I hope Nigeria’s Industry, Trade and Industry minister is drawing up ambitious plans for our textile industry that involve using Meghan Markle as the poster girl to promote Nigerian attires worldwide
Ayo Akinfe
[1] We may not appreciate it, but the global fashion industry is currently buzzing with Meghanmania. They are all drooling over her wearing our aso oke during her recent visit to Nigeria
[2] What is catching attention in particular is that wrap-around skirt given to her by the chair of the Nigerian Diaspora Commission, Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa. Surely, as a nation, we must have plans to cash in on this global popularity
[3] That skirt was manufactured by a Lagos fashion designer called Orire. I fail to see why Orire should not be thinking globally now and looking to compete with the big boys like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Levi, Saint Laurent, Chanel, etc
[4] Nigerians have among the most diverse array of textiles in the world. It is inexplicable that the sector is not one of the nation’s biggest sources of foreign exchange
[5] There is absolutely no reason why Nigeria’s revenue from the exports of lace, admire, guinea brocade, Atiku, Ankara, etc, does not match crude oil receipts. We should be mass-producing finished products and exporting them to retail outlets all over the world
[6] Do you know that India is among the world’s largest producers of textiles and apparels, which contributes approximately 2.3 % to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). India is currently the fourth largest exporter of textiles and apparels in the world, earning about $16bn a year in export revenue. Nigeria simply needs to match this
[7] I do not know of one Nigerian company that can produce say 1m units of clothing items a year. These are the kind of hurdles we need to overcome if we are diversify our economy. It is embarrassing that we do not have one company that can for instance sew uniforms for all Nigeria’s nurses or policemen
[8] Nigeria does not have any massive private sector operators in the clothing and textile sector. What we desperately need are several regional companies where maybe the state governments have a minority stake that can start out as suppliers to the likes of Nike, Adidas, Puma, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Levi, Saint Laurent, Chanel, etc
[9] Once we start producing goods enmasse, we can then launch a marketing campaign using Meghan as our poster girl. What I would love to see are Nigerian aso oke, adire, ankara, lace, guinea brocade, etc, pushed into markets across Europe, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, Australasia, etc
[10] Personally, I would actually invite Harry and Meghan to come and take out a stake in a Nigerian fashion brand. If they have a vested interest, they are more likely to make sure that the brand succeeds
