Traders and producers of Adire/Kampala, an indigenous fabric business in Abeokuta, Ogun State, are battling to stay in the trade over an alleged adulteration and imitation of the product by the Chinese, Daily Trust Saturday reports.
The local producers of the fabrics recently abandoned their shops and stormed Abeokuta Street in Ogun State, alleging imitation of their designs and adulteration of the products by the Chinese.
From Itoku market, the hub of the business, they marched to the palace of the Alake, the paramount ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, seeking a drastic measure to stop the killing of their age-long trade.
“Support local Adire producers, say no to Chinese. “Mr Governor, save our tradition, ban Chinese adire imports into Ogun. Our local Adire is our global identity. Let’s protect what’s ours,” some of the inscriptions on their placards read.
Addressing journalists, one of the leaders, Ogunfidodo Michael, lamented that the incursion of adulterated Chinese Adire into the local market “is pushing the locally made adire into extinction.”
“We are trying to sensitise our people to know the danger and effect of wearing the look-alike Adire fabrics. It is a synthetic cloth. People think it is Adire but it is not.
“This thing has to be stopped in all the markets because it is killing the industry. It is rendering our youths jobless.
“We have told our people dealing in it to stop it. We have given them a duration of time to dispose of the ones they have in their shops. Once that is done, if they refuse, the whole thing will be destroyed,” Ogunfidodo said.
Daily Trust Saturday reports that what is known as Chinese Adire silently crept into the country two years ago, but the influx appears to have multiplied this year, forcing local producers to voice out their frustration.
Traders alleged that Chinese nationals now mass-produce Adire using polyester materials.
Locals confirmed that the glossy product gained ground because it is “cheap and colourful.”
Findings by our correspondent revealed that while the locally produced Adire costs between N7,000 and N10,000 (four yard), depending on the quality of the materials used, the ‘Chinese fabric is sold between N3,000 and N4,000.
Further findings by Daily Trust Saturday showed that even the local traders have the Chinese Adire in stocks because “it is cheaper and fast in sale.”
“If you go to Itoku market you would find out that at least 40 per cent of the fabrics in stock are Chinese Adire. If they themselves can sell it, why are they complaining?” A young trader who pleaded anonymity asked.
However, many traders and stakeholders are confused as to where the controversial products are being produced. Some of the local traders said they were hitherto imported but now being produced locally.
The Alake of Egbaland, Oba Gbadebo, said there was a need to first identify where the products are produced in order to tackle the challenge.
“Two days ago, Adire traders and designers beseeched my palace in large numbers and I asked them to go back and do their homework. Let them tell us where the Chinese Adire came from.
“Somebody said a company in Lagos was producing the Adire. Others said they were smuggled in from Cotonou, so I said we would get Customs to come and raid all the markets and take all the Adire from China and discourage people from buying the cheap and colourful fabrics if they were smuggled in,” Alake said.
Governor Dapo Abiodun has also admitted Chinese incursion into the local Adire fabric business, accusing them of copying traders’ designs and selling at cheaper rates, thereby pushing the indigenous trade to the brink.
“When I assumed office, this industry was dying because the Chinese were coming to Ogun State to copy the designs, take it to China, make the Adire and Ankara and sell it cheaper than those produced by our people, regardless of how beautiful it is.
“No matter what it is, it remains our small business that employs a lot of our people, and it has been so for many generations,” Abiodun said recently when he received his Osun State counterpart, Ademola Adeleke, in Abeokuta.
Meanwhile, the state government has vowed to enact a law that will keep the activities of the Chinese Adire manufacturers under check.
The state government expressed its determination to maintain the quality of the original local Adire fabric and protect it from undue competition and proliferation by imitators.
The Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Sesan Fagbayi, disclosed this in Abeokuta while playing host to the Olu of Orile-Ilawo, Oba (Prof) Olusegun Macgregor and his team. He said anyone found imitating Adire would be made to pay royalty fees.
“The ministry is looking into protecting the intellectual property of the Adire fabric, as well as ready to establish a law that will ensure that imitators of the fabric pay stipulated fees into the coffers of the state government,” he said.
Earlier in his presentation, the Oba Macgregor stated that there was an urgent need for an enforcement law that would prohibit the sale of counterfeit Adire, popularly called Chinese Adire and also stop sellers and buyers from referring to it as Adire.
“It is because it is still being called Adire that people are still patronising it. Even if the Chinese have to produce the pattern and refer to it as that, it is important to enforce the payment of the royalty and trademark royalty for the designers,” he said.
Alake sets up committee to tackle influx of Chinese Adire
Oba Gbadebo has also inaugurated a committee to stop the influx of fake Adire into Abeokuta markets.
Speaking to newsmen after the inauguration at the Ake palace, the Alake explained that it was important to, as a matter of urgency, put an end to the influx of the fake fabric.
Gbadebo said there was the need to enlighten the people on why they should not buy fake or Chinese Adire, saying that influx of fake Adire into the market would have negative effect on the economy of the state and Nigeria.
He tasked the committee to ensure they know where the fake Adire was being produced and brought into Abeokuta market.
“This committee is set up in order to tackle the influx of fake Adire in markets in the state capital. We must not allow infiltration; and our name as Egba must not be tarnished.
“Adire started in Itoku, here in Abeokuta, it is our trade and there is the need to ensure that the quality of our product is not tampered with.
“Before we can say that something is not good, we must first ensure that ours is better. And we must ensure quality control in our Adire production,” he said.
Also speaking, the secretary of the committee, Princess Adejoke Shomoye, insisted that the cultural inheritance of the Egba must be protected.
She said, “Adire production is a chain of activities, every side involved must be protected.
“Our cultural inheritance must not be allowed to walk into extinction. We shall do everything in our capacity to eradicate the adulterated Adire fabric from our indigenous market and in Egbaland as a whole.”
Ogun Assembly wades in
The Ogun State House of Assembly has also passed a resolution requesting that the state government put machinery in motion to stop the subtle takeover of Adire/ Kampala local industry by foreigners.
The passage of the resolution followed a motion moved by the Majority Leader of the House, Yusuf Sheriff, seconded by the Minority Leader, Lukman Adeleye and supported by other lawmakers at a plenary presided over by Speaker Olakunle Oluomo during plenary at the Assembly Complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
Opening debate on the motion, the sponsor, Babatunde Tella, decried the influx of foreign Adire into the local market, which he said had been eroding the rich cultural heritage of the people of the state.
He, therefore, called on the ministries of Trade and Investment, Culture and Tourism, as well as Women Affairs to investigate the matter. He pleaded with the state government to partner the federal government in assisting the local fabric makers to have smooth export of their product to protect the country’s growing economy.
Corroborating Tella’s submission, his colleagues supported the motion and commended the governor and some notable monarchs for always promoting Adire by adorning it at all times.
The lawmakers unanimously solicited the support of the National Assembly to consider classifying the imported Adire as contraband, with a view to protecting the economy of the state.
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