Arts sector can solve Nigeria's recession -Ajamufua

Ajamufua instructing children on bead making 

A fine artist and dancer, Funmilayo Emily Ajamufua, has stated that the arts and crafts sectors of the Nigerian economy have the capacity to rescue the country from the current recession.

She also recommended bead fashion in particular for Nigerian fashion enthusiasts in place of gold and silverware.

A theatre arts graduate of the Lagos State University (LASU), she was until recently on the staff of the Lagos State Council for Arts and Culture (LSCAC) where she worked for 13 years promoting arts and crafts.

She also studied dramatic arts and music (diploma) at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), represented LSCAC and Nigeria at various cultural exchange programs and events in Venezuela, India, Cuba, Ghana and Tunisia among other nations.

And as the recession continues in the Nigerian economy, she enjoins fashion enthusiasts to look inwards and patronize made in Nigeria fashion accessories, especially beads.

“I make beads for religious, royal and festive purposes. Beads have been in existence for long and can never go out of fashion. They last longer, are uniquely creative and very affordable,” she declared.

She added that “I am vast in beading, head gear skills (gele wiwe), facial treatment, manicure and pedicure, hair braiding and dancing which I started way back in 1989. I was actually in a dance group led by Sola Sobowale alias Toyin Tomato called Grace Root. I was auditioned and picked as one of the dancers to take part in a dance drama commissioned by the federal government to commemorate the world decade in 1990.”

Also an arts and crafts instructor, she adviced young Nigerians interested in arts to give time to training and practicalise such trainings.

“I must have taken the craft thing from my mother who was a member of the Leventis Stores dance group back then. She used to knit too and I think I took most of my talents from her,” she disclosed.

She also urged parents of children showing interest in arts and crafts to support such young ones who are potential stars.

And concluding on how she feels about arts and crafts, she insisted that made in Nigeria arts and crafts works should be patronized as they are capable of earning the nation the much desired foreign exchange and lifting the nation’s economy at a time the federal government is considering diversifying the economy from oil and gas.