18th January, 2020
By Adejoke Adeleye
The former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has charged Nigerian Youth to be entrepreneurs.
Obasanjo who gave this charges at the commissioning of Heritage Apparel established by a London-base Entrepreneur, Abisade Adenubi at Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta, commended her for keying into his initiative of making Adire a global outfit.
Obasanjo, however, urged youths and other investors to support and learn from the London-based entrepreneur who came to invest in the country.
He said, “After the initiative from me, the one who has taken it to greatest height is this young woman, Abisade, and the credit for where we are today should go to her.
“My advice for entrepreneurs is that they should come and learn from her and she will tell them the problems she encountered including the problem from convincing me to have what we have here today.”
The founder and Chief Executive Officer of Heritage Apparels, Adenubi while speaking with newsmen in Abeokuta shortly after the former President has commissioned her textile factory, expressed readiness in partnering with the Adire section of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library on how to begin mass production of the indigo-dyed cloth made in southwestern Nigeria popularly called Adire.
She added that plans are underway to begin mass production of garments and apparels which include mass production of uniforms for security operatives, public sector officials, schools, among others.
The lawyer cum entrepreneur further explained that the textile factory is planning to ensure there is an evolution in the process and practices of how Adire is being made.
Adenubi added that the company would also partner with the real makers of Adire so as to achieve the evolution.
She further disclosed that the textile factory has engaged the service of about 40 people in the state so that they can begin to learn the economic empowerment of working in the textile business.
Speaking on why she ventured into manufacturing, Adenubi revealed that the low production quality in Nigeria made her establish her own textile factory.
She said, “I am in fashion business for about ten years ago and I have problems with manufacturing. I was manufacturing abroad, India, Thailand, and UK and I felt that reduce the availability of my garment in Nigeria. So, I tried to research to see what I can find here, but the quality was not what I wanted. So, I decided to set up my own manufacturing factory and here we are today.
“We are into garment and what we are going to be doing is to produce garment in high volume and mass production including apparels like uniform for school, uniform for security businesses, uniform for public sector officials. I am also working with designers as well for those who want to increase their capacity to retail.
“My firm belief is that we should not be exporting our economic development to other country and I think we have the responsibility to empower our local people, we are Nigerians and we should be Nigerians even in spite of the economic reality.
“I have not taken over Adire because it is a culture heritage for people of Abeokuta in Ogun state. What we want to do is to see an evolution of processes and practices of how we made Adire. We are going to partner the real makers of Adire to achieve this evolution.
“We already have about 40 people employed with us and they are not the elites. They have already began to explore the economic empowerment by working here.
“What we are focusing on at the moment is establishing the garment factory which is the one of the key act of the factory. So, we want to have the necessary things that we would need before we can go into the Adire production.”