Youth unemployment and poverty are, no doubt, endemic in Nigeria. Analysts believe that empowerment is a panacea to eradicating or reducing unemployment.
Although Nigerians at home and those in the Diaspora have been proffering solutions to this scourge, there is still a need for more commitment on the side of the government, non-government organisations (NGOs) and other well-to-do citizens to curtail it.
In studying Lukman Salaudeen, a shoemaker who started his business ten years back, it was discovered that his brother in Ogbomosho, Oyo State, helped to train him in the trade. Today, he has excelled in shoemaking.
Lukman says that after his secondary school, he wanted to further his education but his brother convinced him that entrepreneurship would pay more than white collar jobs.
Describing how lucrative the business has been so far, he explains that he makes at least N50,000 monthly and enjoys good patronage.
He also says that his clients patronise him on wholesale basis while some are distributors, making his work of getting to the final consumers easy.
Lukman explains that the materials for making shoes of different kinds are accessible to get in Ilorin, Kwara State, and Lagos State.
The upcoming craftsman says he dreams high, adding that what he sees makes him thank God. He says that the gains outweigh his challenges as is expected in every business. He hopes that better days are ahead of him.
He laments that high cost of raw materials is the only challenge he faces.
The entrepreneur explains that he makes males, females and children shoes and as well repair them with different price ranges. Male shoes cost between N2,500 and N3,000 (new ones), while females ones go between N2,000 and N2,500. Children shoes are sold for N1,000, depending on quality of materials used.
He asserts that being an entrepreneur is one way of seeking a lifelong independence.
Salaudeen advises that youths should not rely solely on government jobs which are not readily available, charging them to combine their studies with vocational training for them to be employers of labour after school rather than job seekers.
He calls on the affluent in the society to support youths in embracing entrepreneurial activities in order to reduce youth restiveness and poverty.
SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin
