ABA-CHINA TRAINING:They Can't Wait For Morning To Come– @hartng

~ Sam Hart

They barely slept. Their din was high all through the night. Darting from room to room, they clustered, chatterd in animated voices and compared notes. The excitement was palpable. The animation was tear-inducing.

Then in the midst of it all, one of them proclaimed in a loud, tearful voice in heavily dialected Igbo "Governor anyi Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu onye lere umu ogbenye anya si na oga agbanwe onodu ha, ogana adiri gi na mma ruo mgbe ebighiebi na aha Jesus" to a chorus of Ameeeeen. Then the din resumed again. Severally, the staff of the facility where they're lodged had to come to warn them to keep it down as others were trying to sleep in the building.

How do they keep it down? How do you suppress that kind of excitement? Your eyes just got opened to possibilities you only ever dreamt of. You're seeing, feeling and touching things your imagination couldn't hitherto fully grasp. I have no doubt that a number of them refused to sleep lest it be a dream and they have to wake up. Nope. They were better off awake.

This is the present state of the 30 shoemakers sent by the Abia State Government to China to learn mordern automated shoemaking technology. Note that as earlier observed in another treatise, for all it's prowess in shoemaking, Aba has always relied on manual production. These young ones are for the 1st time in their lives, being exposed to a culture of automated shoe production.

It is not even that they are being shown how it is done. They are being allowed to handle the equipments. To align the patterns and press the buttons. To actually carry out the design of the shoes. To build shoes from start to finish all on their own. They are used to making 20 shoes a day. Now they are operating a machine that produces 10,000 shoes per day. How do you expect them to stay calm?

This is the reality of the Abia-China Automated Shoe Training Project. This is the current phase in the Abia State Government Made In Aba Campaign. A Campaign that has recast Aba on the front burner and consciousness of Nigerians as the go-to destination for finished leather goods.

The Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu has laid down the marker. He wants automated shoe production in Aba and Abia State. 1st was the awareness campaign and now, the capacity-building stage. Next will be the equipment acquisition stage which will lead to the setting up of the 1st Automated Shoe Factory in Aba.

These trainees are mostly cobbler's apprentices. Some of them are equally graduates of universities with interest in the industry. The training is subdivided into 4 modules:

1. Factory Management (Safety, Personnel, Raw Materials, Inventory, Stock, Marketing, Shipping)

2. Design (Patterns, Fittings, Trends, Future)

3. Actual Production (complete shoemaking process)

4. Machine Maintenence  (Spares, Servicing, Consumables).

The trainees have been subdivided into 4 groups according to their skills and cognitive abilities to concentrate on different modules. A number of them have equally been mandated to learn all the modules for all-round proficiency in running a shoe factory.

Note that the machines they are training with have been ordered by the Abia State Government and 20% deposit paid for production to commence. It is produced on order. Production takes a month. By the time the trainees are graduating from the training programme, the machines will be ready for shipment. Before June 2018, the Aba Automated Shoe Factory will be ready for commissioning.

This is the definition of empowerment. These young ones will see everything in that factory and be able to concentrate fully on what they were sent to do. Upon return, they will form the nucleus of the Aba Shoe Factory. They will train other staff of the factory according to area of need. A standard shoe factory employs between 300-500 people.

When these machines arrive Aba, a number of things are going to happen.

1. Technology Transfer: Within 6 months, Aba people would have reproduced those machines using locally available raw materials and it will be available at 10% the cost. If you know Aba, you will understand this.

2. The factory will serve as a common use facility where existing Aba shoemakers can come and use machines for aspects of their production for more precision and speed.

3. There will be greater influx of shoe orders into Aba. From the Military and Paramilitary Forces to NYSC, etc. Now that they know that we have machines and can produce 5,000 shoes in a day instead of in a month, THEY WILL COME.

4. Owners of shoe brands who currently produce abroad will come to Aba for their production. It will be cheaper, it will be less-hassling and it will be faster for them.

5. Jobs will be created. As greater demand leads to greater production, shoemakers will employ more hands, more funds will be in circulation within the state thus leading to better life for Ndi Abia.

6. All-Round Speed and Efficiency. The machines will guarantee speed and efficiency in the sector all-round. It's setting up will make the other producers raise their game to be able to continue to compete thus eliminating mediocrity and low-quality products from Aba.

Buckle your seat belts. Abia is on the move.

Onye hu Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu ya kele ya biko.

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