250 fashion designers graduate, empowered in Delta

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3 years ago

The chief job and wealth creation officer, Professor Eric Eboh, addressing fashion designers at the training talk shop. Photo: Alphonsus Agborh

ABOUT 250 people have been empowered with skills in fashion designing by the Delta State government under its Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP).

The programme, organised by the State Job and Wealth Creation Bureau, saw beneficiaries, drawn from the 25 local government areas in the state.

Addressing the participants at the Entrepreneurship and Business Management Training (EBMT) in fashion designing and tailoring, held in Asaba, the Chief Job and Wealth Creation officer, Professor Eric Eboh, disclosed that the state government had trained and established over 6,000 unemployed youths in vocational and agricultural enterprises since 2015.

Eboh pointed out that the training was organised to expose the beneficiaries to business management and entrepreneurship skills, as he urged them to harness their hidden potential creatively to become successful entrepreneurs in the fashion industry.

In his lecture entitled, ‘How to start your business’ and ‘How to write a business plan’, a resource person, Pastor Afolabi Adun, urged the graduands to carry out a feasibility study/market survey about the business in order to understand the business environment better before setting-up.

He enjoined them to take customer care and proper record keeping at all times serious.

On her part, the Executive Assistant to Governor Okowa/Coordinator, Delta-UNIDO Centre and Export Initiative (DUCEI), Mrs. Shimite Bello, said the state government had committed over N205 million to key sectors, including the fashion industry.

She urged the participants to prioritise effective marketing strategies to succeed in the industry within and outside the state.

In her lecture, ‘How to market and brand your fashion design and its products from start-up’, Mrs Bello urged the partcipants to use their fashion skills as tools to become global entrepreneurs in the fashion market.

She emphasised that the end result and output of their productions would make them marketable in the global market, advising them to aspire to acquire more skills so as to attain perfection in their finished products.

In the same vein, the Creative Director of Signature Secret Fashion School, Dr Oreva Okowa, advised them to carve a niche for themselves by identifying specific areas of expertise to stand out among competitors.

She urged them to register their businesses early enough, design their business logo and label as a way of branding their businesses.

Speaking separately, Ighomrore Evwikparobo from Uvwie Local Government Area and Iwhiwhu Onoriode from Ethiope East Local Government Area expressed gratitude to the state government for the opportunity given them to be enrolled in the programme.