Wife of the President, Senator Oluremi Tinubu has disclosed that the selection process for the winning entry of the #ONE NIGERIA/ Unity Fabric has commenced.
Speaking Tuesday at the flag off of the process at the State House, Abuja. Mrs Tinubu noted that the quality of the entries show the creative prowess of the Nigerian youth.
She explained that the multiplier effect of the competion and having the National Fabric will have on the nation’s economy are enormous.
According to her: “By the time the winning design is selected, it will be produced locally. That will mean more jobs for the local textile manufacturers. You will be surprised. What may look ordinary to you are the things that make the likes of Hermès, Louis Vuitton great.
“You see we are NGO to start with and I think what we have done, which is bringing business to our local economy is good and manufacturers are going to be from Nigeria. We did that during the campaign so we believe that there will be job creation, money put into the system,”
The First Lady shared her experience with the “Governor for a Day” programme during President Tinubu’s tenure as governor of Lagos State, where she encouraged participants to strive for the best rather than settling for second place.
Her words: “It is not that everybody cannot become, when you look at the days my husband was governor, we were doing Governor for one day I never encouraged deputy governor or anything. Although they later injected it into the system.
“But you see with the best we can tell you success stories. They pushed even people who came third at the competition now making first class in school and also first class in law school and first class in other disciplines.
“So, there will be people who will be first, second, third in the design competition, but there will be only one winner. Even the every home a garden competition we are going for the best, so everyone should try”.
Also speaking at the meeting, two fashion industry experts serving as judges for the #OneNigeria/Unity Fabric competition, Hajia Abba Folawiyo and Banke Kuku, explained what they will be looking out for.
To Folawiyo: “I will be looking for creativity, excitement, a design that sort of brings together Nigerians, something that represents each tribe. I am also looking for potential and someone who has a passion and a drive for textile designs”.
On her part, Kuku emphasised the importance of the design’s ability to unite Nigerians and represent the country’s diversity.
She ssid: “The colour is one thing, the color can always be changed. That’s why we have the panel of judges and other people coming into the competition to give advice. The color can be changed, but it’s really about the core design, you can always adopt the color and the uniqueness of the design.
“I think it’s amazing. It opens people up to understanding that there’s a future and there’s a career in creativity. It kind of brings seriousness to the creative industry because a lot of people are very strict on themselves to do certain types of jobs, but there’s such a huge career in creativity, there’s so much to be done in Nigeria, so the market is huge and I’m looking forward to have influence over a younger generation because I know I have had a lot of support in my career so it’s my time to help somebody else.”
The #ONE NIGERIA/Unity Fabric which commenced in February, 2024 and ended on the 30th of June, 2024 has prize money of N20m.
Deji Elumoye in Abuja
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