Leather, Key To Economic Diversification -NILEST Boss

The Acting Director General, National Institute of Leather Science and Technology (NILEST), Dr Eucharia Opara, says the leather sector is key to industrial growth, economic diversification, job and wealth creation.
Opara, who said this in an interview with The Tide source yesterday in Abuja, said leather trade was also the nation’s goldmine in the non-oil sector.
She said the sector was the country’s second foreign exchange earner, after oil.
“We have animals, we have the land to rear them and if we harness the hides of the number of animals slaughtered in our abattoirs every day, we can process them to leathers.
“ You can imagine the amount of money the finished leather products will bring to the country; the economy will improve, so leather has a role to play in the economy,” the director-general said.
Opara also The Tide’s source that the institute had been partnering with development partners, members of National Assembly and community leaders to train youths in acquiring leather skills.
The director-general said that the institute had, in August, graduated 48 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) trained on leather skill in collaboration with the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
Opara said that the institute planned to train 50 IDPs but two persons did not turn up, adding that the trainee were camped for six months for coaching and mentoring.
“The training was 80 per cent practical and hands-on and the graduands were well equipped on leather products manufacturing.