The Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, yesterday, said that the state would be endorsing the popular local fabrics, Adire, as part of the school uniform for public primary and secondary schools in the state.
Abiodun stated this at the launch of Adire Ogun Digital Market Place held at the Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, the state capital.
The governor said it was important to diversify from a mono-economic system, saying that culture with its special arts and crafts, especially fabrics, which Adire symbolised, provided another window of opportunities of economic diversification.
He stated that the official launch of the “Adire Ogun Digital Market Place” would open up the entire value-chain available in the production of the Adire fabric.
“Plans are under way to make the Adire part of our school uniform fabric. By this, we will be empowering more people from the producers to the Adire makers and even our tailors, thereby further stimulating the Adire economy.
“The end result of all these is a wide range of employment generation, which will go a long way in boosting our efforts towards wealth creation and poverty alleviation.
“The Digital Market Place will serve as a melting-pot for all participants in the entire value-chain and provides opportunities for a wider coverage of the market for people to reach out to vendors and transact businesses by logging into the Adire Digital Mall.
The governor, who urged all stakeholders in the information, culture and tourism sectors to partner with the state government in promoting this national heritage, appealed to Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, to help promote Adire fabric at the national level so that members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and other top government functionaries could adopt the Adire fabric for national events.
The minister, in his address, said the launch of the platform solidified state’s commitment to preserving, nurturing and promoting its cultural assets to the global community.
He commended the governor for his foresight in leveraging technology for positive purpose, saying: “With this launch, the Adire Ogun Market Place will be the largest inventory of Adire textile and accessories in the world with about 2,000 merchants from Abeokuta, which is the undisputed centre of Adire production not just in Nigeria but in the entire world.”
