Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun has called on the Federal Government to adopt Adire, as an attire for national events and cultural symbol in the nation’s foreign missions, to further promote the country’s rich culture to the outside world.
The governor made the call at the official launch of Ogun Adire Digital Market Place, at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, just as he also advocated the making of ceremonial dress from Adire for the nation’s athletes taking part in international sporting activities.
He said, “I want to call on all stakeholders in the Information, Culture and Tourism sectors to partner with us in promoting this national heritage. I want to particularly call on our Honourable Minister of Information and Culture, to help promote the Adire at the national level. For instance, members of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, and other top government functionaries can adopt Adire for national events.
“Our foreign missions could also adopt the Adire fabric, as a cultural symbol that will further project our rich culture to the outside world. Same thing could also be done by our Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports, by making the ceremonial dress of our athletes from local fabrics such as our Adire. This will go a long way in promoting the local contents and give expression to President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s ‘produce what we use’ and ‘grow what we eat’ policies.”
Maintaining that the event was to provide a global platform for the marketing and distribution of Adire fabric and its value-chain to the global markets, serving as a melting-pot for all participants, to provide 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, Abiodun said that plans have reached advanced stage to make Adire an important aspect of everyday life, as all top government functionaries in the state now wear Adire on Fridays, just as plans were underway to make Adire part of school uniform, so as to empower more people and further stimulate the economy.
He called on investors to take advantage of the new Adire Ogun Digital Market Place, by partnering and intensifying their collaboration with the state in the development of arts, culture and tourism.
Wife of the Governor, Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun, described the Adire Ogun Digital Market Place as a consolidation of centuries’ creativity and enterprise, which would be of benefit to more women when exposed to national and international market, calling on producers to always think about the environment, by disposing used chemicals properly.
Ogun State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Dr. Oluwatosin Taiwo, opined that tourism, apart from creating jobs, could also generate revenue which would assist the socio-economic development of the state.
Stating that Ogun State was blessed with world class tourism potentials that could generate foreign exchange, Taiwo added that the history of Abeokuta would not be completed without Adire, while observing that despite the influx of foreign fabrics, Adire was still making huge impact on the state and country.
In his remarks, the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, described Adire as a foreign exchange earner, harping on proper handling of chemicals used in producing it, as it was dangerous and harmful to health.
