With creative hubs, unemployment will be drastically reduced

* Entrepreneur trains female fashion designers on adire, batik designs

An entrepreneur, Vincent Olukoya, has appealed to government at all levels to establish creative hubs in various parts of the country as part of measures to address the growing rate of unemployment among the youths.
According to Olukoya, who is the Creative Director of House of Roshe Global Limited and Provost of Roshe Business School, the focus of government for youths should be solely on information technology but also in the creative world, where huge opportunities abound.
The fashion entrepreneur, who disclosed this during the training of female fashion designers in Akure, Ondo State capital, on adire and batik designs, urged the youths to be solution providers instead of waiting endlessly for government jobs.
While stressing that the empowerment program and training, which were done free of charge, will assist female fashion designers to further boost and expand their business horizons, Olukoya, who was partnered by two FUTA undergraduates, Oluwatoyin Ajumobi and Frank Fadairo, said, “There is one thing I always believe in, which is that if you empower a woman, you empower the whole family.
“Africa is endowed, and Nigeria in particular. There are lots and lots of things we can actually tap into in the fashion industry. So, if we are able to come up with something like this, then we will be able to train these people so that they can come up with unique designs and also get to the global market. With that, there won’t be much need for them depending on the government.
“We entrepreneurs are solution providers; we see problems and propose solutions to them, and this is one of the things that we are also trying to do. Participants came all the way from Osun and Ogun States to attend the two-day training here in Akure. I laugh when people, particularly youths, say they are waiting for the government for jobs and the like. I’m a graduate of Education Economics from the University of Ilorin, and ever since I graduated from school, I only used my certificate once.
“Government has its own problems; we individuals, youths, should also look at the problems we can see in society and propose solutions to them. The problem we are currently having is unemployment, which the government cannot totally solve. So, the best thing for us is to create jobs.
“The government should also come up with creative hubs; it is not only IT alone that they should focus on. They can come up with creative hubs whereby we can learn different skills; it could be fashion designing, adire and batik making, or different kinds of skills.
One of the participants, Eniola Olaposi, stated, “I graduated with a 2:1. When the white-collar job was not forthcoming, I had to go into entrepreneurship, which also served as an opportunity to create jobs for people. I have always loved Adire because it is a very unique print, it is a unique skill, and it has to do with culture.”
On her part, Rukiyat Abudkabir, another participant, stated, “I came all the way from Osogbo for the free training here in Akure. It has really been a big one for me because I’ve really learnt a lot. Since it is about culture, once you are creative, there is nothing you can’t do with it.”