Abstract

Nigeria today is faced with daunting developmental challenges. This is particularly noteworthy in its manufacturing sector which is at present comatose. The textile sector is a unique subset of the comatose manufacturing sector given its employment generating potentials and its socio-cultural underpinnings in the age of globalization. Against this background, this paper engages Nigerian development predicaments through the textile industry from the perspective of aso-oke and the youths. These categories are selected as the focus of study for scientific and pragmatic purposes. Through qualitative research technique, this paper engages vital issues affecting the nation’s textile industry adopting aso-oke as a case study. Results show that while the youths have unreserved capacities to drive fashion and generalized developments, they are not favourably disposed to using aso-oke. Reasons for this were given while the solutions were discovered. The paper concluded that the sector can be revitalized and used as tool for national development especially as it was discovered that sustainable ligaments exist among tradition, culture, consumption and manufacturing economics and national development.

Key words: Aso-oke, youths, Lagos, southwestern Nigeria.