This post is dated back to 2014
Yesterday a friend of mine who owns a growing company like mine was telling me about a small challenge he had over the weekend. He talked about how terrible a client was; I then told him I have
had similar experiences. I told him I usually cry after such experiences, (that’s on my bed later).
So many people now know me as Sisi Oni’kaba, which is my brand name; I am a Postgraduate student and am also a seamstress. I started sewing in 2007, after two years I was opportune to stage a mini fashion show organized by my school fellowship, CASOR (Christ Ambassadors Student Outreach), the show was what I would call a success. During my youth service I registered for a fashion program which I was unable to run effectively because of my job with the News Agency of Nigeria. Before this training, I was mostly a self-taught seamstress, all I know today about sewing was God’s help and my own doing.
When I came back from serving my country, all I wanted to do was sew. I told anyone that was interested that am going back to school for my graduate program and sew while I am at it. Coming back to sewing after getting a degree was not what I hoped it would be, I discovered that people in my hometown do not care about your degree, all they care about is that you are their “tailor” and you must work magic! Magic…….to them is what you do when you choose/design the fabric and it is well seated on the body.
Now (2017), my sewing story is a little different. I stopped commercial sewing.
It’s just this way with my people; the Clientàthe fabricàthe magic. And to me it’s; meàthe clientàthe fabricàendless and sleepless brainstorming and machine pedalingà then sheer luck! You see there is no magic at all. Here is my philosophy, the state of things in the country is no different, it goes like this; the People(client)àNigeria(fabric)àGood Governance(magic).
As Nigerians, we expect the government to work magic overnight, we want the economy to boom, stable electricity, availability of jobs, industrial development, an end to terrorism etc Development as it is, does not happen overnight; it is a growing process of economic, political and social transformation. If by any chance the government is as good as your “tailor” then it can whip up magic, but if it is not, then we will have to wait and follow the systemic approach. Not only can development be approached from the individual level, it should be taken a step higher, to a stage where every individual will trust the developmental process of the second person.
Seamstresses like me do not perform magic, we rely on the fact that so many people trust us to make them look good and also make them smile. Nigeria will achieve greatness if we develop not only individually but also with an inch of trust in the next person’s developmental process.
My Nigeria is your Nigeria. My Africa is your Africa. 'Sisi.
Note: I came up with those words in italics in 2014, I can't even remember what they mean😆😆
Yesterday a friend of mine who owns a growing company like mine was telling me about a small challenge he had over the weekend. He talked about how terrible a client was; I then told him I have
had similar experiences. I told him I usually cry after such experiences, (that’s on my bed later).
So many people now know me as Sisi Oni’kaba, which is my brand name; I am a Postgraduate student and am also a seamstress. I started sewing in 2007, after two years I was opportune to stage a mini fashion show organized by my school fellowship, CASOR (Christ Ambassadors Student Outreach), the show was what I would call a success. During my youth service I registered for a fashion program which I was unable to run effectively because of my job with the News Agency of Nigeria. Before this training, I was mostly a self-taught seamstress, all I know today about sewing was God’s help and my own doing.
When I came back from serving my country, all I wanted to do was sew. I told anyone that was interested that am going back to school for my graduate program and sew while I am at it. Coming back to sewing after getting a degree was not what I hoped it would be, I discovered that people in my hometown do not care about your degree, all they care about is that you are their “tailor” and you must work magic! Magic…….to them is what you do when you choose/design the fabric and it is well seated on the body.
Now (2017), my sewing story is a little different. I stopped commercial sewing.
It’s just this way with my people; the Clientàthe fabricàthe magic. And to me it’s; meàthe clientàthe fabricàendless and sleepless brainstorming and machine pedalingà then sheer luck! You see there is no magic at all. Here is my philosophy, the state of things in the country is no different, it goes like this; the People(client)àNigeria(fabric)àGood Governance(magic).
As Nigerians, we expect the government to work magic overnight, we want the economy to boom, stable electricity, availability of jobs, industrial development, an end to terrorism etc Development as it is, does not happen overnight; it is a growing process of economic, political and social transformation.
As Nigerians, we expect the government to work magic overnight, we want the economy to boom, stable electricity, availability of jobs, industrial development, an end to terrorism etc Development as it is, does not happen overnight; it is a growing process of economic, political and social transformation. If by any chance the government is as good as your “tailor” then it can whip up magic, but if it is not, then we will have to wait and follow the systemic approach. Not only can development be approached from the individual level, it should be taken a step higher, to a stage where every individual will trust the developmental process of the second person.
Seamstresses like me do not perform magic, we rely on the fact that so many people trust us to make them look good and also make them smile. Nigeria will achieve greatness if we develop not only individually but also with an inch of trust in the next person’s developmental process.
My Nigeria is your Nigeria. My Africa is your Africa. 'Sisi.
Note: I came up with those words in italics in 2014, I can't even remember what they mean😆😆
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