Leather - NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA

Lydia Beshel
Feb, Fri, 2025

EU hails Made-in-Abia leather craftsmanship

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Leather

By Ihechinyere Chigemeri-Uwom

The European Union (EU) has commended the craftsmanship of Made-in-Abia leather products, reinforcing the state’s reputation as Nigeria’s leading hub for leather production.

The Head of Cooperation of the Delegation of the EU to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mr Massimo De Luca, made this known during a one-day working visit to Aba.

De Luca said that the state’s leather industry held a lot of potential and talents for possible investments which should earn it an international recognition.

He said that the union had ongoing collaborations with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and German Cooperation to enhance the global leather sector.

De Luca also said that these collaborations positioned the Union as a key partner in the global leather industrial development.

He revealed that these partnerships focus on quality standards, standardisation, and improved manufacturing practices,

He further said that UNIDO would soon launch new projects to strengthen value chains, enhance product quality, and improve environmental manufacturing practices in the leather sector.

“It is an area the union keeps being active through a number of projects which are assigned big supports through UNIDO, the UN agency.

“The agency will soon start working in value chains, quality and improvement in manufacturing and environmental.

“It has always been my dream to visit Abia because I have heard so much about Aba shoes and the leather industry.

“The name Abia deserves all the attention and respect worldwide and this is what we need to fight for, Abia first and Abia products first,”he said.

Also, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Trade, Commerce and Industry, Chief Nwaka Inem, reaffirmed Abia government’s commitment to boost the local leather industry.

Inem said that the government would focus on assisting artisan’s to improve their production quality and traders to expand their leather obusinesses.

“The government is committed to giving traders all necessary support to help them produce better than they are now and to be more meaningfully engaged.

“Our goal is to assess the challenges you face so we can optimise your operations,” he said.

He further assured traders that the government, through the Ministry of Trade and Investment and the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Agency, would draft a comprehensive support mechanism to address their needs.

“We have observed the environment and understand your concerns.

“We will take note of the deficiencies and come back with solutions that will enhance your trade, beyond improving the environment, we want to ensure that you produce better-quality goods,” he said.

Chief Inem also highlighted Gov Alex Otti’s commitment to partnering with the EU to uplift the leather sector in Aba.

He said that the visit by the EU delegation had demonstrated the government and the union’s keen interest in the growth of the industry in the state.

Inem said that the state government’s intervention would boost Aba’s leather industry, positioning it for competitiveness in both local and international markets.(NAN)

Edited by Maureen.atuonwu

Ismail Abdulaziz
Oct, Sun, 2024

General News

Institute trains youths in leather processing, production

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By Abdul Hassan

The Nigerian Institute of Leather and Science Technology (NILEST) has trained more than 1,000 youths from three states in leather processing and production.

The Director-General of the institute, Prof. Mohammed Yakubu, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.

Yakubu said that the beneficiaries were from Nasarawa, Sokoto and Borno states.

He said that the collaboration with the Nasarawa government involved the setting up of a school, and training of 750 people to acquire skills in the processing of leather products over the next five years.

“We are going to have a school in Doma. The target is to train 750 skilled artisans in the area of leather and leather products.

“The state government will provide the building, equipment and funding for us to run a skill acquisition programme for roughly 150 people in the state every year over the next five years.

“We have already signed the agreement, and we are in the process of purchasing the equipment, and before the end of the year, we are going to start the project in earnest,” he said.

The director-general also said that the institute and the Borno government had agreed to set up a centre and tannery in the state.

“We visited the state and the governor, Professor Babagana Zulum, graciously accepted to build our centre there to be a cluster for other states around Borno.

“We already have a tannery, and Zulum is going to provide the equipment needed and expand our workshop there.

“It is to train their youths displaced by years of conflict. We are going to expand our activities in Maiduguri, and the governor has pledged to give housing accommodation for our staff.

“We are really happy with the level of commitment shown by Zulum, he has really shown interest in our activities, and he is willing to support us,” he said.

Yakubu said that the project would support the healing process and proper resettlement of displaced persons in Borno State.

“It is important to provide skills to internally displaced persons so that they can take back their lives and have a means of livelihood.

“We visited one of the IDP camps in Maiduguri, we saw what they were doing in terms of different trades, and I believe we can do much better work for those interested in acquiring skills in leather works.

“The governor has seen reason behind that and is ready to collaborate,” he said.

For Sokoto State, the director-general said that NILES would also train 500 youths over the next six months to acquire skills in making leather products.

He said that this followed the successful training of 100 people sponsored earlier by the state government.

“When the new governor of Sokoto State wanted to showcase his first 100 days achievements, NILES featured prominently there because we trained 100 indigenes of the state for about one month.

“What they were able to produce in one month impressed the governor and he asked us to train another set of about 500 within the next six months.

“He has seen what we can do and how those trained were kept busy. He wants to make Sokoto another Ariaria within a very short time,” he said.

He said that the institute had been collaborating with educational institutions within and outside the country in various aspects.

“We have collaboration with the Institute of Leather in Portugal; we paid a visit to them three months ago. We also have collaboration with the leather institute in Chennai, India, which was established a hundred years ago.

“We want to run an exchange programme with them so that our staff can go there for their Msc. and PhD.

“We are also collaborating with Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto.

“We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for exchange of staff, training, research and development in all areas we are involved in. This will boost our research portfolio,” he said. (NAN)

Edited by Kadiri Abdulrahman