Ogun students bemoan importation of China-made Adire, call for stringent sanctions

The National Association of Ogun State Students, NAOSS, has decried the incessant importation of China-made fabrics, describing it as an economic sabotage.

The student body lamented that the Adire (tye and dye) fabrics, being produced in Itoku township of Egbaland, has slipped into the hand of the Chinese and is gradually losing its national recognition.

The makers of this fabric have historically had their headquarters in Itoku Adire Market, which is today a popular tourist destination where people from all over the world come to buy the ancient but unique fabric.

Recall that former President Olusegun Obasanjo had urged the Federal Government to ban importation of Chinese Adire into the country, to save the local market of adire fabrics from imminent “bastardization” by the Chinese.

Obasanjo pleaded with the government to use all of its resources to safeguard the locally made Adire from Chinese imports, as well as everything that is locally produced in the country.

Speaking on Sunday in Abeokuta, Kehinde Thomas, National President of NAOSS, noted that the menace of poses by Chinese fabrics could cause youth unemployment and heighten the threat of unemployment in Nigeria.

He said, “We find it disheartening how some economic saboteurs are working assiduously to kill this local industry by importing inferior Adire fabric into the country from China.

“Importation of Adire from China, if not checked, will erode the quality Itoku Adire is globally noted for. Encouraging importing the imitation of locally made fabrics will no doubt ruin the cultural heritage and business that has been run for generations.

“We view this as a deliberate attempt not only to squeeze life out of our local economy but, a step to throw thousands of people out of jobs.”

Thomas, while warning that if not addressed, the situation could become like the importation of palm oil, called on the Federal Government to take action against Chinese Adire importers by implementing punitive sanctions.

“The Federal Government should act now and arrest the situation, before it becomes like the scenario where a whooping $600 million is being spent annually to import palm oil into the country. Adire must not be allowed to go the way of the palm oil situation where we spend humongous millions of dollars to import what we have locally in abundance,” he stressed.