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The Itinerant or Mobile Tailors are a familiar sight in many parts of Lagos until lately. Popularly referred to as ‘Obioma’, which literally means ‘Good heart’ in Igbo language, the mobile tailoring business gained prominence shortly after the Nigerian Civil War in 1970. It was dominated by the Igbo tribe.
In a bid to survive after the war, some Igbo people made a living mending and stitching torn clothes. They moved from one place to another on foot with portable sewing machines firmly balanced on their shoulders. Using giant sized scissors to make loud grating rasp sounds, they were able to draw attention to their presence to attract those who may need their service.
Recently, I called an Obioma and it turned out he’s of the northern extraction. They dominate the trade today. The original Igbo street tailors in Lagos are disappearing and many Hausas from northern Nigeria are now seen with the traditional Singer sewing machines carried on their shoulders across towns.
I needed to have a zipper fixed, extend the trousers of a native attire that had become a jumper and replace the neck clip of another. Unlike the igbo Obiomas of the days of yore, this one could only fix the zipper out if the three clothes. He didn’t have the necessary sewing accessories as well.o
Thank God for the hands-on upbringing we had in domestic management growing up. I got inside, fetched the needles and thread kit our mother used while alive and settled down to do justice to one of the clothes myself. And of course, it came out well.
The Hausas, with scant experience in cloth mending, are taking over the traditional Obioma street tailoring business in Lagos now because the Igbos seem to have outgrown the business as the younger generation do not find it lucrative enough in this fast paced 21st century unlike the money-spinning container business.
– Tayo Faloye.
