Skills for Nigerian youths at National Sewing Championships 2024

BY HARUNA SALAMI

The National Sewing Championship 2024, which took place in 26 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory is a practical way to address the menace of unemployment due to lack of appropriate skills, insecurity and other social vices currently ravaging the country.

The National Sewing Championship 2024 (NSC24) States & FCT Qualifying Competitions had about 1,400 registered contestants aged 12-22 years in 26 states and the FCT and took place on Wednesday August 21, 2024.

The vision of the Sewing Championship is to identify and promote student/youth-preneurship (Vocational talent hunt), engage & incentivise students and youths to commit to developing vocational skills and competences that meet global standards as a co-curricular activity, while at the same time advocating stakeholders support to technical, vocational education & training (TVET) and facilitating access to equipment & tools.

The partnership support and commitment of 26 States and FCT demonstrated by the provision of venues for the competitions, funding & supporting partners at the Federal level: NASENI, NABTEB, UBEC, NSSEC, NTA, Rexturn publishing, Federal Ministry of Youth Development, Federal Ministry of Education, SMEDAN, NMEC, NGOs etc have helped shown that Nigerians truly are committed to nation building, and that education stakeholders are passionate and open to exploring innovative initiatives to strengthen quality education and self-reliance as envision by Nigeria’s philosophy of education.

54 best contestants at the NSC24 States & FCT Qualifying Competitions will compete at the 5 day fully residential NSC24 finals & Up skilling Sewing Boot Camp scheduled to hold September 1-7, 2024 in the FCT. Prizes for the championship are contributed by States (Governor’s Sewing Award for best state contestant(s), Federal MDAs and philanthropic organizations & individuals.

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The NSC24 is planned to be a yearly Vocational skills competition which is concluded during the long vacation period (July – August).

The Championship last year was piloted in the FCT with the support of UNESCO and a combination of organisations, which include NASENI, Federal Ministry of Education, the FCT Administration, Secondary Education Board, Basic Education Board.

However, organisers of the 2024 edition escalated across Nigeria to find the young, innovative talents that Nigeria have and interestingly, contestants in 26 states and FCT registered, making 27 venues with 1,400 contestants in all.

Coordinator of the Championship, Rosemary Ojochenemi Osikoya, founder of Ladi Memorial Foundation, an NGO, said “the idea is driven by what every Nigerian is waking up to now, that certificates without functional skills, not just skills but functional skills, a skill that is at a value that you can get employment with, a skill that actually meets the need of the society and a skill that people can pay you for.

Speaking with our correspondent at the Abuja venue, Mrs. Osikoya said the skill being giving to contestants is the one that touches all of us in the basic need of man – food, clothing and shelter, adding that when you look at it, vocational skills is a mandatory part of what we do in school.

She said a good example is home economics, which, the child starts from primary school all the way to senior secondary school. “It means before a child finishes JSS, the child should be able to make a complete piece of clothes for himself”.

Unfortunately, she said if you look at today, there is a lot of unemployment, youth restiveness as people are not creating money from what they can do with their hands. “So the essence of the Sewing Championship is first to serve as a talent hunt. Can we find people who already have these skills and they need somebody to sponsor them? We find people within the society who have goodwill, who can support them.

She said most of the problems they have are equipment and access to training centres, but believes that “with this kind of campaign and advocacy that we are doing, that we will see beyond what we saw last year, where individuals and organisations are donating equipment to school, and in particular, a new angle, donating to “studentpreneurs”.

Talking about student loan recently brought by the Federal Government, Osikoya wondered how do you ever pay student loan if you don’t have a means of income? “So, it goes back to a capacity of young adults at all age to earn money by themselves. It’s inculcating in Nigerians a culture of work.

So it is no longer about giving sewing machines or equipment to people because they are members of your constituency, but then they will sell it later as it’s practiced across all of Nigeria. But are we giving it to people who need this for survival? That way we are raising small entrepreneurs. Like last year, we raised about 10 young people who have their own business. So the equipment we give as sewing equipment prizes help them generate money. And if you see, they are raising money for themselves, for their families and it will also reduce crime and it will also incentivize.

Director of National Business and Technical Education Support, Abuja office, Ruth Gyeyok Popoola said

the competition has two sections: a written test and a practical session. The written test shed said assesses the candidates’ basic knowledge of sewing techniques, while the practical session evaluates their ability to apply the skills in a real-world setting.

“The competition is open to students in junior and senior secondary schools, as well as those who are out of school. The winners will receive starter packs, including sewing machines and threads, and will have the opportunity to participate in a boot camp where they will undergo further training and certification.

Popoola emphasised the importance of skills acquisition in Nigeria, particularly in the face of high unemployment rates, as she called on the government to support initiatives like the Skillup Nigeria project, which aims to equip young people with skills that can make them self-sufficient and employable.

She said the competition will produce three winners who will receive certification and be recognized as skilled tailors.

According to her, the certification is recognized globally and can be presented at embassies when applying for visas.

The 2024 edition was flagged off by the Minister for Youth, Dr. Jamila Ibrahim Bio making it essentially a youth-driven project, a youth speaking to youth kind of innovation.

The coordinator, Mrs. Osikoya recognised the pivotal role Education MDAs because Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) were part of the funding thereby making it almost free to the contestants because the organizations are subsidizing this for them.

“This kind of initiative is now a new innovation platform for how we should do community service by having the fine skills that we can export. Export of Nigerian talent can assist people who want to go abroad for school, as they no longer need to be stranded if they have a skill, which are the ideas behind what the NGO is doing.

“The goal for this is Nigeria has not been hosting contestants in world skills competition and global vocational skills competition. This is one of the quick wins that we could say we can promote Nigeria has got talent.

“Let’s say if Nigeria, for the first time, can participate in world skills competition, not just as observers, not just as sending government officials to witness what the rest of the world is doing. The principle is there should be national skills competition where contestants from bottom up can go and feel over there.

“The big picture of this is preparing Nigeria to be like Bangladesh, India and other countries where cottage industries and small crafts like the garment value chain is a trillion dollar industry across the world.

“Beyond just looking at fabric production, the other ends that has to do with processing the fabric and making them viable across the world. We remember a time that Mali clothes and other countries’ clothes were reigning in Nigeria.

“Today, Nigerian big officials carry their clothes to Turkey and all over the world just to do that. So we are losing money because we are buying those things. If we are to grow small scale industries, it has to start from schools. It has to start from individual adults. So beyond just being a skills competition, you see as it has done, it engages youthful talents during the holidays. That’s a very practical way.

“So we are now saying that beyond just patronage, we are saying can we create a reward system that actually identifies unique potentials, celebrates them and help them like we have done for the contestants of last year. We help them register small businesses. We are thanks to NTA and other people. We are promoting them. They are getting more customers. So I think “youthpreneurs” and “studentpreneur” is the missing link. So youth shouldn’t be just people that people can use for either electioneering vices and the rest of them, causing unrest. Let’s keep them engaged. And a practical way of doing that is creating incentive.

“It also helps to keep children in school. Why do children drop out of school? Because they said education has no benefits. But if formal education, literacy has to go with skills like this, the child will be encouraged to stay in school.

This is the pilot National Sewing Championship, the Pilot Schools Sewing Championship 2023 (SSCP23) was approved by UNESCO and funded under the UNESCO Participation Programme 2022-23 and piloted in the FCT in 2023 with support from various Federal MDAs, the FCTA and many corporate and Non-Government organizations and individuals.

Mrs. Osikoya said “Vocational skills projects require use of equipment and tools and consumables which explains why most school instructions are theoretical due to funding gaps. Given current economic realities and an electric Sewing machin costing about 500,000 and manual sewing machines 190,000 each, Stakeholders funding support (both technical and funding) is thus solicited to make the National Sewing Championships subsidized and accessible for all targeted young adults upon whose shoulders rest the future of Nigeria, and to support grassroots level job creation, self employment and functional Vocational skills development especially at basic and secondary education levels”.

One of the participants in the championship, Miss Favour Mmesoma , who was in the senior secondary school category described the competition as “a wonderful experience, which would not forget easily.

Mmesoma said “it is a nice thing to show young people how to achieve entrepreneurship, especially this time when entrepreneurship is reigning in the country”.

The young Mmesoma wants to pursue a law degree in the university, at the same a big entrepreneur.

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It also helps to keep children in school. Why do children drop out of school? Because they said education has no benefits. But if formal education, literacy has to go with skills like this, the child will be encouraged to stay in school.