Adekunle Anuoluwapo said venturing into business while being a student is something she has to do to afford ‘pocket money,’ and the profit from the business has been supplying her daily needs.
“My brand is Ewatomilola perfume boutique, and I’m into the sales of roll-on, perfume, spray, and anything fragrance. The sales I made at the trade fair helped me pay off some debt. If I had stayed at home, I wouldn’t have been able to make as much sales, and my debt wouldn’t have been paid,” she said.
Another student, Ropo Imoleayo, who engages in baking and pastries, was excited at making huge sales. She said on the first day of the trade fair, she started with 4 containers of flour for only puff puff, and within an hour, she sold everything; same for the second day.
“The trade fair came in my favour because I was able to pay my SUG and departmental dues and other bills in school. I paid almost N12,500 yesterday with this sale,” she said.