The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi has hailed Ecobank for sponsoring Adire exhibition in Lagos.
The royal father said the bank’s identification with Adire in form of sponsorship of the exhibition has shown that it is i Pan African nature, and reconfirms the bank’s support for the growth of indigenous culture, tourism, and entrepreneurship across the continent.
Ogunwusi disclosed this during a three-day Adire exhibition dubbed: “Adire Lagos Experience”, sponsored by Ecobank Nigeria in Lagos. The exhibition began on Friday June 10 and ended on Sunday, June 12.
Adire textile, one of the indigenous textiles with origins in Southwestern Nigeria, is an indigo-dyed cloth made by using different wax resist methods to create dazzling designs. Adire, comes in a variety of texture such as silk, chiffon, cotton, and polyester and are made fashionable in both English and traditional styles.
He said, “I am really impressed with what I’ve seen here today. I have seen real tourism potential that needs to be explored by others. If as a country we look inward, we would discover that our tourism advantages are enormous and desire immediate attention. We can create exportable merchandise if we join hands to boost our potential, we would not be looking up to foreign currency to boost our economy”.
He further affirmed that “as one of the pioneer promoters of Adire, I am positive that it can boost the county’s tourism industry, because it has what it takes to meet international textile standards. The unique thing about Adire production is that everything is assembled locally – raffias, ropes, bamboos, chemicals are gotten from our forest. We do not need to import anything”.