Tag: Adekunle Ajasin University

Mese Bankole Oladipo is a 2012 graduate of Mass Communication from Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, in Ondo State. The young man has carved a niche for himself in a profession characterised by dropouts and never-do-wells: shoemaking. In this interview with Daniel Adeleye, the Akure-based shoemaker has proved bookmakers wrong that you can succeed these days even without a white-collar job. Excerpts:

What prompted you to become a shoemaker?

I gained admission in 2007 but before then, I have always been in love with shoemaking and leather bag manufacturing. I had a burning passion for it right from when I was in my teens. I wanted to study a related course in the university but right from my secondary school days I equally loved journalism because I have always seen myself casting news on TV and all that. So that prompted me to go for Arts class when I was in senior secondary school. Though my brother tried to force me to study Law but I refused. I chose Mass Communication because it has always been my dream course. When I gained admission in 2007 because of the growing spate of unemployment in our country, shoemaking was a plan B for me. I presumed that if I graduated and I don’t get a job, I would practice shoemaking as a career so that I won’t be a liability to my family. And after I completed my NYSC in 2013, I tried my best to get a job but as we all know that to get job nowadays in Nigeria, you need a godfather. Since I couldn’t get any job I went back to my plan B and God has been so faithful.

What was your parents’ response to this unusual job that people regard as job for dropouts and never do-wells?

Initially, when I resolved to go into the job, it raised dust between me and my parents. They were not in support of my going into shoemaking. But I had to make them see the reason why they should allow me and when they too also saw the ugly trends of unemployment in the country, they succumbed. Today, I don’t depend on them neither am I a burden to them. And seeing me making waves in the career, as such they are left with no choice but to throw their weight behind me and they have been very supportive thus far.

How is the business doing at the moment and is there any success story since you started shoemaking?

As I said earlier, God has been faithful and the business is doing very well. When I started the business after my NYSC, I started very little but today I have improved on my products because I never stopped learning. I improve myself by making researches and I have acquired more machines and tools to make the job easier. All these have made me gone far beyond where I started. The responses I get from people who buy and use my shoes encourage me to do more. There is little or no difference between my products and the imported shoes. There are teeming students from the Federal University of Technology Akure, (FUTA) that I make shoes for and other people within and outside Akure metropolis. Besides, I now have a lot of apprentice working under me.

How affordable are your shoes?

It depends on what customer wants. I have shoes for all echelon of people; the low, middle and high class because fingers are not equal. If a customer comes and ask for shoe of N2,000 I will make for him. And at the same time if a customer comes and request for the high class shoe, I will also do. But I will say my products are pocket friendly it all depends on the quality. The average quality for a palm slippers is N4,500 and sandals go for N5,000 while cover shoe starts from N10,000 and above. But like I said it all depends on the quality of leather the customer wants.

What challenges do you face in shoemaking?

The challenges are enormous. When I started it was tough because I didn’t have the required equipment for the job. There was no financial support whatsoever. And in a country like ours where things are difficult, especially when one is starting a business like this, you need people’s support. But in my own case nobody was willing to lend support. The family where I come from is not financially stable though they gave their own widow’s mite. Even currently I have not totally surmounted the challenges. I still need facility and industrial machines like the ones used in big shoemaking factories.

Availability of materials is another threat to the business. To get quality leather you need to travel to Lagos, Onitsha or Aba. And again Nigerian government is not doing enough to encourage the small scale business owners in the country. In shoemaking business, government can organise seminars or workshops for them to get more training on the job and to also make money available for them to acquire necessary tools and machines. I once went to the Bank of Industry to enquire on how to get loan. But to some extent I prefer grant to loan to get facility and other industrial equipment that I need.

What’s your reaction to the call for made-in-Nigeria goods?

I was in a workshop sometimes ago and people called on the government to encourage small medium enterprises improve on the qualities of their products. I believe if our government can help and encourage crafts and vocations, Nigerian-made products can also be of the same quality with foreign products or even better. Nigerians should be encouraged to patronise made-in-Nigeria products because where things stand in the country today, how many people can afford N100,000 Italian leather shoe? But people can easily go for the shoe of N2, 000-2500 depending on the choice. As a shoemaker, I cannot spend N4, 500 to make a pair of shoe and expect me to sell N3000, it’s practically impossible. So cost of production affects locally-made products. For you to make something that can be compared with international products you need to buy quality materials which are very expensive. Government should lend support to leather producing companies and I believe that Nigerian products can also be of the same quality with foreign products. All we need to do is to encourage Nigerians to patronise the locally-made products instead of foreign ones. The governments of Indonesia, China and India provide support for their citizens and that’s why they are leading in production today. So if our own government can help us, I think we can do better.

There is a general belief that most locally-made products are substandard. What makes yours different?

I don’t subscribe to the belief that locally-made products are substandard. There are some products made here in Nigeria that are far better than those being imported from China. It is not new that most products imported from China and other countries are of inferior quality. Here in Nigeria, we have top quality leather; we have upper leather, foreign leather, goat skin, crocodile leather, snake leather and wet loose leather. All these leathers last longer than linen leather that many regard as what’s in vogue today. So a person like me never believes in foreign products. The quality of shoes that I make is of the same standard with the imported ones because I use quality materials. I make my own products so that when you use it you’ll come back. Sometimes people find it difficult to differentiate between the shoes I make and the foreign ones.

What’s the future of shoemaking in Nigeria?

Nigeria is one of the largest producers of skin in the world basically from Kano. People come to Nigeria and take the skins abroad and then return them to us at a very exorbitant price after being refined. Going to Lagos, Onitsha and Aba, Nigerians are really trying to refine those leathers like the ones they are bringing to us from foreign countries at high rate. Nigerians are very enterprising but the major challenge is the lack of support and encouragement from government. If government can establish shoemaking factories and leather making industries where people can work, that alone can turn in billions of naira into the coffers of government. In fact, it’s bigger than agriculture and it will also create jobs for many Nigerians and further boost economy.

Where do you see yourself in the next ten years?

I see myself own a big shoemaking industry where I can produce a minimum of 10,000 pairs of shoes in a day. There is a company in China popularly known as Shoe Moon. In that company they have over 8000 iron lamps they use to produce shoes like slippers and canvass. So if such a company can exist in China I believe we can also have it here Nigeria.

If you’re to advise unemployed graduates who are still roaming the streets, what would you tell them?

They need to rise up to the challenge and put their destinies in their own hands, that’s my candid advice to them. The population of Nigeria today is almost 200 million, the fact remains that government alone cannot absorb everybody. The moment one gain admission to higher institution of learning, it’s very necessary to have plan A and B, so that if plan A does not work out, you can easily fall back on plan B.

Our government also needs to make it a point of duty that everyone from primary school to tertiary institutions must learn a craft or vocation. I believe this will go a long way to solve the issue of unemployment in Nigeria. When I started learning shoemaking after my NYSC there were some of my friends who I encouraged to also learn something, some of them listened and took the advice and some rebuffed it. Those of us who went ahead and learn something are enjoying it today. Majority don’t know whether I am a graduate or not until they interact with me in English language because many believe that people who are into this kind of business are illiterate and today I am a point of reference to many people. When people come to repair shoes, the way I handle it is different from ordinary shoe-cobbler on the streets will handle it, because of the educational qualification that I acquire.