Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has said that he plans on making the Aba Shoe Industry to compete globally in shoe manufacturing, Igberetv reports.
To this end, he has begin to train 30 youths in China to learn automated shoe making. The youths are to work in the automated shoe clusters which will soon be operational in the state. This automated shoe clusters will save local shoe manufacturers time and energy, making them produce better quality shoes within a short space of time
Governor Ikpeazu said he purposely decided to do these in order to make local manufacturers in the state to believe in themselves and know that they can manufacture goods which are superior to the ones imported in the country.
He noted that the Aba local manufacturers are not proud to stamp Made-in-Aba on their products but rather choose to put the name of a foreign country on it. The Governor said he has already started leading by example on that aspect, as 95 percent of his clothes are made in Aba with an inscription of ‘Proudly made in Aba’.
Governor Ikpeazu further noted that his administration will continue to support youth empowerment in the state.
