Nigeria: Aso-Oke's Global Rise Masks Struggles to Preserve a Centuries-Old Craft

What the report says

AllAfrica, carrying a Bird Story Agency report dated 29 July 2026, describes a tension at the heart of Nigeria’s Aso-Oke trade: the Yoruba handwoven textile is gaining visibility in global fashion, but many of the people who sustain the craft are struggling. The report focuses on traders and weavers in south-west Nigeria, including Olugbesan Omosolape at the Olabisi Onabanjo International Market in Ijebu-Ode, whose family has sold the fabric for four generations.

Aso-Oke, historically associated with Yoruba royalty, weddings and ceremonial dress, is woven in strips and commonly linked to production centres such as Iseyin in Oyo State and Ilorin in Kwara State. The report says women have long played a central commercial role, financing production, serving customers and passing businesses down through family lines, while men have often dominated loom-based weaving. Omosolape told the publisher she wants her daughter to continue the trade, but fears reduced profitability may discourage her.

The pressures cited include higher raw material costs, increased competition through Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, customers buying directly from producers, and reliance on imported threads. Trader Tosin Asana said a bundle that cost about N4,500 roughly seven or eight years ago now sells for about N23,000. Ilorin weaver Abdulraham Jamiu said thread costs rose from N22,000 in 2022 to N120,000 in 2026, reducing margins even as demand reaches overseas markets.

The report also highlights concern over disappearing skills and quality. Jamiu said younger people are avoiding apprenticeships because wages are low, while designer Lois Ogunbiyi warned that faster production and imitation textiles can weaken durability and craftsmanship. Industry voices cited by Bird Story Agency argue that reviving local textile inputs could help preserve both livelihoods and a centuries-old cultural inheritance.