The Federal Government has expressed its readiness to subsidise the production of indigenous adire fabrics to end the incursion of adulterated Chinese adire in the Nigerian market.

The Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu disclosed this on Saturday when she visited Adire international markets at Itoku and Asero in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital.

The Minister disclosed that the government would create industrial hubs across the country to boost local production and empower market women.

Edu also assured the market women of the government’s intentions to ensure the Adire fabric becomes known around the world, adding that there was a need for the government to ban the importation of foreign Adire products.

Her words, “First, you must be able to push local production to meet the demand. Local production must be enhanced at all costs to meet the demand. When local products are enhanced, subsidised and supported by the government, it will automatically eliminate whatever fluctuates coming into the market.

“We don’t want to be selling fake Adire, made in China Adire brought into Nigeria. What we want is local ones made by our people to create jobs, it will build the micro and macro economy and it will help Nigeria to be more of a manufacturing country rather than an importing country.

“These are the things that are affecting the exchange rates and other indexes in Nigeria. The government will provide that subsidy for the people, so we take the fuel subsidy off the fuel and provide it for the Adire makers so that they can provide local Adire that will be used and exported out of the country.

“I was so happy yesterday when the governor and his team, commissioners said they are going to create hubs in Abuja where the original Adire would be sold. This is taking Abeokuta, and Ogun State to the world, and this hub can be created even at embassies in other countries around the world where we can export Adire.

“This is the original one, not the fake which is imitated and brought in. For us if we support the local manufacturers, subsidize this for them, and bring more people into this to meet the demand, it will automatically eliminate the ones that coming into the country.

“We are here today in Ogun State basically, we want to see those areas where we can support persons who are poor and be alleviated out of poverty and to get for of livelihood and skills that will help them strive and sustain families and of course come out of poverty.

“We have identified about five things with the governor yesterday. Governor and his team, commissioners five things we can do almost immediately that will really touch lives in Ogun State and this will be able to cover about 100 persons in Ogun State. Part of what we identified yesterday was the Adire creation which is really very typical to Ogun people; it is kind of their identity and what they are known to do very well.

“Adire has both local production and modern production. We’ve been in the market to pick up some of the fabrics, and interact with the market people and Iyaloja all are here with us. We try to find out what it really takes to get one of these products, how much they cost interns of product and what final product they do cost in the market.

“This cloth I am handling is N15,200, we have some the N25,000, N75,000 in the shops. We have come here to see how it is locally made, the part of the process, the dying stage, the drying and all of these stages that finally get to beautiful fabrics that will sell and export.

“We are planning to come and start the training, and create a new cluster for Adire in two other senatorial districts where it did not exist before. After that training, we will do a fashion show of Adire just to launch them out and ensure that they now get the new customers that will support them.

Adire is a precious fabric all over the world, and people recognize and identify with it, so we can build local production and ensure that more and more people get some livelihood, and new skills and are able to make money for themselves and their families. Remember the President has targeted the next 42 months to lift 50 million Nigerians out of poverty. This are the way we intend to do it”. (Saturday Telegraph)

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