It was a moment that will last a lifetime as the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, took to the runway at the just concluded Africa Fashion Week Nigeria 2019 which took place at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos and sponsored by FirstBank Nigeria Plc to canvass for the patronage of local fabrics.
An excited crowd at the fair rose in unison in applause as the Ooni strutted the runway with moves that will make even models green with envy.
The Ooni encouraged Nigerians to patronize made in Nigeria products to enable job creation and youth empowerment through the fashion industry.
“It is important that we as Nigerians must patronize made in Nigeria products including fabrics to enable job creation and youth empowerment through the fashion industry” he canvassed.
The Africa Fashion Week Nigeria 2019 which was sponsored by First Bank aimed to support the textile industry and was well attended by people from different walks of life.
According to FirstBank Plc Business Manager, CBG (Manufacturing), Mrs. Helen Ugboh, the Bank has been partnering with African Fashion Week in the last six years, and it has been a tale of good tidings all through.
“The objective of the Fashion week is in line with what the bank does, and that explains the reason behind our partnership. Apart from the bank’s visibility, the key objective is to ensure that the young fashion designer gets the opportunity to showcase what they have. And for them to showcase what they have, they first of all have to believe in themselves. As a result, they have been privileged to go places with the organisers of the event” she said.
She noted that in the six years the Bank has identified with the African Fashion business, a lot of achievements have been achieved.
Earlier, during a panel session, the wife of the Governor of Kwara State, Mrs Olufunke AbdulRazak expressed her pride at African fashion and how far it has come and where it is heading to.
“African Fashion is tied to identity. When you see someone, what the person is putting on most times speaks to who the person is. African fashion is saying so many things, it has continued to evolve, it means communication, it means culture, it means entertainment and it means flamboyance because African fashion in most cases is not so tame. We have so many creative people in the industry and they have continued to wow us. I am so proud that we have so many designers from Kwara state at this show today. In Kwara State, we produce what is typically know today as Aso-Ofi which is popular in the country, we also produce a lot of Adire, Tie & Dye which so also popular in the country” she said.
On her part, the wife of the governor of Ekiti State, Mrs. Bisi Fayemi, also called for a blanket ban on the importation of Aso-oke, especially from China.
She also called for support for the textile industry and local designer while vowing to collaborate with the First Lady of Kwara State in resuscitating the Aso-Oke industry in Nigeria.