For Adisa Ajoke, her petty trading had gone from manageable to bad, as the economic downturn continued to bite. She could hardly afford three square meals for her children.
Business also became unprofitable as her few customers were faced with similar challenges, making them cut costs on regular day to day purchases.
Confused on how to survive and make ends meet in the coming days, she got a hint of an opportunity created by two budding Non-governmental organisations, OROL Foundation and Zeta Xi Nu on training women on various fashion entrepreneurial crafts. This became a turning point for Ajoke.
Ajoke’s story is similar to various other women who needed the knowledge of one or two crafts to double their income in a bid to cushion the effect of the current economic downturn.
OROL Foundation and Zeta Xi Nu became a light at almost the end of the tunnel when they introduced empowerment programmes for women who were struggling to make ends meet.
From hair dressing to making Adire and leather shoes and bags, these non-governmental organizations put funds together to support women in acquiring knowledge on these crafts.
“Before now, I was doing petty trading that wasn’t sustaining me and my family. I’m so happy I have learnt how to make Adire. This will benefit me and my children.
“I have three children and my husband’s job is not really profitable. With this knowledge on how to make Adire; my husband and I will join hands together to open an Adire shop. These NGOs have supported us in moving forward,” Ajoke said.
Speaking during the event called ‘Women Empowerment Day,’ Abimbola Laniyan, social action chairman, ZETA XI NU said one of the things he believes in is women empowerment and women empowerment means the protection of womanhood.
“This all started with meeting the founder of OROL Foundation. I looked at what they are based on and what their objections are and it was very similar to what our objectives are as well. So, we decided to partner with Orol to empower women but not just give them food and security but empower them so they can feed themselves, feed their families and continue to lift others in the communities.
“The women were selected based on their needs and their home setup. We made sure women who needed assistance with learning other trades and establishing themselves in the community were the ones we trained.
“I realise that Nigeria is going to have a young population and it is going to be massive in the next five to 10 years. We also noticed that there is nothing set up for them to do. There is no factories. They need to know and see what their options and opportunities are and think out of the box,” Laniyan said.
He hinted that one of the things the women were taught is hair braiding techniques, adding that the women are also going to be trained on how to look for the best locations for work, and how much to charge on each individual braiding, amongst others.
He said the women will also be trained on tie & dye and catering services.
“Our umbrella organisation Omega Psi Phi conducts programs, no matter what chapter or region we are in the world. We have over 750 chapters and we all follow the same pattern. We have eight programs and some of them are social action, talent hunt etc. People in the community can join any of our programs to be empowered. We also give out scholarships to students,” Laniyan said.
Opeyemi Agbaje, executive director, CEO of OROL Foundation said as a young person, he knew all the struggles his mother went through and understands what it means for a woman to be empowered.
“When men go out of the house, women take care of the homes and when the kids are doing the wrong thing, the women are always there to correct them. When you empower the women, the kids will be empowered automatically. If you give them the skills they need, indirectly or directly, the kids will be empowered.
“When we empower these women,then we are empowering the whole society. We are training about 100 women on hair braiding, tie-dye and making bags and shoes,” Agbaje said.
Princess Samiat Abolanle Bada, Mayoress of Ikosi Isheri LCDA, the local government where the women were selected and empowered commended the two NGOs for the laudable program.
Bada said the initiative of empowering women will go a long way in the community, most especially at a time when there is economic downturn.
“These NGOs, most of whom are youths, still believe in the renewed hope of Nigeria. The empowered women are all happy and people have been commending the NGOs,” Bada said.
Anita Okonkwo, another beneficiary from the Adire training said , “I learnt how to make Adire. I had an idea before and I was able to do some designs myself. But this training has made me more professional.
“I’m a teacher and I decided to learn this to be able to impact the lives of the teenagers I teach. It is a craft that will help them when they get into higher institutions,” Okonkwo said.
Adeshile Ogunseye, another beneficiary in leather works said, “The leather bags and slippers I have learnt will benefit me in many ways. I can do it at home and for my clients. If I add this to my skills, it will become a source of revenue for me. It’s good to have some handwork.”
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