The Osun State has disclosed that it is most willing to provide the enabling environment in infrastructure and security needed for thriving economic activities.
The Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, stated this at a formal commissioning of the Omoluabi Garment Factory at the state capital, Osogbo, on Monday.
Aregbesola said the establishment of the factory became necessary as part of the overall effort to transform the state.
He noted that the garment factory is one testimonies of his administration’s investment drive and commitment to attracting investors to Osun State, adding that the state has the market and the human and material resources.
According to him, the decision to give the students a common uniform was made with the aim of giving them a common identity and purpose, as well as a sense of unity and pride, which had been lost in the decay that set in public schools in Osun State before his administration.
He said: “Through this alone, we have provided job opportunities for our market women who supplied the materials for the uniform and about 3,000 tailors, who sewed them.
“This Omoluabi Garment Factory that we are commissioning today is a product of the policy to reap the economic benefits of the production of the school uniform.
“This factory will henceforth produce the school uniform here.
“It will employ our people here.
“It will buy its inputs from here.
“And the batik it will produce will be sewn by our tailors here.
“All of these, among other gains, will have numerous spin-offs that will rebound to the advantage of the people of the State of Osun.
“The uniform material will be sold and sewn at control prices so as to make it affordable for our people.
“You are not only assured of quality, you will get it at good prices.”
The governor further revealed that Omoluabi Garment is one of the factories that has been brought into existence through revitalisation of the education project.
He said that soon, another factory will begin the production of the e-learning tablet, Opon-Imo, and other electronic gadgets in Ilesa.
He charged the managers of the factory to be innovative and uncompromisingly committed to quality, saying “This might appear to be a small beginning, but what I am seeing is the onset of a giant clothing industry that will take the nation and West Africa by storm in the foreseeable future.”
He added that his government remains resolutely focused on the implementation of its policies, assuring that the people of the state will be the better for it.
In a goodwill message, the General Manager, Operations, Bank of Industry, Joseph Babatunde, commended the governor for his visionary leadership.
Babatunde said his bank provides financial supports for capacity building and the training of fashion designers whose products will not only be consumed locally but also exported abroad.
He noted that the support BOI renders is in tandem with what the African Growth and Opportunity Act preaches.
He appealed for an expansion of the counterpart funds between the government and the bank so as to be able to accommodate more trainees and reduce the population of youths roaming the streets.
Earlier in her remark, the Managing Director of Omoluabi Garment Factory, Folake Oyemade, said with the garment factory in place, there has been a drastic reduction in unemployment rate in the state.
Oyemade, who is also the Managing Director of Sam and Sara, said by the end of the year, Omoluabi Garment Factory would have trained over 3,000 tailors.
Oyemade said: “Today’s ceremony is a demonstration of one of your campaign promises.
“You promised to make the State of Osun an industrial haven in which youths as leaders of tomorrow would be catered for in the area of skill acquisition, job creation, poverty alleviation and wealth creation.
“This is just the beginning of better things to come.
“Your second term is a foregone conclusion.”
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