ABIA-CHINA AUTOMATED SHOEMAKING TRAINEES: THEY WERE SAD TO SEE THEM GO

Sam Hart
I’ll preface this piece with two experiences.
Experience 1. At an office I worked in while I was living in Abuja, a colleague came to work one morning and was expressing displeasure at staff of the office. When he was asked why, he said he had been sick and absent from work for the past one week and no one checked on him from the office so he felt unloved. Truth be told, if not that he mentioned it, I didn’t notice that he had been absent from work for a whole week.
Experience 2. I mentioned to a friend who lives in Abuja that I will be in Abuja the next day and he offered to come and pick me from the airport and drive me around for my engagements in Abuja. “What about your work?” I asked him and he scoffed and said he can dissappear for a month and no one would notice.
The above two experiences thought me the value of being useful wherever you find yourself and making your mark.
This was what the delegates from Abia State to the Abia China Automated Shoe Training Programme internalised and implemented. After 4 weeks at the Chinese Factory where they were embedded, it was a moody scene this evening as they were being bid farewell by staff of the company. The Managing Director of the company himself came and gave gifts to each and every one of them, most of the staff of the factory had one souvenir or memento to give to the trainees. I can’t be certain but I believe I saw one or two teary eyes.
The bus taking the Trainees to the airport from the factory where they assembled for departure was billed to leave by 8pm, work closes at the factory by 5pm yet most of the staff of the factory hung around until the bus departed to interact with the Trainees and bid them farewell. Some staff of the factory went and bought takeout dinner for the trainees they were friendly with.
It was an emotional farewell.
They were sad to see them go.
The MD of the company alongside the production supervisor confessed that productivity in the factory improved in the one month the Trainees were in the factory. He said their usual experience was that having Trainees in the factory slows down production because of time dedicated to teaching Trainees and production errors by Trainees.
They confessed that they have found the reverse to be the case with the Abia Trainees. They grasped the hang of the operations of the machines almost from the first day of their arrival and from then, it was smooth sailing all the way and 30 extra pairs of proficient, eager and energetic hands in all departments of the factory. The result was increased productivity within the month.
Note also that a number of the Trainees were retained for overtime work to meet up with production backlog and they were paid for their services. Effectively, the Trainees earned money in foreign currency while under tutelage.
The MD said some group of Trainees come to their factory and either the training programme is terminated midway or if they are allowed to finish, the organisation that brought them is told that they will no longer be welcome in the factory. Factors that lead to this are indiscipline, excessive damages, contravention of company policy, fighting, molesting co-workers, theft, tardiness, etc.
In the case of the Abia Trainees, he is asking when we are sending another batch! They can’t wait!
The machines the Trainees trained with have all been ordered from China. They are enroute to Aba. A factory site is almost ready. By the time the machines arrive and the factory is set up, these Trainees will form the nucleus of the staff of the Aba Shoe Factory. Part of the agreement with the Factory in China where they trained is a joint production contract. Whenever the company in China has excessive orders, they will sublet the orders to the Factory in Aba to produce and ship. At the moment, they turn down fresh orders every month once they have reached their production capacity for the month. With the factory in Aba, they can accept those orders and move production to the Aba Factory.
Note also that a sizeable number of Nigerian and West African sub-regional brands currently produce their brands in foreign countries for the simple reason that they are unable to find factories with technical capacity to meet their needs locally. With the Aba factory, they will have no choice than to produce in Aba as it would be cheaper and logistically more sensible to do so.
Credit must go to these Trainees. On the day of their departure ceremony on January 4, 2018, Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu gave them a charge: “you are our ambassadors. Do not bring us shame. Do not close the door for those who will be coming behind you”. It is my joy to report back to the Governor that these ones did not bring him shame and that indeed, they have cleared the path for those who will be coming behind them with their exemplary and sterling performance.
30 of them were sent to China, 30 of them are on board returning back home from China. None missing, none broken. No elopement, no truancy, no stories. Everyone is intact!
Posterity cannot thank Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu enough for the foresight and wisdom of this project. It is an Iroko seed which he has planted. It will outgrow his tenure in 2023 and grow to provide food and shelter far beyond his initial plan.
A politician conceptualises policies that will win him the next election. A leader embarks on projects that will outlive him and speak for him long after he has gone. Dr. Michael Okpara, Dr. Sam Mbakwe, they were leaders. They have long departed. But what they did while in office are still speaking for them.
With the quality of roads and other infrastructure he is putting on ground and the depth of his policies, I have no doubt whatsoever that Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu will be well spoken of long after his tenure has ended and long after he has departed this plane.
We are boarding. See you all tomorrow.
Sam Hart is writing from the Shangliu International Airport, Chengdu, China.