Over the years, Kano continues to be the hub in leather production nationwide. However, the leather industry remains dormant prompting the state government to visit the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), BINTA SHAMA reports.
Kano, Northern Nigeria’s foremost commercial hub, is home to a large leather industry. Its tanneries are a hive of activity every other day, with men working hides and skins into material suitable for cobbling into shoes and threading into bags. These traditional style tanneries are among the country’s oldest; but they’re also its biggest suppliers of local leather.
In fact, these humble-looking spaces are the centre of an industry worth at least ₦25 billion. They, along with the leather cobblers and stores across Nigeria, employ people in the hundreds of thousands. They’re also hanging bags on countless shoulders, and covering innumerable human feet.
Kano’s tanneries, like other leather processing centres in Nigeria, are at the starting point of the leather making value chain. They receive hides and skins which they turn into leather.
Leather produced from these centres are fashioned into footwear, belts, bags and houseware by local workers, either in Kano or in other towns and cities to which they’re transported. They could also get exported to neighbouring countries, and perhaps as far afield as Europe. Some of the world’s biggest fashion brands are known to source their leather from Kano’s tanneries (in 2016, it was disclosed that Louis Vuitton was using leather supplied to it from northern Nigeria).
So when the Presidential Executive Order No.5 was signed and gazette in February 2, 2018, it was expected to empower Nigerians to use their talents and skills to contribute to national development and create the platform for them to leverage on the natural resources in order to be self-reliant.
RMRDC’s collaboration with Kano
The Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) reaffirmed its commitment to partner with the Kano state government to develop the leather industry in the state.
The Director General/CEO of the Council, Prof. Hussaini Doko Ibrahim made this known during a visit of the state governor, Ganduje to the council’s headquarters on the 27th of May, 2019.
The governor represented by his deputy, Nasiru Yusus Gawuna and his entourage was overwhelmed with the warm reception accorded him and his team. He commended the efforts of the Council in economic grow and development of the country.
He said the State is endowed with natural resources among which are the production of hides and skin for the leather industry. He said the state is doing so much to grow investment as it also houses the Kano Free Trade Zone.
The Deputy Governor noted that the visit is meant to seek possible areas of collaboration with the Council, especially in the area of leather production and development, and also to seek Council approval to host one of her major project which is the ‘International Investors Forum on the development of Leather and Leather products’.
According to the deputy governor, the state is richly blessed with production of hide and skin which are leather raw materials, and that the State Government is currently investing so much to the development of this sector.
He disclosed that Kano, in collaboration with the federal government is putting together modalities to establish Leather cluster which will not only develop the sector but also increase job creation. “Currently, there are 28 canaries in the country and Kano State alone has 21 which have employed over 20,000 workers”.
The Deputy Governor added that with these efforts in place and with the pledge of full support of the state government, the state is of advantage to host the ‘RMRDC International Investors Forum on the Development of Leather and Leather Products’.
Responding, the Director General RMRDC, expressed delight at their visit and the enthusiasm of the state government in the development and growth of the Leather sector in the state and the nation at large.
Leather sector to grow Nigeria’s GDP
He said that Nigeria is indeed blessed with abundant raw materials potentials, that investment opportunity abounds in the leather sector, and exploration of the sector will grow the GDP of the nation. “Leather production does not end in the production of hide and skin alone, but it goes beyond; to the production of goods that can be exported to other countries”.
Former Minister of Science and Technology Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu had said that “the leather industry is very critical to national growth and development because it will boost our Gross Development Product (GDP) and increase our foreign exchange earnings. The policy will solve most of the problems hindering the growth of the Leather sector and will enable Nigeria to produce shoes, belts and other leather products similar to what is obtained in other developed countries of the world,”
Prof. Ibrahim disclosed that Nigeria has high quality leather which when properly processed will compete favourably in the global market. However, the challenge he observed, is with the final products which does not always meet international specifications.
According to him, “meeting standards is indeed achievable through continuous support and partnership with relevant stakeholders, hence the initiation of the International Investors Forum project”.
He welcomed Kano state government request to host the forum and added that the Council will continue to work with the government of the state in the production, processing and development of other raw materials resources which abound in Kano state.
Benefits of leather
Hides are commonly used to make leather. Leather is now trendy which is converted in different ways such as belts, bags, shoes and even furniture, etc. In the early years of leather making, is thought to be in a raw form. As man’s knowledge of tools and the working of leather grew, so has the sophistication and quality of the average finishing products of leather changed
The making of leather products are shaped by the physical and economic environment. For example, the ancient Egyptians wore flip-flops woven from straw while the Dutch wore shoes carved from wood to protect their feet from damp marshy land they worked in.
With the passing of time leather has become an integral part of man’s daily life. Leather has moved on from being an item of luxury to an item of necessity. Fashion also played a role in the evolution of the leather industry. The human psyche craves for an individual and unique identity. The nobility and upper classes saw it as an opportunity to fulfill this desire which is why you find numerous fashion houses involved in leather making. The shoes got more and more extravagant alongside clothes, velvet and tapestries began to be used. This was the birth of varieties in the leather industry as we know it today. Today they are classified according to their use. They are casual and dress, work, sport and corrective.
