In 1970s Ibadan, Lebanon Street Cloth Market was one of the city’s most energetic commercial spaces. Traders spread bolts of fabric across wooden stalls, buyers moved from table to table weighing quality with practiced hands, and the air carried the scent of dye, dust, and conversation. Within this crowded marketplace, cloth was more than clothing. It was a marker of taste, identity, and social standing.
Among the many textiles on offer, adire held a special place. Indigo dyed and patterned through resist techniques, adire stood apart from factory cloths through its depth of color and visual authority. Lebanon Street was one of the places where older designs and new urban preferences met, allowing traditional patterns to continue circulating while adapting to modern city life.
Adire and the Urban Rhythm of Ibadan
Adire is a Yoruba textile tradition shaped by indigo dyeing and careful control of pattern through resist methods. For generations, women played a central role in its production, passing down skills that balanced discipline and creativity. By the twentieth century, adire had become deeply embedded in southwestern Nigeria, with Abeokuta known for established pattern systems and Ibadan emerging as a major commercial center where cloth moved quickly and styles evolved in response to demand.
In Ibadan, adire was worn for everyday use, ceremonies, and public appearances. Its presence in a market like Lebanon Street shows how the cloth functioned as both cultural heritage and commercial product, valued for beauty, durability, and meaning.
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Oloba, A Design Associated with Kingship
One of the most striking adire designs to circulate in Ibadan was known as Oloba, a name associated with kingship and prestige, often understood as “with a king” or “having a king.” The design announced itself immediately through bold central imagery and balanced composition, giving the cloth a commanding presence.
Oloba was not subtle. It was meant to be seen. Buyers recognized it by name, and its visual confidence made it suitable for occasions where appearance mattered, gatherings, ceremonies, and moments when the wearer wanted to project authority and distinction.
Royal Portraits in Indigo
At the heart of many oloba cloths are paired portrait medallions derived from British royal imagery linked to jubilee era representations of King George V and Queen Mary. Once these portraits entered local visual culture, they were transformed through the adire process. Fine details were simplified, outlines strengthened, and faces rendered in a way that could survive repeated dyeing while remaining instantly recognizable.
On cloth, the portraits became less about individual rulers and more about what they visually communicated. They signaled power, formality, and high status. The translation of printed portrait imagery into indigo pattern shows how Yoruba textile makers could take external images and refashion them into local design language without losing their visual force.
Al Buraq, Sacred Imagery Woven into Everyday Life
Alongside the royal portraits, oloba cloths often feature Al Buraq, the winged horse associated with Islamic tradition and the Prophet Muhammad’s Night Journey. The image was already familiar through devotional visual culture and carried spiritual significance for Muslim communities.
In southwestern Nigeria’s diverse religious landscape, sacred motifs moved easily into everyday objects, including textiles. On oloba cloth, Al Buraq adds another layer of meaning, one that speaks to faith, protection, and identity. Its presence does not compete with the royal imagery. Instead, both motifs coexist on the cloth, reflecting a world where spiritual life and social status are not kept separate.
Turning Foreign Images into Yoruba Design
Yoruba textile makers have long adapted new images when they resonated visually or socially. In the twentieth century, modern objects and popular symbols regularly found their way into adire patterns. Oloba fits squarely within this tradition. Royal portraits and sacred imagery were not copied for accuracy but reshaped to suit the rhythm and demands of resist dyeing.
The process required careful judgment. What remained were features that carried meaning at a glance, crowns, profiles, wings, symmetry. What disappeared were details that did not serve the cloth’s visual clarity. The result was a design that felt bold, legible, and at home in a busy market.
How Oloba Was Made and Sold
Oloba belongs to the adire eleko tradition, where a starch resist is applied before dyeing. Stencil based production supported consistency and repetition, while freehand approaches allowed for looser interpretation and individual expression. Both forms circulated in Ibadan, giving buyers choices between uniform designs and more expressive variations.
This flexibility helped oloba endure. It could be produced efficiently to meet demand, yet still allow makers to leave their mark. In Lebanon Street Market, that balance made the design reliable for sellers and appealing for customers.
Why the Design Lasted
Oloba endured because it was memorable. The portraits conveyed authority, the sacred imagery spoke to faith, and the overall symmetry gave the cloth a composed, ceremonial look. In a crowded marketplace, such clarity mattered. Customers could recognize the cloth instantly and ask for it by name.
More than that, oloba reflected the reality of urban life. Cities bring together many influences at once, and the cloth carried that mixture comfortably. It did not need explanation. It simply worked.
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Change, Competition, and Survival
By the late 1970s and into the 1980s, adire faced growing competition from factory produced textiles, especially wax printed cottons commonly known as Ankara. These cloths were easier to obtain, offered bright colors, and suited rapidly changing fashion trends. Other manufactured dress textiles also gained popularity during the same period.
As tastes shifted, many adire workshops reduced production. Yet designs like oloba did not disappear. They moved into collections, wardrobes, and memory, where they continue to represent a moment when craft, commerce, and cultural exchange met on indigo cloth.
Author’s Note
Oloba shows how cloth can carry power without speeches and faith without sermons, it reminds us that markets remember what people value, and that skilled hands can turn distant images into something deeply local and enduring.
References
Pemberton III, John, A Companion to Modern African Art, Wiley Blackwell.
Picton, John, and Mack, John, African Textiles, British Museum Press.
Lamb, Venice, West African Weaving, Duckworth.
