Tie-dye fabric makers, known locally in Nigeria as adire, are experiencing a number of problems associated importation of cheap alternatives from abroad According to several members of the Adire Association based in Abeokuta, in Ogun State, also known as the adire capital of the world, creators of authentic adire are experiencing extensive theft of their designs and patterns, which find their way to the open market with zero benefits to the original creators.

According to them, foreign manufacturers, aided by Nigerian middlemen, carry off original, handmade adire designs from Nigeria, mass produce them and then sell them as cheap knock-offs to Nigerians in markets around the country. The effect of this is that makers of authentic adire are never able to compete with the cheap print alternatives, which have flooded the market in the past few years.

Adire Market Week, initiated by the wife of the governor of Ogun State, Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun, aims to highlight these problems while calling on regulatory bodies in Nigeria to address the issue of intellectual theft and unfair trade practices.