Nigeria’s foremost shoemaker, Footwear Accessories Manufacturing and Distribution (FaMaD) Plc, formerly Bata, has made public reasons why it was almost driven out of business.
The board Chairman, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, made the reasons known to newsmen at the company’s Annual General Meetings.
Ighodalo lamented that second-hand shoes brought in from China and other European countries have continued to serve as a deterrent to the growth of its product over the years.
He expressed his displeasure when he spoke with newsmen on the sidelines of the AGMs on Thursday in the Oregon area of Lagos State.
The AGMs, which spanned those of December 31, 2007 to December 31, 2021, are in fulfillment of the statutory requirements for companies.
In his statement, Ighodalo observed: “The challenges of poor quality shoes brought in from China and second-hand shoes brought in from European countries continue to give our company rivalry which appears insurmountable.”
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He however noted that the company has reached a turning point, saying: “In the last few years, we have been able to update our machinery; and our product quality has improved as our designs for school shoes have increased.
“This positions us in a place where we can offer good first-hand quality footwear to the market, giving China-made shoes a run for their money and gradually making the second-hand market redundant.
“With God on our side, we are gradually recovering our lost markets, which have been evasive to our customers due to difficulties we faced in the past.
“Today, I can confidently tell you that we have Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) certification on all our school shoes.
“The future is looking brighter.”
Speaking on the AGMs and its significance, Ighodalo said: “Well, this is a long-awaited AGM for FAMAD from 2007 to 2021. The company has been a little bit under the weather, but over time, with the board that I inherited, we’ve been able to restructure, reformat, reorganise, and reposition FaMaD.
“And now we’re presenting ourselves back to the shareholders that we are ready for business and want to build the company up.
“So that’s exactly what we’re doing right now, and we hope that over time we’ll be able to build a company and build a very strong company.”
In response to what FaMaD is doing to ensure its comeback to business and also being able to be one of the top competitors in Africa, Ighodalo said: “Well, the first thing that you need to be able to do shoes is what you call technology and technical know-how.
“So we’ve spent a lot of time now trying to get a lot of technical know-how and get new knowledge and new information from both China and India, which is giving us technical support.
“The next thing is the competence of manpower.
“You know, we need very skilled staff, very competent staff.
“Some of them you can buy and acquire, others you have to train. So that’s the second thing.
“The third is a reasonable and cheap and reliable source of raw materials.
“That is also a challenge because Nigeria imports a lot of things.
“Even though we produce leather in Kano, we don’t have enough capacity to refine it to the level where it can be used as shoes.
“So we have to still, unfortunately, import quality leather.
“But we also have found alternatives which we are able to source locally to do the shoes.
“And, of course, the fifth is machinery.
“You know, you need very efficient machinery, and that’s also the challenge.
“That one you can always acquire if you have the resources.
“So we’ve done quite a bit with all these things, and we’re slowly coming back up and creating new markets.
“We’ve satisfied ourselves in terms of quality.
“We’re now on to ramp up capacity and production.
“When we’ve done all that, then we’re really ready to be number one, not just in Nigeria but hopefully in Africa.”
The FaMaD boss also used the opportunity to congratulate and encourage its newly elected and returned directors, urging them to bring in their best to the fold.
Ighodalo said: “Like I said, being on the Board of FaMaD is a labour of love.
“It’s not because you want to be rewarded.
“The company is not still in a position where it can adequately reward.
“It is paying allowances and things, but not to the level of the skill and competence available.
“So it’s a labor of love.
“It’s an investment in the future.
“It’s looking at it, saying, let us sacrifice today so that we can have big dividends tomorrow.
“And that’s what I’m asking them to come and do on the board, and to bring in their knowledge, their temperament, their expertise, and their skill to make farming work.”
Similarly, Ighodalo reached out to all intending and prospective shareholders and directors, saying the company, though taking baby steps, has a lot of potential for them if they will invest their resources and expertise into it.
He said: “Well, they should come and join, but they should also be patient. It’s going to take time to build the company back up, but with time and with the support of the government and the good people of Nigeria and people like yourselves who will buy our shoes, we will have a great company.”
On his new year charge to government at all levels, Ighodalo stated: “The advice for state governors and the federal government in particular is that number one, they must be people-sensitive.
“They must care about their people.
“I don’t think our government is paying enough attention to the needs of the people.
“The people are the priority.
“The people are the reason why the government is in government.
“And if the people’s needs are not met, then the government is not doing its job.
“So it must care for the people, must find out what the people need, and shift the government and the economy in that direction.
“When the people are happy, the nation is being lifted up.
“They must be righteous people.
“They must do the right thing.
“There’s a bit too much corruption in our nation at this time.
“Selfishness and greed.
“These are the problems of Nigeria.
“Too many of us, not just the leaders, are selfish.
“Too many of us are greedy.
“Too many of us do not really care about the other man.
“So we must reduce corruption.
“We must reduce selfishness.
“We must reduce personal greed.
“Also, we must increase production as a nation.
“Nigeria has a lot of raw materials lying idle, some of them wasted.
“But more than enough people to produce these raw materials.
“So the government must redirect itself.
“A friend of mine said we must Nigerianise our economy so that our Naira has value, and is able to get all the agriculture, a lot of emphasis on agriculture, feed ourselves, shouldn’t import any food, and also export food, bring out all our raw materials, add value to them, and use them locally and export them.
“If the government is able to do this, Nigeria will be a fantastic place in the next 10 to 20 years.
“So they must direct all their energy to see how Nigeria can be made to be very, very productive, juicy in everything that we do.”
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