Nigeria’s fashion industry, one of the most dynamic, culturally rich, and economically significant creative sectors on the continent now has an institutional backbone. The Nigerian Fashion Council (NFC) today formally introduces itself to the Nigerian public and the wider media as the country’s official Sector Skills Council for Fashion, Leather, Accessories, and Textiles, inaugurated on 4 March 2025 by the Federal Ministry of Education through the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).
The Council exists to do what no single organisation, association, or individual has been positioned to do before: coalesce Nigeria’s entire fashion value chain, its designers, craftsmen, manufacturers, innovators, policymakers, and industry associations around a singular, unified ambition. That ambition is the transformation of Nigeria’s fashion industry into one that is resilient, sovereign, and capable of contributing meaningfully and competitively to the global fashion economy.
“We are the institutional backbone that this industry has needed for decades,” said Funmi Ajila-Ladipo, executive national chairperson of the Nigerian Fashion Council. “today, we are not just announcing an organisation. We are announcing a new era for Nigerian fashion, one built on structure, strategy, and the collective will of every stakeholder in this value chain.”
The Nigerian Fashion Council operates through three strategic pillars Build, Innovate, and Protect that together create the conditions for sustainable growth, global positioning, and long-term value creation across the sector.
The Build pillar establishes the foundational systems, infrastructure, and human capital that enable Nigeria’s designers, artisans, and professionals to operate at world-class standards. The Innovate pillar positions the Council at the forefront of industry evolution, driving creativity and ingenuity across every aspect of the business. And the Protect pillar secures the long-term value of the industry’s most important assets: its human capital, cultural heritage, and economic returns through the development of robust frameworks, professional standards, and certification systems.
The Nigerian Fashion Council is constituted to represent every dimension of Nigeria’s fashion and creative economy. Its membership brings together senior industry practitioners, academics, policymakers, and the leadership of Nigeria’s most significant industry associations and government institutions.
The Nigerian Fashion Council is led by Funmi Ajila-Ladipo, president, a fashion connoisseur and creative director of House of Regalia and former president of the Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria (FADAN) where she served two consecutive terms; Tope Adebanjo, vice president, pioneer managing director of Borta-Cup Ventures Limited, principal partner and country representative of Tasaree International Limited, and MD/CEO of Laurel School of Mining; Maryam Adamu, executive national secretary and founder, 21stitches Nigeria Limited and 21stitches NSQ Training Center.; Olutoni Philip-Aina, executive council adviser and CEO of BluVelvet Fashion Institute and BluVelvet Fashion Consulting; Comfort Anave Mado-Alabi, director of Academia, CEO of Na’Vave Global Limited and Board of Trustees member of the Association of Formidable Fashion Professionals of Nigeria (APFPN); Hamma Ali Kwajafa, director of Research and Sustainability and Director General of the Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association; Nina Kwande, director of Global Partnerships and founder and team lead of The Fashion Academy Abuja; Aisha Abubakar, head of finance and treasurer and former minister of state for Industry, Trade and Investment; Omowunmi Olumide Obidiran, assistant secretary and deputy director general of the National Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI); and Bernice Ofunre Asein, Esq., legal counsel, founder and executive director of the Fashion Law Institute Africa and Managing Partner of Cardinal Counsel.
Council members further include Nabila Agwai Mohammed, technical assistant to the honourable minister of education on TVET; Irunna Ejibe, founder and CEO of Ethnocentrique Limited; Hajiya Safiya Asabe Bashir, CEO and managing director of De-Lace International Nigeria Limited; Hudayya Fadoul Abbacha; Adegbaye Kiji; Iniobong Obinna-Onunkwo; Rukayyah Sulieman; Hafsat Muhammad Sani; Aisha Falke; Nneka Stephanie Nwaligbe; James Livinus; El-Yakub Nasuruddin; S. I. Awoh Mofunanya; and Anas Salisu Bala.
Nigeria’s fashion industry is estimated to be worth billions of naira and employs millions across design, production, retail, and allied services. Yet for decades it has operated without the kind of institutional framework that industries of its scale and significance demand, no unified skills standards, no national training frameworks, no single authoritative voice capable of engaging government and industry with equal credibility.
The Nigerian Fashion Council changes that. Backed by some of Nigeria’s most distinguished industry leaders, policymakers, academics, and the representative bodies of the fashion and textile value chain, the Council is positioned to serve as the authoritative voice driving the policy, capacity, and structural reform that will define the next chapter of Nigeria’s fashion economy.
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