Government Should Set Standards for Imported Blinds – Ajuyah.

Samuel Ajuyah is in charge of Projects and Marketing at Sunlight Blinds Ltd. In this piece, he takes Ndubuisi Eluwa through his ten years experience on the job and the challenges facing the Nigerian window blinds industry.

My name is Samuel Ajuyah and I am the General Manager, Projects and Marketing, for Sunlights Blinds W/A Ltd. I trained as an economist at the Lagos State University . Besides this, I have also done professional programs both within and outside the country.

My first marketing job was during my National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) year when I worked as a marketing executive with Verand Technical Services. Before my present job, I also worked with Micmoson Nig Ltd. I later left for Highpoint Communications Ltd as Project Manager, and afterwards I moved to Sunlight Blinds W/A Ltd first as Senior Marketing Executive and then climbed the ranks to become General Manager, by the grace of God.

In my capacity as GM Project and Marketing my duties are multi faceted. I ensure profitable projections for the company both in the short and long terms. I’m responsible for sales, customer service, operations, product development, distribution and logistics. I also plan and direct all aspects of the organization’s polices, objectives and initiatives and review of the operational system. In addition, I offer our clients the most comprehensive help to make decisions on window shades that match their life styles

The window blinds industry is very vast and segmented into aluminum Venetian blinds, vertical fabric blinds, vertical PVC blinds, real wood Venetian blinds and roller blinds. This industry has been very silent, if not unknown to many people, but it has been around for a long time and many have been able to make a good living off the industry. According to my research, the first sets of Venetian blinds were used in Nigeria in the early ’70s by UTC. It then gained popularity in the ’80s when the late Kudirat Abiola went into the business with Sundown (her company).  Before long it became a symbol of corporate organizations.

Apart from shading the house from the sun, Venetian blinds also add aesthetics to the interiors. Effectiveness and efficiency are the two key factors in blinds. It is sad, however, to note that in recent times the industry has been bedevilled with challenges bordering more on the infiltration of substandard materials and this is encouraged by ignorance on the part of buyers. Nigeria has also not been able to generate raw materials needed for fabricating the Venetian blinds and so over the years we have depended on imports from Europe . A lot of times, users of these high fashion blinds complain that their blinds do not last. This is because majority of what is in the markets are substandard materials which buyers are largely ignorant of.

In my ten years of experience I have often spent time helping customers make the right choices. I have also discovered that most interior decorators are not well informed when it comes to choosing the right Venetian blind materials. An ideal blind should be easy to maintain, durable and of good quality. However, the only regulatory body is Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) and, unfortunately, we feel they have not been up to the task in preventing these substandard materials. The industry needs government to step in and set up standards for imported materials in order to give Nigerians value for their money.

The power generation issue still poses a serious challenge to the industry.

I foresee a trend where high fashion blinds will not only be a corporate symbol but something used at homes which means as the real estate industry grows, the window blind industry will also grow. At the end of the day it all translates into more gainful employment for our youths.