A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Akin Alabi has disclosed the reasons many Nigerian artisans are not getting patronage from many Nigerians.
Alab who doubled as Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Inter-governmantal affairs, made this revelation while speaking with journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Alabi who represents Egbeda/ Ona Ara federal constituency, said it is unfortunate that many Nigerian artisans are not getting patronage from many citizens, because they lack basic things they needed to survive in the business.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker insisted that most Nigerian artisans lack basic tools and money to do business, that will make them compete with their counterparts in other countries.
He said that this is the major reason why most of them are not being engaged by some Nigerians.
He added that majority of the artisans in Nigeria also lack money which is an integral part of business.
He appealed to his colleagues and other spirited Nigerians to continue in patronizing the home based artisans in a bid to boost Nigerian economy.
Alabi said, “Many Nigerian artisans are not getting patronage from many citizens because they don’t have working tools. They don’t have money to do business and that is why they don’t get patronage from people.
“I know that many of you are not getting enough support. Many of you are in this business and you don’t have money. But, when I have the opportunity in Abuja, I said that I will use it to benefit the tailors in my constituency.
“Many of our people don’t have what they can use to produce goods that can stand with the foreign materials that is why some Nigerians are not patronising them.
“I appeal to Nigerians to patronise them, this will help us to boost the economy. I remember when I was campaigning, I met different kinds of groups of tailors and I said that I will not forget them. I know that they are important, what they say is authentic.
“We are here for empowerment of tailors in Egbeda/ Ona Ara federal constituency. The first batch, we are empowering 250 today and 250 tomorrow. We have trained them in latest techniques and development in fashion designing.
“This is in conjunction with Nigeria Institute of Transport Technology as one of the zonal intervention program for my constituency.
“I am advising the beneficiaries to make use of the tools, they should make use of them. We discovered that some people because they are hungry, they sell what they give them as empowerment tools, they should not do that. This is not the last one, we are doing this for only the tailors and 500 people are to benefit from this batch”.
