Traditional cloth weaving going extinct, says Kano weaver

Malam Abdullahi Lawan, a weaver of traditional attires for over 45 years, has said their trade is fast losing value and may go extinct earlier than expected. Malam Lawan who expressed concern over this development, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that patronage of traditional attires had reduced drastically, forcing many of his colleagues […]

Malam Abdullahi Lawan, a weaver of traditional attires for over 45 years, has said their trade is fast losing value and may go extinct earlier than expected.

Malam Lawan who expressed concern over this development, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that patronage of traditional attires had reduced drastically, forcing many of his colleagues to quit the trade.

He further said as a result of the development some of them still in the business produced attires on demand as against the situation in the past when same were produced in large numbers because market was guaranteed.

In Kano, traditional attires are produced mostly in Minjibir, Gwarzo, Bichi, Makoda and Danbatta local government areas.

Alhaji Aliyu Kadawa, a seller of traditional attires in Kano, also narrated the same ordeal, saying he had been in the business for the past 30 years.

According to him, business is not booming because very few people patronise traditional attires now despite the high population in the state.

NAN checks revealed that dyeing is also facing a similar challenge in Kano.

In Kofar Mata area, which used to have over 100 functional dyeing pits established over 500 years ago, more than two third of them have been abandoned for lack of patronage.

Abbas Yusuf who has been in the dyeing business for over 28 years lamented that all the youths he trained on the trade had switched to other businesses because of lack of patronage.

Reacting to the situation, a lecturer of history at the Bayero University, Kano (BUK), Dr Sama’ila Suleiman, said one way of checking the drift was for government to intensify support for agencies responsible for promoting cultural values.

Another BUK lecturer, Dr Ahmad Magaji, called on state governments to discourage the use of Western attires to boost indigenous cultural heritage.

On her part, the Director, Culture, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Kano State, Mrs Binta Bala, said it was necessary to promote the culture and traditions of the ancient city to boost the economy.