The Shirtless Men of Aba
Aba is a city in bedded in two local governments areas ( Aba North and Aba South LGA’S) of Abia State, Nigeria. Due to its industrial ingenuity, the city is often regarded as the ‘‘ Japan of Africa’’. No doubt Aba is the largest industrial hub of the South East region of Nigeria. She is often regarded as the Headquarters of Small and Medium Enterprises of Nigeria. According to Mazi O. C Williams, the President of the Leather Manufacturers Producers of Abia State ( LEPMAAS), the finished leather producers of Aba is made up of fourteen clusters with over twenty four thousand members.
A production team comprising of about 4 to 7 members produce over a hundred to three hundred footwear weekly depending on the design. Wow! can you imagine the quantity of finished leather products ranging from foot wears,shoes, sandals, belts, bags, trunks etc that is weekly churned out from Aba?
One striking feature of the finished leather producers of Aba, especially the men, is that while on duty, they are half nude and sometimes, mostly at night with a torch on their heads. I mean totally shirtless or in singlets, with visible streaks of sweat rolling from their heads to the navel due to poor ventilation, the result a fused odor of provoked sweat , leather and gums welcoming every nose that enters the shop.
These men and women manually produce these products for sale without power as a result, every machine used is manually driven, all these activities in a small shop which acts as their factory and store and sometimes warehouse for the finished goods, with not less than seven persons all leading one aspect of the production chain or another. This is in addition to their tables, raw materials and manual appliances. The result is a choked up place with a high degree of heat.
Worrisome is the fact that despite all the energy, skill, time and creativity put in by these men, they gain little or nothing out of it. These beautiful goods are sold at give away prices by the producers to semi wholesalers who buy in large quantities and later resell to retail stores, markets and shops across Nigeria and even beyond.
A beautiful ladies shoes sells for between One Thousand Five Hundred Naira to Two Thousand Naira depending on the quality whereas same shoes are sold at branded Stores and Malls for between Eight thousand to Thirty-Five Thousand Naira. Yes! I mean made in Aba Shoes.
So much gain in the business chain yet the Aba producer gets little, the need to embrace the ever growing digital economy with its many benefits then becomes a vital place to delve into.
Digital economy simply refers to an economy that is technologically driven , in other words, it refers to a network of economic activities, commercial transactions and professional interactions that are enabled by information and communications technologies. Such economies are anchored on innovations, speed, healthy competitions and wider coverage associated with the internet.
According to Euromonitor International Market Research, e-commerce which is an integral component of the digital economy has been most notable in Nigeria because of the surge in telecom investments and smartphone purchases which has fueled growth in internet usage from 20 % in 2009 to 41% in 2014.
Digital economy would be of immense help to Aba producers because it would launch the factories and producers into the digital space, drive innovation thereby making room for more profit, increase internet proficiency and penetration, create transparency in the system and also attract greater investments to Aba.
However, despite the vast opportunities presented by the digital economy, Aba just like most Nigerian cities has not fully realized the potential of harnessing digital technology for boosting trade and making profit due to poor ICT facilities, digital illiteracy and other socioeconomic barriers like cost of devices.
To grow Nigeria, we need to proudly buy and wear Nigerian made goods. The time for the Aba producers to maximize profit and fully key into the global digital economy is now!
