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The Oyo State Government is planning to establish an international market for Aso Ofi, a traditional Yoruba fabric, the state Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr Toye Arulogun, disclosed on Wednesday.
Mr. Arulogun spoke in Iseyin, Oke-Ogun area of the state during Aso Ofi Day celebration, a ceremony set aside to mark World Tourism Day in the state.
Arulogun said the Oyo State government plans to use the international market which will be located in Iseyin, to promote the town’s rich cultural heritage, as the town is known for Aso Ofi production in Nigeria.
He added that the market would come with an internet platform to market Aso-Ofi to the international community.
According to the commissioner, the ‘Aso-Ofi Day’ became imperative, because the State Government found it needful to harness tourism potentials in every local government in the state. He stressed that this would not only promote the rich culture of the state, but also promote the tourism potentials in the state.
Governor Abiola Ajimobi, who was represented by his wife, Florence, said that the effective and efficient use of ‘Aso-Ofi’ is a cultural-tourism potential which should be used to develop the economy of the state and develop Iseyin town as a whole and Oyo State in general.
He acknowledged that the traditional Aso-Ofi has attained a status of both national and international importance and is widely accepted as the fabric of choice for traditional occasions and majority of social events.
His words: “Oyo State, the Pacesetter State; the land of many firsts has a huge number of tourist attractions that can translate into tremendous wealth and the government will harness all to grow our economy and develop the state. Quite noteworthy amongst them is the traditional Aso-Ofi Industry located in Iseyin local government area. Aso Ofi is a versatile, multifarious woven fabric design that has attained a status of both national and international importance and is widely accepted as the fabric of choice for traditional occasions as well as a huge majority of social events”.
He called on government at all levels to use the diversification from oil and gas to develop local products to rescue the country from the current economic recession.
He said that identifying and developing our local produce as well as tourism potentials would be one of the most effective means of growing the economy, adding that, attracting tourists would eventually translate into investments.
According to him, “tourism is one of the most effective means of growing the economy because attracting tourists will eventually translate into investments when the tourists discover the investment opportunities present in their tourist destinations. This becomes more important especially at a period like this when we are grappling with the effects of recession and looking for revenue generators other than crude oil which before now was the mainstay of our economy”.
In his address, the Aseyin of Iseyin land, Oba AbdulGaniyu Adekunle, Ologunebi1, appealed to the state government not to relent in its efforts at resuscitating the dying Aso-Ofi industry, noting that, it is an age-long fabric which has long been neglected by past administrations in the State.
He solicited that the government should equip the local government with more weaving centres and an international Aso-Ofi market in the local government for better patronage.
Chairman, Iseyin Local Government, Mr. Saheed Alaran stated the local government’s readiness to synergize and collaborate with the state government for a renewed local, national and global patronage of the locally fabricated textile from Iseyin.
Alaran, however, decried the deteriorating state of culture in the state, which he noticed has given way to the foreign culture. This, he noticed has by extension affected the ‘Aso-Ofi’, which he described as the pride and glory of Iseyin land.
In her own view, the Cultural Ambassador to the Alaafin of Oyo, Dr. Paula Gomes,commended the people of Iseyin for the creativity displayed with Aso-Ofi during the event.
Among the dignitaries at the event were the wife of the deputy governor of Oyo State, Mrs Janet Adeyemo; the Eleruwa of Eruwa, Oba Samuel Adegbola; the Onjo of Okeho, Oba Rafiu Osuolale Mustapha; Onitede of Tede, Oba Rauf Adebimpe Oladoyin and the Olugbo of Igbojaye, Oba Oladimeji Olatunji. Others in attendance included federal and state lawmakers from Oke-Ogun area and Commissioners from the state.