“The life of a man consists not in seeing visions and in dreaming dreams, but in active charity and in willing service”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
At a time when kindness is hard to come by, a dignified youth is changing the narrative, Ibrahim Kale Jimoh, the CEO of Kalia footwear production, in conjunction with Nigerian Youth congress and Association of shoemakers of Nigeria, showed kindness to those who needed it most.
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| One of the Beneficiaries, Taofiq Fawaz during an interview |
Kale stated that, "we're here to distribute sandals for indigent pupils of the ECWA LGEA primary school, as a product of our workshop, held last year in October, the workshop was for sensitization of youths and shoemakers in Kwara state",
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| The selection process by the members of the Community in conjunction with the school management |
An initiative which was supported by different stakeholders among which is the association of shoemakers, which according to Kale supported him with 100 pairs of sandals.
Jimoh disclosed that the the sandal distribution was in three phases across the three zones of Kwara state,"We have now distributed the sandals in all the three zones that made up the state, that is the Kwara North ,where we distributed in last year, likewise Kwara south, and about four schools have benefited from the initiative and now the final stage is holding here today for Kwara central at ECWA primary school, Oke Aluko, Oja Iya".
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| The Headmistress of ECWA LGA SCHOOL OJA-IYA, Mrs. Bamigbaye Falilat during an interview |
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| The CEO KALIA FOOTWEAR PRODUCTION, Mr. Ibrahim Kale Jimoh during an interview |
Some of the schools that has benefited, according to the young entrepreneur ,"We have been to Central LGEA school, Lafiagi, Community LGEA School,UMCA LGEA school and Muslim community LGEA school all in Share the headquarter of Ifelodun local government area".
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| The Headmistress of ECWA LGA SCHOOL, Mrs. Bamigbaye Falilat during the presentation of Free Sandals for her pupils |
When asked of the motive behind the initiative, he stated that this initiative is just to create a positive awareness, he goes thus "This is 21st century and there is an urgent need for the government to prioritize acquisition of Skills and also the professionals of several skills should try as much as possible to update and evolve their skills to meet up with the international standards and technological advancements most especially the shoe manufacturers in the state".
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| The Communist, Hon. Esho from Oke Bada in Badari Ward presented Free Sandals to pupils |
"Skill acquisition has the potential to reduce the issue of unemployment in the state and curb the level of criminality in the state because it is a viable way of engaging the youth, because the government can not employ everyone and more so the essence of getting educated is not to get employed by government but rather to proffer solutions to ones personal problem and the immediate society challenges".
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| Group pictures |
When quizzed about the intervention of the government in the initiative, the initiator disclosed that "This is a completely privately organized program, organized by Kalia footwear production in conjunction with the Nigerian youth congress and the Association of Shoemakers, we have no government intervention in this project".
Kale while lamenting the delay in the distribution of the shoes out because of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, noted that, the distribution was slated for last year.
He expressed his zeal to make it a perennial event, "We have another great plan to make it more bigger than what we have done in the past, and we're planning on Making it a perennial program, because we're being encouraged by community leaders"
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| Group pictures |
The initiative was lauded by the entire community of Oja Iya, speaking to one of the community leaders, The Mogaji of Ile Iya Oba of Ilorin, Alhaji Adebayo Jimoh, expressed his delight ,"I'm really happy for what is happening today and this is a positive example for youths all over the state to emulate and i will encourage Kalia to keep up the good work".
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| The Community head, Magaji Ile Iya-Oba Oke Aluko, Alhaji Adebayo Jimoh Presented Free Sandals to the pupils @ECWA LGA SCHOOL |
One of the beneficiaries ,Taofiq Fawaz a twelve year old boy,who was in an ecstatic mood stated that "They did us a huge favour and also our parents, because our shoes has spoiled and they have just given us new pairs of shoes, I'm really happy today and i really appreciate them, may God always help them too, we are many that were given in my own class primary 6"
The Headmistress of the school, Mrs Bamigbaye Falilat, expressed her happiness and gratitude to the initiators of the program, in her own statement "An organization came to distribute some sandals to some of our pupils who had no shoes, most of them are from indigent families, even sometimes we use to buy shoes for them with our own money, so this will also be a relief to us, i will like to show my gratitude to them for this kind gesture".
According to the President of the association of shoemakers of Kwara state, Alhaji Ridwanullahi Muhammad Bashir ,"This initiative is a way of assisting the government in our own little way, this is a first of its kind and we hope it can continue, i will like to appeal to the people to support this initiative ".
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| The President of Association of Shoe and Bags Manufacturers, Kwara State, Alhaji Ridwan Olohunjakare during an interview |
Kale, in his remark "call on government and private organizations to also look into making provision and giving assistance to indigent students because we observed that many students go to school without sandals, walking barefooted which i don't think is very convenient and very dangerous to their personal well-being, in order to mitigate this, there is need for support, hence our move to support with this humble effort of ours".
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