Olusola Babatunde is the managing director of One Stop Celebration Limited (OSC), a garment mass production factory located in Ikeja, Lagos.
Using her fashion design skills and knowledge, she is contributing her own little quota to curbing the spread of the COVID- 19 virus by commencing the mass production of face masks and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to fight the virus in the country.
“When the coronavirus pandemic hit the world and spread to Nigeria, I became very burdened for the welfare of my staff alongside fashion and garment factories that would have to shut down and probably lay off employees,” Olusola said.
“I started to do a lot of research as problem solving is my greatest strength. I am of the school of thought that supports the conservation of surgical face masks for the front-line health workers while everyone else is adequately protected by wearing a fabric face mask,” She further said.
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Olusola is an active member of the Garmenting section of Nigerian textile and garment manufacturers association (NTGMA). Her fabrics which are locally sourced have been able to produce over 300,000 face masks for government agencies, Non-government Organisations (NGO’s) and corporate organisations
Happily married with children, she also founded a pan African fashion school called OSC college of fashion that educates, empowers and employs African youths between the ages 16-40 years who want international standard fashion training in Africa.
When she started her business in 2009, she was faced with the challenges such as changing people’s perception about her profession, having to show that made in Nigeria products are better, high cost of production, getting highly skilled mid-level staff, access to funding and access to market.
To address the challenges facing in the fashion design industry, she believes that the Nigerian government through its various agencies should enforce the patronage of locally made products.
“This will provide an off taker for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SME’s) and companies products to continue to work on creation and enabling environment for businesses. And the government should always engage stakeholders in industries prior to the development of policies,” She further suggested.
Like every business that aims for further expansion and capacity, she aims is to establish a state-of-the-art garment factory that can successfully employ over 1,000 workers with a capacity to produce 10,000 per day.
If you are interested in meeting or contacting this innovative and dynamic fashion designer, her factory address is 11a Abba Johnson crescent, Harmony Enclave, off Adeniyi Jones Ikeja , Lagos state, telephone number is 08173029096, website address is www.oscfashion.com , email is [email protected] and Instagram handles are @Oscsignaturefashion and
@Osccollegeoffashion.
