Made-In-Nigeria Brands Should Be Encouraged, Not Despised, Says Lady Shoemaker

By Frank Oshanugor

The story of Anambra State born Mrs. Uchechukwu Nwokeji is a narrative in patriotism in a country that regrettably abhors patriots but patronizes economic saboteurs, primitive accumulators, greedy and corrupt public officials and so on.

With a National Diploma in Science Laboratory from the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede Owerri in Imo State, Uchechukwu had looked beyond going from one office to the other for employment as what comes as monthly salary would not care much for her in the present day Nigeria.

By chance, she came across a man few years ago in her former neighbourhood somewhere in Mushin area of Lagos who was into shoe making. She loved the art and within a short time, her passion began to run deep as she took time to diligently observe the production process. Along the line, she decided to challenge her intellect and without any formal apprenticeship, she tried her hand in making leather belts.

The joy of successfully making acceptable leather belts soon propelled her to actualise what was coming to her as revelation. She was visualising a world that would offer her a chance as a female shoemaker in an industry largely dominated by men.

In 2015 precisely, she decided to go fully into shoemaking, chosing Mushin as her immediate source of raw material supply. Occasionally she would travel to Aba in Abia State “because some importers sell their leathers cheaply at Mushin while the sole materials I use in making the shoes are cheaper in Aba. So I usually travel to Aba to buy the soles I buy the leather in Mushin Lagos.”

Today, Uchechukwu whose shoe factory is located at 39 Abayomi Owulade Avenue in Owode-Ajegunle, an emerging residential area of Lagos on the road to Ikorodu town, manages a shoemaking company that currently has no less than 120 pairs of beautifully made shoes of high quality and dozens of sandals in the showroom located directly opposite the factory when Atlanticnewsonline visited there on Monday.

With a masculine determination that seriously consumes her feminity, Uchechukwu comes across as one who is ready to succeed outstandingly in a vocation that attracts more derogatory remarks than applause. She is pained that many Nigerians particularly of rich class would despicably condemn made in Nigeria products like shoes (Aba made) instead of encouraging the makers to upscale through patronage.

Her revelation of what some Nigerians do to her and others in killing their brands in place of foreign brands could best be described as wicked and unpatriotic.

According to her, “my brand is BENVICK and it has always been my intention to popularise it through my shoes but some Nigerians who like my product would subtly urge me to place brand stamp of other brands like Gucci, Dior, Velentino etc to enable them patronize me. I feel bad at such request but because I need money to survive, I would do their bidding.”

With a monthly average income of between N200,000 to N300,000, Uchechukwu believes that if the Federal Government could take the lead in promoting and patronising made in Nigeria products like shoes, many jobless Nigerians would be employed. “How can Nigeria develop and occupy a pride of place when people who should know better are urging us to promote Gucci, Dior, Velentino, instead of promoting our indigenous brands,” she asked.

“By asking us to make shoe for them but with a foreign brand name, it is clearly obvious that they like our products which are undoubtedly stronger and more resilient than most foreign made shoes which easily wear out once water touches them.”

The Anambra woman is determined to upscale her shoemaking business and be an exporter, but the obvious challenges are hinged on inability to buy some machines which are essential in shoe making. At present, her factory could only boast of an industrial sewing machine, filing machine and stamping machine for branding.

According to her, apart from the filing machine which she bought with money gifted to her by a good Nigerian whose name she did not know, the other machines were bought through her self effort.

With these machines and combination of manual skill, she has continued to move the frontiers of the factory which currently produces leather belt, leather wallets, school bags in addition to the shoes and sandals.

Standard shoemaking comes with some processes as the various parts like upper region which consists of the vamp, toe box, lace, eyelet, heel counter etc must be well synchronized to the lower region which is the sole. Some soles are flexible rubber gel sole just as some shoes’ upper region are made of thread, high quality waxed.

In the words of Uchechukwu, “I construct some soles manually myself to suit the very shoe we have designed. I must say that those constructed in our factory are stronger than the foreign made ones which soles are not well padded and synchronized to the upper part.”

One of the machines BENVICK shoe factory direly needs is one that could seamlessly aid solidification of the upper part to the sole after the application of gum. “The machine makes it easier and more sophisticated than the current manual style of hitting the shoe with hammer to achieve long lasting latch between the upper part and sole. I also need machine to seamlessly cut the sole materials instead of the manual approach.”

Raising the needed fund to purchase the remaining machines is a big challenge and Uchechukwu is reluctant to approach any bank for loan facility as according to her “I am afraid of borrowing because of the pressure that would come with repayment. I can’t stand the pressure.”

In making the leather belts, the Laboratory Scientist said, the belt materials are usually imported as flat sheet and she buys in kilos after which it is cut into appropriate sizes. Her factory also lacks the machine for cutting the leather, so she pays owners of such machine to slize the leathers for her after which she buys the metal heads and other accessories for the belt depending on the type.

As a way to helping to solve the unemployment problem in Nigeria, Uchechukwu in recent time has trained no fewer than six young ones whose ages ranged from 16. She chooses to train only person of that age due to the health hazards associated with some chemicals used in the production process. Industrial gum, thinner etc are involved in shoe making and according to her, odour emitted during production is capable of causing some health problem among people of younger age whose immune system has not fully developed.

However, to minimize the vulnerability level to health hazards associated with the production, she prefers operating in the open space in her factory environment as natural air would help to neutralize the emitting odours from gum, thinner and others.

Initially she was offering training free of charge to interested youths but recently the policy has changed. Every apprentice now pays N150,000 for six months training in shoe making. The shift in policy came as a result of two reasons one of which is the increase in the cost of materials needed for the training and secondly due to the fact that most apprentices do not take the training serious when no fees are paid.

While pleading with government to encourage producers of needed goods of different kinds in Nigeria through promotion of local brands over foreign brands, she was quick to point out that already a Nigerian based in Canada has chosen to promote her BENVICK brand of shoes in Canada. According to her, the man who constantly patronizes her shoes has insisted she must always inscribe made in Nigeria on the shoes sent her.

“I want the government to borrow a leaf from this customer and encourage us to grow and become international brands like Gucci, Dior, Velentino which in any case began as local brands.”

The fast rising shoe maker who currently runs the factory with the assistance of her husband, has advised Nigerian youths to embrace hard work and stop chasing quick and questionable wealth that comes with all sorts of criminality.

“I am encouraging the youths to think less of getting quick riches through dubious means. They should learn skills like fashion design, carpentry, plumbing, electrical works and so on, in addition to their education. They would certainly make wealth even though it does not come automatically.”

Further, she has advised young girls to engage in meaning activities that could make them financial contributors in their families rather than depend solely on their parents or future husbands for every need.