By Dada Ahmed.
In the heart of Lokoja, the bustling capital of Kogi State, a small fashion workshop tucked between aging buildings and noisy streets offered a surprise that could inspire a generation. While many children his age were at home glued to cartoons or battling digital foes on mobile phones, six-year-old Abdul-Qudus was hard at work — cutting fabric with near precision and handling a sewing machine with the calm confidence of a seasoned tailor.
The workshop, owned by his father, hummed with the sound of machines, but the soft rhythm of young hands threading needles and pressing seams stood out. Abdul-Qudus wasn’t merely playing; he was working, learning, creating, one stitch at a time.
“He just picked it up,” his father said, beaming with pride. “He watches me every day and now insists on having his own piece of cloth to sew. I guide him, but most times he surprises me,” his father said.
In a society where unemployment looms large and youth idleness often breeds frustration, scenes like this are rare but instructive.
Nigeria’s future lies not only in oil rigs and government offices, but in the creative instincts nurtured at home,the ones that turn ordinary children into extraordinary entrepreneurs.
Abdul-Qudus story is a gentle yet powerful reminder that entrepreneurial education doesn’t start with MBAs; it begins with a needle, a cloth, and a willing spirit.
In a country with a rising youth population and dwindling white-collar opportunities, Nigerian parents must rethink education beyond certificates. Practical exposure to trades, crafts, and business from a tender age can build self-reliant individuals who won’t just seek jobs but create them.
Stories like Abdul-Qudus ignite a new vision for childhood development — one where skills and passion go hand-in-hand.
The workshop, which could be dismissed by many as a noisy, chaotic space, has become a classroom of dreams for this young boy. The lesson? Every child holds potential, waiting to be shaped by intention and opportunity.
Experts agree that early exposure to vocational skills enhances cognitive development, confidence, and innovation.
“Children are like sponges,” says Mrs. Ignes Ajayi, a child psychologist in Lokoja. “Give them the right environment and they absorb, adapt, and thrive.”
Therefore,If every father, mother, or guardian carved out space for hands-on experiences be it tailoring, shoemaking, farming, or even trading, Nigeria would be planting seeds that would one day grow into factories, firms, and fortunes.
Abdul-Qudus may not understand the economics of unemployment, but he’s already part of the solution.
Parents must recognize the power of mentorship in informal settings. The fashion designer’s workshop may not look like a school, but for Abdul-Qudus,it is a place of learning, dreaming, and doing. And perhaps, just perhaps, it is also where the next big name in Nigerian fashion is being sewn, thread by thread.
Ahmed publishes The Reporters
