First Lady announces N20m cash award for One Nigeria unity fabric competition winner

The First Lady, Senator Remi Tinubu on Tuesday announced that the winner of this year’s Organization of African First Ladies for Development’s (OAFLAD), fabric competition will go home with a cash prize of N20million.

Senator Tinubu stated this during a press briefing at the presidential villa, Abuja to select the winning design fir the #OneNigeria/unity fabric.

The First Lady said she first learned about the OAFLAD concept when she visited Zimbabwe in December 2023 for the launch of their #WeAreEqual unifying campaign.

According to her, ‘I think this concept is a unifying one, as it allows us to infuse our diverse cultures and dissolve tribal barriers to identify as a people of one Nation. I therefore concluded that it would be wise to have a comparable experience.’

Senator Tinubu who explained that she decided to bring up the concept when she first arrived at one of the Renewed Hope Initiative’s (RHI) Governing Council meetings, said, everyone agreed on the idea.

“For this reason, we invited our young people between the ages of 15 and 25 to submit their entries for the #OneNigeria/Unity Fabric Competition in February 2024.

The deadline for entries was June 30, 2024,” she noted.

The First Lady also said there is need for the input of prominent figures in the fashion business in order to select a design.

According to her, two judges from the fashion business who represent two different generations of style and fashion have already been selected for the process.

The First Lady said the judges are Princess Zainab Abbah Folawiyo who has dominated the fashion industry for more than 60 years with her clothing line, LABANELLA highly sought-after both within and outside of the continent.

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The second judge she said is Banke Kuku, a global textile and fashion designer whose creations are carried by well-known stores in the Middle East, America, and Europe.

Fabrics from the final acceptable design expected to be produced by local manufacturers will be launched for use on the 1st of October thos year. A total of 111 entries have been received for the competition.