Adire at the crossroads

Enobong had never seen Adire in her hometown of Calabar, until she married a native of Abeokuta 38 years ago. Enobong first encountered the fabric in her husband's hometown, when a family friend presented her with six yards of the cloth. She has been hooked on the material ever since.

These days, people do not have to travel to Abeokuta before they can buy Adire, as the textile is now sold across Nigeria, Africa and beyond. The Adire trade still thrives, as evident from a visit to the Kemta-Itoku Market in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

In the craft of their mothers

A stopover at the shop of Michael Ogunfidodo highlights the present state of the craft. A man in his late thirties, Mr. Ogunfidodo is the Otun-Babalaje (a market head) of Itoku. He grew up in Abeokuta, his mother's hometown; his father hails from Ile-Ife in Osun State. "I grew into the business, seeing as it has been the family business for decades," he says. "I was born into it."

Ogunfidodo's shop was handed down from his maternal great grandmother. He had his primary and secondary education in Abeokuta, he then moved to the university in Usiam, Benin Republic, where he studied Economics. "I wanted to be self-employed, that is why I came back to my great grandmother's business."

The mainstay of the earliest families in Kemta-Oke Ona Egba, where the Adire market is located, is the making and subsequent sale of Adire (tie-and-dye) as it has been for many decades.

The Jojo family of Kemta is believed to be the oldest Adire-making family in the Itoku area; but the entire city of Abeokuta has even older families in the trade spread all over its precincts. All bring their finished products to Itoku market.

Abeokuta residents agree that the Adire is the pride of the city. Until about a hundred years ago, the main ingredient for the making of the tie-and-dye Adire cloth, was the indigo dye (aro dudu).

To improve on the quality of their craft, local emissaries were sent to Kampala, Uganda, from where they brought back improved dye chemicals. With its unique patterns, Abeokuta Adire (also called ‘kampala' because of the legendary visit to Uganda) gained its edge over other tie-and-dye clothing traditions (those from Niger, Senegal, and Kano).

Another Adire merchant, Olatunbosun Oladokun, is from Ilesa, Osun State, but he also grew up in his mother's Abeokuta family house. He also learnt the Adire art from his grandmother. He joined the trade as an adult after obtaining a degree in textile designs from a polytechnic.

After working for a couple of companies without finding any fulfilment, he decided to fall back on his grandmother's craft. Mr. Oladokun is credited with the invention of the popular print on fabric style Adire (tops with a black background and designed at the midriff). "I got the idea for it when a friend of mine who works in a textile company was always bringing in lots of off-cuts." He did some experimenting with the off-cuts and came up with the trend, which has been selling very well; he has even taught the technique to others.

Oladokun claims that, in promoting the Adire, he has toured all the states in Nigeria - Taraba and Zamfara being the only exceptions. On these self-funded tours, he organises Adire exhibitions to showcase the superior quality of Abeokuta Adire (original Adire does not run colours).

To move or not to move

Ogunfidodo and Oladokun share a passion for the craft of their mothers' lineages, but have a difference of opinion on the future development of the trade.

They recall that, since the days of their youth, tourists from Mexico, Cuba and other nations have always flocked to the Kemta-Itoku Adire market, situated along the same route as the famous rocky outgrowth, Olumo Rock, which is a tourist site owing to its cultural significance to the Egba people of Abeokuta.

Hence, tourists invariably make a stopover at the home of the Adire. However, the merchants feel that the last couple of years have seen a reduction in the number of such tourists, a factor they tie down to the global recession.

The Itoku market is also short on space these days. By way of solution, the Abeokuta South Local Government Council has built a modern 50-shop capacity Adire market in Asero, along the Abeokuta-Ibadan Road.

But there there are over five hundred traders in the old location. Little wonder perhaps that, three years on, not one trader from Kemta-Itoku market has moved to the new market.

Their reasons are twofold. First, unlike the Kemta-Itoku market which is right in the centre of Abeokuta, Asero is not a centralised location. Second, the Kemta-Itoku market is already world famous as the home of Adire.

Most of the traders believe that even if 90 percent of them move to Asero, the 10 percent that remain in Itoku would still dominate the Adire market; people in and outside Abeokuta will make Kemta-Itoku their first port of call for the purchase of their ‘original' Adire fabric.

Oladokun criticises the stance of the traders, accusing them of undue conservatism. He says this is the reason why the Adire business in Abeokuta is not as well developed as it should be. He insists that the traders should have given their views to local government officials when the new market was being planned.

"They should have made their objections known then," he asserts, adding that they are causing a ‘waste' of public funds. Moving to the Asero market, Oladokun maintains, would have spelt greater development for the Adire craft.

The Otun-Babalaje, on the other hand, agrees with the unmoving traders, some of whom allege that the government would have squandered the money anyway, had they not spent it on building the new market.

They agree that it is good the Asero region has such a market, but are adamant it will not be for the sale of Adire. "They (the local government) were dreaming if they really believed we were going to leave our ancestral market for the one they built on the outskirts of the city," Ogunfidodo declares.

"What about the appeasements required by our ancestors if we are to shift our dye pots from their original location?" he demands. Such movement of the dye pots is known among locals as: Si idi aro.

Moving to the new market built at Asero might spell doom for the ancient craft, Ogunfidodo fears. He is not alone.

The past and the future

Ogunfidodo would like the Ogun State government to come to the aid of the largely under-educated adire merchants in Itoku by organising symposia on marketing and branding. "This is the only way to move the market forward, as literate people are just now coming into the trade," he observes. "I cannot do it alone."

Ogunfidodo has a workforce of about thirty people, most of whom are casual workers. He says it is hard work, and not meant for lazy people. "Many of those who sell Adire nowadays are too lazy to turn out the material themselves," he points out.

"It takes a whole day to complete the making of a tie-and-dye piece. The alakete and alabere styles, depending on the design, can take up to seven days."

Mr. Oladokun sheds more light on the workings of the Adire trade. "It involves a complete division of labour," he says. The people that tie are different from those that dye; while some wax, others beat the cloth.

Because of the intricacy of handling the chemicals used in making the adire fabric, children are not allowed to learn the trade until they are over ten years old; even so, their nostrils, hands and feet have to be effectively protected from the chemicals.

Many children in Adire-making families go to school and work the ancient craft at the weekends and during the holidays. Most however, stop their education at the secondary level, only the ‘odd one' gets tertiary education.

A yearly festival is organised in the month of December in honour of the traditional craft, called ‘Adire Day'.

Iya Mapo is believed to be the first woman to have dipped cloth in dye in Egbaland. She is revered to this day; and many Adire-making families regard her as a goddess. They curse, pray and take oaths in her name.

Asked how the imported Ankara fabric affects the sale of Adire in terms of market competition, Ogunfidodo replies with confidence, "The Adire and Ankara run parallel lines, which can never meet."

Oladokun does not share his colleague's confidence. He reminds that Asian merchants have been known to come in the guise of tourists into the Itoku market, with the sole purpose of copying Adire patterns for use on their Ankara fabric, which they then import into Africa.

Nevertheless, Oladokun believes that the more culturally-inclined customer will always prefer Adire for its creativity. He is also encouraged that people travelling overseas still buy Adire when leaving the country and not the imported Ankara.

Enobong is one of such people, and prefers the Adire for its creative patterns and cultural significance.

As for Oladokun and Ogunfidodo, they remain united in their devotion to the trade of their mothers.