Between the 1980s and the ear­ly 90s, the Aba shoe industry witnessed an unprecedented boom. Aba shoes made in the pop­ular Ariaria International Market captured the West African and Cen­tral African markets such as Togo and Cameroun.
The Aba shoe industry boom was cut short by the Ibrahim Badamo­si Babangida's regime when Nige­ria became a dumping ground for all manner of imported goods, es­pecially shoes. Thank God, the old good days are here once again-cour­tesy of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu's stride to reinvent the Aba shoe in­dustry.
Ikpeazu during his election cam­paigns promised Abia artisans a bet­ter deal and a departure from the past. The governor reinforced this promise when he met with Shoe, Bag, Belt and Trunk box Manufac­turers Association of Abia state who paid him a courtesy visit at Govern­ment House, Umuahia. He stated his administration's willingness to encourage and empower Aba shoe makers, bag and leather manufac­turers to excel in their trade.
To fulfil this, Abia State Govern­ment organised an economic trip to Turkey. Also, plans are underway for another batch of shoe manufactur­ers to embark on overseas induction course. The induction course will be on train-the- trainer's basis, where those trained will in turn, train oth­er manufacturers at home.
Four shoe manufacturers: Ro­land Anyanwu, President, Abia State Shoe, Bag, Belt, and Trunk box Manufacturing Association of Nigeria; Promise Ekpo, Nnam­di Onwubiko, and Kenneth Anyan­wu were part of the Abia State con­tingent that recently embarked on the Turkey Economic Trip.
According to Roland Anyanwu, they visited several shoe factories in Turkey where they were exposed to different machines which are used in making shoes.
The essence of this exposure was for them to familiarize with mech­anized methods of...
http://authorityngr.com/2015/11/The-changing-narrative-of-the-Aba-shoe-maker/