O’uniform : 3000 tailors, 5000 market women benefit from Osun’s unification policy

At least, 3,000 tailors and 5,000 market women
have benefitted from the State of Osun uniform
unification policy since it was introduced in 2012.
This was revealed by the manager of Omoluabi
Garments Factory, Osogbo, Mr. Ayobami Fatai. He
stated this whilst speaking with journalists over the
weekend that Omoluabi Garment Factory is saddled
with the local production of Osun School Uniforms
while the State of Osun works with the factory to
ensure the prices are controlled and affordable
It was gathered that the factory also act as a hub to
train tailors in the state for free. The manager says
thousands of residents in the state have passed
through the system, learning how to sow, while also
earning at the same time.
further revealed that the factory also partners
with the local association of textiles sellers (Egbe
Alaso) to supply the uniforms to the market. So far,
the factory has partnered with 5,000 of them.
With a down payment of 10% of total value of
Uniforms to be collected, the textile sellers get the
uniforms in bulk and payment is spread throughout
the course of selling.
As at February 2017, at least, the sum of N120mn
has been made as profits by the textile sellers
through the sale of subsidized school uniforms
alone.
The programme which is in its 5 year, has so far
being subsidized to the tune of N800m, in addition
to the initial N900m seed investment by the
government into the business to guarantee the
production and sale of 750,000 pieces of uniforms
which the government distributed to students across
the state for free at the inception of the programme.
Omoluabi Garment Factory, reportedly one of the
biggest garment factory in West Africa, is a thriving
Private Public Business Partnership between the
government of the state of Osun and Sam & Sara
Garments Limited. The company now produces
Uniforms for the Nigerian Military, Guarantee Trust
Bank (GTB), Lagos Internal Revenue Service (LIRS),
among several others.
Speaking on the unification policy, former
Commissioner for Commerce, Co-Op & Empowerment
in the state, Mr. Jayeoba Alagbada, said the
unification of school uniforms is part of an effort by
the State of Osun to create a unique identity for
students, promote culture and stimulate the local
economy. He stated that the innovation ensures
uniformity and engenders a unified sense of
belonging among all government owned public
primary and secondary school pupils in the state.


SOURCES.VVANGUARD