Mr Bello Yesiru, the President, Lagos State Shoe Makers’ Association, on Wednesday appealed to the Lagos State Government to create operational clusters and stable electricity supply to boost shoe manufacturing in the state.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Yesiru told news men in Lagos that such facilities had become imperative because of the high patronage that Made-in-Nigeria shoes had continued to enjoy.
The president also said that this would enhance high productivity and generate more employment for Nigerians.
He said that such an industrial site would be specifically dedicated to shoe-making, which both the state government and shoe makers would pull resources together to develop .
“Shoe making is a very lucrative art and it can create jobs for not less than 50,000 people in this state alone.
“The only challenge is the cost of production which is caused by unstable power supply and cost of purchasing the machines.
“This is why we urge the Federal Government to do everything possible to make power supply stable in the country,’’ he said.
Yesiru said it was costly to produce shoes because the cost of petrol or diesel to power shoe-making equipment is expensive.
He said that the cost of the materials was not a challenge.
The president said if the state government should establish a cluster site for shoe makers, they could both pool resources together to develop it.
“Some people who learnt shoe making have ended up being jobless because they do not have the financial resources to buy equipment to establish production plants,” he said.
Yesiru also urged the Federal government to put policies in place to boost the leather industry, as this would facilitate the growth of the industry.
NAN reports that the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr Olusegun Aganga, last year said that the Federal Government was capable of doubling the $680 million revenue currently generated by the leather industry.
Aganga said then that the ministry had initiated plans to increase revenue accruable from the leather industry to N20 billion annually.