THE ABA TAILOR AS A METAPHOR, Scripted by Godwin Adindu .....A must read.

Where he sits, on a rusty
wooden chair, in a rather compacted shop that he shares
with two or more colleagues,
nothing projects him as a man
of ideas.

He is ordinary and
common even when he rolls
the machine and shifts the cloth rhythmically to the
edges of the pin and the
thread.


In certain places, they
are as large as a class room
with arrays of machine and
men consumed and buried in their work.

But, the Aba
tailor is not necessarily.        
ordinary.

He is, as his work
can confirm, a great creative
mind - a man of ideas.


Indeed, the tailor is a phenomenon and a symbol of
the large spectrum of men and
women of skill, trade and
craft that populate Aba.

He
has come to be a resounding
metaphor about the mystique of the city, a very rare
attribute of creative ingenuity
characteristics of the artisans and tradesmen of Aba.

From
the Aba tailor, the Aba
shoemaker, bag-maker and all
leather workers to the
fabricators, there is a generic
talent that grows in the ancient city, a talent that has
not been placed in the right
incubation.



This rare ingenuity
manifests in the craft and art
of the Aba tailor.

It is evident
in his designs and in his finishing and Governor Okezie
Ikpeazu is obviously
modeling for the Aba tailor.


Today, the challenge of
harnessing the Aba talent is
one of the preoccupations of Governor Ikpeazu's
administration.

It is for this reason that the governor has
developed a plan for industrial
clusters in Aba.


The place of
successful economies of the
world goes to confirm the
importance of developing innovative business and
industrial clusters where there
will be high level of
interaction among the skilled
manpower.

The governor
wears Aba made products and his tailor is the Aba tailor.

The
Aba tailor, precisely, is an
extension of an epic story
that is Aba city.

The Aba-
made-goods remain a story
that has gone far and wide but has not been given the
necessary attention.

The
power of creativity of the
artisans and tradesmen and
their profound skill in
developing local content of all products are stories that have
transcended many shores.



But, lamentably, the Federal
Government of Nigeria and
the necessary federal agencies
have, over the years, ignored the potential in the Aba
artisan, a potential that would
have brought Nigeria at par
with the emerging markets of
the Asian Tigers both in
industrializati on and in trade.

Nigeria's loss is the gain of
Singapore, Malaysia, Japan,
Indonesia, Dubia, name it.
The
trade tourism to Asia and the
Emirates would have been the
gain of Aba and Nigeria.

One would therefore wonder:
why hasn't the Bank of
Commerce and Industry
looked in the direction of
harnessing the talent of the
Aba tradesmen?

Why hasn't the successive federal agencies
with the mandate of
encouraging small and
medium scale enterprises
looked in the direction of
developing the big industry of the Aba artisanship?

Why are
there no industrial clusters and
industrial parks in Aba even
with the boast of the city
being the Japan of Africa?


Why has this city served Nigeria and West Africa for
ages without a corresponding
developmental programme
for the creative ingenuity that
is synonymous with the city?


These are Governor Ikpeazu's nightmares.

In response to
these worries, he has decided
to pay close attention to the
Aba artisan.

Part of the
strategy of the Aba Urban
Renewal Drive encapsulates a broad tactical action for the
development of industrial
clusters and industrial parks
for the Aba tradesmen.

At
Umukalika Village, a shouting
distance from the Aba metropolis, a large acreage of
land earmarked for industrial
cluster for shoes, bag, belt,
trump box and garment have
been lying desolate for years.


Today, Governor Ikpeazu is set to revive and activate
work at the Umukalika
Cluster.

A large expanse of land at the
Aba axis of the Port Harcourt/
Enugu Expressway has also been designated for industrial
park.
Ikpeazu's idea is to put
the artisans together in
sectional groupings and
provide the enabling
environment with the proper incentive.

He also plans to
elevate their skill with
training and exposure to
modern technology to
enhance capacity.

Industrial
clusters are springboard to industrial revolution.

It is the
secret of the giant leap
experienced in the emerging
markets of Asia. The
concentration of
interconnected skills will promote competition and
then innovation and will
encourage specialization
among the groups and
provide the common spirit
that is necessary for cooperation and cross
fertilization of ideas.


The new Abia State Economic
Advancement Team (ABSEAT)
has envisioned an industrial
hub for Aba, in the mould of Honkong.

The governor's idea
is that, by bringing the
artisans into clusters, they will
easily learn about changing
economic conditions, adapt
and benefit from the changes.

The physical proximity of the
players would encourage
interaction and promote the
exchange of ideas and
expertise and this will, at the
end, stimulate innovation and economic growth.


Indeed, the Aba tailor
represents an outstanding
phenomenon that is begging
for attention.

This
phenomenon is the inherent and latent economic potential
of Aba.
Aba presents a rare
phenomenon of little great
minds ruling the world from
their little backyard huts and
shops, from where, armed with common tools and a
restless mind, they could
produce anything but man.

It
has come to be a marvel to
the world and a source of
attraction to the city and her people.

This is the time to grow and
tap this potential. For the first
time, the Federal Government
should identify with this
project.

There is also need for global investors to key into
the vision of Governor
Ikpeazu in developing the
potential of Aba. Indeed, a
Daniel has come to judgment!



Godwin Adindu is the Chief Press Secretary to the
Governor.