A 20-year-old out-of-school youth, Abdulmubarat Adamu, emerged as the winner of the 2024 National Sewing Championship in Abuja on Saturday.
Over 27 states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), participated in the state-level competition in August 2024, which granted state winners the opportunity to compete at the national level.
After receiving the gold medal award, Abdulmubarat told the Tribune Online that he hadn’t expected to qualify for the national competition when he first competed at the state level in Adamawa.
“I didn’t expect to win the state competition. I heard about the championship and just decided to contest, and fortunately, I won.”
“Then, I came for the national competition here in Abuja. A lot of things were strange to me. It was at the boot camp in Abuja that I first had the opportunity to work on an industrial sewing machine.”
“I am happy that I won a gold medal, but I am happier for the new knowledge I have acquired during the competition in Abuja,” he stated.
Adamu, who received an industrial sewing machine worth half a million naira as the prize for the overall best in NSC24, said he plans to expand his business with the new equipment.
He commended the organisers of the National Sewing Championship (NSC) 2024, the Ladi Memorial Foundation (LMF), for the opportunity given to Nigerian youths to acquire skills and providing them with equipment to be productive after training.
Also speaking, one of the silver medal winners, Babatunde Grace, thanked LMF for organising the sewing championship.
She explained that the boot camp in Abuja was an eye-opener for her. “Before I came here, I didn’t know anything about pattern draughting. Not just that, we were taught financial management and how to start our business with little capital.”
Babatunde called on the government at all levels to support initiatives like the National Sewing Championship as a means of encouraging youth entrepreneurship.
A total of 1,400 youths registered for the competition nationwide, and 48 state winners participated in the just concluded national competition in Abuja.
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