Need to patronise made-in-Nigeria

Samuel Anike, an inventor of shoes, lives in Jos, Plateau state, but is an indigene of Ebonyi state.
He sees the future of Nigeria being great, if only the citizens will embrace made-in-Nigeria goods.
He says the present administration has made innovation more welcoming and today many have come out to showcase their talents.
BINTA SHAMA reports.
The Beauty of the feet The feet have always been a very important part of one’s life just like the eyes are seen as the window of one’s life.
Your foot takes you to wherever the eye registers to the mind, so we can now see its very purpose.
Even as an infant or toddler, we find them wearing shoes or socks as long as it is covered.
One may begin to wonder why the feet are giving such importance; it isn’t because of beauty or fashion alone, but a means of protecting the body from unwanted injuries, diseases and even infections.
From the scratch My dad Mr. Philip Anike is the founder of the company whom is presently the CEO of the company while I am standing as the manager, majorly running and promoting the business to the level it has reached.
It will surprise you to know that this business has been functioning for over 20years now without any form of distractions despite challenges or crisis here and there.
Like the crisis that took place in 2010, which made us loose virtually what we gained from the business but our interest and determination was a platform to move forward in life and reach to where we are today and hoping to scale greater heights.
You may wonder why an Igbo man will give his company name a Hausa one, remember business is about exchanging hands and as well make profits at the end? Yes we chose this to Identify with our customers in the north since that is where we are based.
His love for the environment and interest in the community made him to start the good idea.
It has really attracted us to all kinds of people from different tribes and kindred to patronise, it is indeed a brand name and as well the good products we give.
My dad always had interest in Italian shoes and the high price of purchasing it angered him a lot when if one could just concentrate on the kind of raw materials we have in Nigeria, we will eventually come out with a good product as well.
He ventured into it knowing how blessed Nigeria was with different kinds of raw materials to achieve this and one thing we forget is that most of the materials they use are from Africa, using our very own products and selling it off at a ridiculous amount.
Mai Jama’ a shoes Our shoes are 100% pure leather, and our materials are sorted internally from Kano, Lagos, Onitsha,and Aba respectively without much adverse effect and due to our long experience in shoes and leather works, we have a lot of network to direct suppliers to support the middle chain users from within the Samuel Anike, an inventor of shoes, lives in Jos, Plateau state, but is an indigene of Ebonyi state.
He sees the future of Nigeria being great, if only the citizens will embrace made-in-Nigeria goods.
He says the present administration has made innovation more welcoming and today many have come out to showcase their talents.
BINTA SHAMA reports.
Samuel country which at the end of the finished product you get something worthwhile and very affordable.
We have been able to stand the test of time because of the trust customers have in our work.
Most of our jobs are in mass production, for instance the contract we are working on now may take up for a long period of time and as well running others to meet up with deadline and as well make ends meet because if we tie ourselves and time just in one particular job how do we pay salaries and pay other important bills.
The business is a family one where everyone member of the family is a contributory factor to see how decisions can be made; the company has paid off lots of bills.
My dad paid our fees and provided for I and 6 of my siblings through this means and I have been a graduate of ‘Food, Science and Technology’, for over 10years now and I have a PGD in Management.
I joined him in the business after my Youth Corp Service, I am a father of 3 and it is from this same company I am fending for my home as well, so now you see why we keep our work neat and attractive for more referrals.
Supports We have had support from the commercial banks in form of a loan attracting little interest to support what we do and so far this has been because of our consistent production and patronage from mostly customers.
We make all different categories of product and ranges that will be affordable to the market.
We also have specification of customers needs making sure we do not take inferior steps so as not to tarnish the name of our company.
Most times we give advice, make recommendations and work according to the range.
We have had series of empowerment programmes to encourage the young ones get busy with their minds rather than stay idle and become nuisance to the society.
We train 5 to 6 individuals yearly who at the end become independent and partners of this same company that trained them.
Our desire is to see people not only learn to grow but grow as well and we are always at cordial relationship with our apprentice or workers.
At the moment we have 5 full salary staff and 3 apprentices.
Future of Jama’a shoes It is indeed a serious business, I hope we create a network of artisans because we specialize in products category whether directly or indirectly involved but we have an industrial base of equipment where we can produce mass production of our products without hitches and as well diversify more into material making and making it available to petty artisans and wholesalers, and connect other artisans within the community.
Expo’2018 The experience at the Expo was a wonderful one but one thing’s for sure is that it is an ongoing concern that creates room for the Ministry to provide an internal system to harness information particularly between them, inventors and the investors.
Asides technical aspects, there should be an aspect where entrepreneurs could be on their toes completing their mission.