As the economic woes worsen in the country and inflation bites harder on Nigerians, the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO) has urged Nigerians to shun the more expensive foreign goods and use made-in-Nigeria products.
The Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the institute, Biodun Ajiboye, who appealed in Abuja at the weekend ahead of the craft fiesta in Nigeria, said this is one of the solutions to the current economic challenges in Nigeria, rather than focusing on imported materials.
Ajiboye said the country needs to stimulate its local economy and reduce dependence on importation.
“We need to begin to stimulate our local cultural economy. Our cultural economy can greatly benefit us because it can solve the immediate problem.
“There are so many things we use locally, but we import them, rather than buy them here.
“Let me shock you, before you guys were born, we were wearing clothes. And our people were making the clothes. There was no Taylor to sew anything. But we were wearing clothes because they weaved the clothes themselves. Of course, the clothes were beautiful.
“Some of those clothes still exist. We killed that industry when the tailors came. Of course, the tailors cannot take us further than they have taken us. We are back to where we ought to have been”, he stated.
On the planned craft fiesta, Ajiboye said the aim is to stimulate the foundations of the creative economy and is designed to directly engage, encourage, and promote craftsmen and women across the country, especially at the grassroots.
“We want to take this to the grassroots and see how we can motivate them to be proud of what they make and create a market for the consumption of their products thereby raising their pride in what they do, improving their economy, the GDP of the local environment, and making the government proud”, the NICO boss stated.
Ajiboye explained that 20 artisans, craftsmen, and women across various specialties from each of the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria whose crafts have been identified and recognised would be selected.
He said Nigeria had not done much to give artisans the right atmosphere to thrive but stressed that the present administration of President Bola Tinubu is determined to change this narrative.
“Six editions of the fiesta will be organised across the geopolitical zones of Nigeria and will last for one week.
“The artisans will be given a platform to exhibit their works as a direct pathway to the global marketplace.
“The exciting initiative is led by the Federal Minister of Art, Culture, and Creative Economy and championed by NICO.
“In all, six fiestas are planned for 2025 in the six geopolitical regions across the country.
“We want to be able to use arts and crafts to mobilize and get people out of their cocoons to a recognizable platform globally. We want to create a sense of pride in the local creative industry”, he stated.
Ajiboye expressed the desire of the institute in driving the made-in-Nigeria project, as he noted that at the heart of the nationwide craft, fiesta are talented youths, craftsmen, and women who will be celebrated, promoted, and marketed to a worldwide platform.