Nigerian fashion designer advocates govt’s sponsorship of training for jobless graduates

A Nigerian graduate of Business Administration and fashion designer,
Mrs. Oyebola Alabi, has urged government in Nigeria at all levels to sponsor skills acquisition in fashion designs for graduates who yet to secure employment years after their graduation.

Mrs. Alabi, who is the Creative Director of Sewrite fashion House, in Minna, Niger State, an outfit with which she has created self-employment for herself and has since been training younger ladies, said she has chosen fashion designing as a trade to realize other ways of earning money.

Disclosing that choosing fashion designing has helped her to whether the storm of economic hardship, she said she was inspired to take to the trade because of her passion for designing and the harsh realities in the country.
Her words: “Since 2017 when l started this trade, the motivation to start a fashion business stems from both personal interests and changing some narratives. I do Bestspoke and ready to wear.”

Mrs. Alabi described the uniqueness of her style as focusing on creating designs that empower individuals and promote self-confidence adding that she achieves these by using inclusive and body-positive designs, which aim at inspiring people to feel comfortable and confident in their own skin.”

She described Nigeria as a very challenging environment to survive as a self employed fashion designer, saying: “Nigeria is a challenging environment for business owners and self employed people. Our challenges include issues with infrastructure, limited access to quality materials, and the need to navigate a competitive market. Additionally, issues like piracy, inconsistent power supply among others are there. “

Urging government to come to the aide of the fashion industry, she said: “ The government should support the Nigerian fashion industry by executing policies that address key challenges such as dearth of Infrastructure, poor access to Business loans, Education and Training, Intellectual Property Protection, Promotion of Local Textiles,
Fashion Events and Platforms, and
Research and Development and the likes so that the government can create a conducive environment for business to thrive.