Cloth weaving and dyeing in Nigeria are active, documented traditions that combine technical skill, social meaning and commercial adaptation. This account sticks to verifiable sources and avoids unproven origin myths. It focuses on three distinct practices, Adire (Yoruba indigo resist-dye), Akwete (Igbo hand-weaving) and raffia work (South-South fibre craft), and traces how each developed, transformed and survives in contemporary Nigeria.
Adire — Yoruba indigo resist-dye
Adire is a Yoruba resist-dye tradition practised principally in south-west Nigeria. The name derives from Yoruba words for “tie” and “dye” and refers to a family of resist techniques, tying, stitching, starch/paste resist and later wax resist, applied to plain woven cloth, most commonly cotton shirting. Adire dyers do not weave the base cloth; they transform plain fabric into patterned textiles by resisting dye with ties or pastes, then dyeing, traditionally with indigo. The craft is historically concentrated in towns such as Abeokuta and Ibadan, where commercial production expanded during the late 19th and early 20th centuries as imported shirting cloth became widely available. The use of cassava paste, starch and stitched resist, and the specialisation of women dyers, are well documented.
Claims that Adire can be reliably dated to a specific pre-medieval century or that it definitively originated in a single shrine town lack independent archaeological or archival support; such origin stories belong to oral tradition and local heritage narratives rather than to dated documentary evidence. What is clear from historical sources is that indigo resist techniques have a long presence in West Africa, and that Adire’s peak commercial visibility occurred with the expansion of cash-cloth trade in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Akwete — the woven legacy of Igboland
Akwete cloth is a handwoven textile produced by women in and around Akwete (Ukwa East LGA), Abia State. It is woven on a vertical loom and is distinguished by the use of supplementary weft patterns and richly varied bands and motifs. Oral histories credit a legendary weaver, commonly named Dada (or Dada Nwakata/Nwakwata), with systematising or popularising many of the cloth’s characteristic motifs in the 19th century; these oral accounts are corroborated by ethnographic descriptions but not by dated pre-colonial manuscripts. Museum collections and ethnographic research show that by the late 19th and early 20th centuries Akwete textiles were already a prominent local product, often used as women’s wrappers and as ceremonial cloth. The Metropolitan Museum of Art and other collection catalogues document Akwete examples and describe the supplementary weft technique and continued female apprenticeship system.
Like many African textile traditions, Akwete absorbed external influences, imported yarns and threads, new colour palettes, and adapted them to local structures and symbolism. The mark of Akwete is the dense banding and the technical competence of weavers who produce complex patterns on narrow looms; these features are consistently reported in primary descriptions and museum records.
Raffia work — Ikot Ekpene and the South-South fibre economy
Raffia fibre crafts are concentrated in the South-South (Niger Delta) and are particularly associated with Ikot Ekpene in Akwa Ibom State, historically nicknamed “Raffia City.” Raffia is extracted from certain palms and processed into fibres used for mats, baskets, hats, wall hangings and a range of household and decorative objects. Ethnographic and economic studies document a long-standing raffia industry in Ikot Ekpene with pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial phases; raffia products were significant in local trade and in ceremonial use. While finely processed raffia can appear in wearable ceremonial items, in general raffia fibre is more often employed for structural and decorative purposes than as primary everyday clothing fabric. Contemporary scholarship highlights both the industry’s economic importance and pressures from synthetic substitutes and changing market conditions.
Modern transformations and challenges
From the late 20th century to the present, all three traditions have faced similar pressures: competition from mass-produced and imported textiles, loss of raw-material access in some areas, youth migration to urban jobs, and the introduction of chemical dyes and machine-spun yarns. At the same time, there has been documented revival work, artisan cooperatives, craft exhibitions, fashion designers incorporating traditional techniques, and heritage documentation projects. These interventions are typically modest in scale rather than the “massive government investment” sometimes asserted; much progress has come from NGOs, designers, museum programmes and private sector initiatives as well as local cooperatives.
Adapting to markets, some artisans have shortened processes (using faster resist methods or synthetic indigo), or incorporated machine-spun threads and synthetic dyes to achieve new colours and price points. Preservation efforts therefore emphasise documentation, skills transmission and establishing value chains that reward slower, hand-made techniques so that authenticity and livelihoods are both sustained.
Cultural and economic significance
These textile arts remain living archives of social values, gendered labour and local aesthetics. They provide income (especially for women dyers and weavers), serve ceremonial and status functions, and are important sources of national and regional identity. Contemporary designers and exporters have helped place Adire, Akwete and raffia products on international stages, but sustaining the crafts requires market structures that value artisanal time and ecological sourcing.
Author’s note
This account relies on documented ethnographies, museum records and recognised sector studies rather than on unverified origin myths. Adire’s commercial rise is best evidenced in the late 19th/early 20th centuries; Akwete’s narrative is strongly supported by oral and ethnographic accounts pointing to late-19th-century consolidation under named weavers; raffia’s prominence in Ikot Ekpene is documented across economic and anthropological studies. Where local oral histories claim deeper antiquity, those claims are presented as tradition rather than established chronology.
References
“Adire (textile art).” Wikipedia.
“Akwete.” Fashion History Timeline / museum and academic sources on Akwete weaving.
“A History of the Raffia Industry in Ikot Ekpene.” (Rik journals / academic study).
Craft and sector summaries on Adire and Akwete (craft atlases and ethnographic notes).
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