Famous People Born On April 27th

People born on April 27th are usually calm and collected, but nevertheless stubborn. They have a strong love of the outdoors and love to be in the water. The patient and level-headed Taureans achieve great heights in their lives. They are intelligent individuals who believe in doing rather than overthinking about matters. They seldom shy away from expressing their opinions and are also instinctive individuals who like to follow their instincts. Though at times they may seem to be a little antisocial, in reality they are compassionate individuals always willing to extend their support to the ones in need.

ERIC SCHMIDT (FORMER CEO GOOGLE)

HERBERT SPENCER (Philosopher)

PATRICK OKAFOR (COMPUTER ANALYST, DESIGNER, FILM EDITOR)

ULYSSES GRANT ( former President of the U.S.A)

  WILLEM-ALEXANDER (King of the Netherlands)

People born on April 27th are usually calm and collected, but nevertheless stubborn. They have a strong love of the outdoors and love to be in the water. The patient and level-headed Taureans achieve great heights in their lives. They are intelligent individuals who believe in doing rather than overthinking about matters. They seldom shy away from expressing their opinions and are also instinctive individuals who like to follow their instincts. Though at times they may seem to be a little antisocial, in reality they are compassionate individuals always willing to extend their support to the ones in need.

Personality Traits & Characteristics Of Famous People Born On April 27th   

Personality
The Taureans are known for being hard-headed and always listen to their own instincts. They love music and art and though they may not be geniuses, but they do well in academics owing to their sharp mind. The Taureans don’t get angry very easily but just wait until pushed over the limit. At times, they have a tendency to withdraw themselves socially which can be useful in fostering their creative talents.

Health
Taurus is one of the healthiest signs in the zodiac. Bulls need plenty of room to roam and lots of good food. However, people born on this day are prone to diseases of the throat, legs, back, and reproductive organs. They can be easily overtaken by their love for food and drinks. As they love nature, they need to indulge themselves in outdoor activities, which can be beneficial for their health.

Finance
People born on this day achieve financial stability in their life, as they are patient enough to wait on investment returns. They are also good at saving money. Those involved with real estate business can accumulate cash with ease. There are a few, who tend to let their love for physical pleasures bring them down financially.

Career
People born on this day thrive in areas such as law or research. Some of them may also do well as bankers, policemen and lawyers. They love to teach and may also be interested in medical professions. Many famous entertainers have been born under the sun sign. Taureans make solid decisions and are firm in their beliefs. Social and humanitarian work also can be satisfying career options for the individuals born on April 27th.

Relationships, Marriage & Children
People born on this day may at times come across as dominating and forceful to their loved ones, but one thing is certain that their heart is always in the right place. Though these Taureans generally shy away from relationships, once they find their soul mate, they are very loyal and devoted. They look for partners with whom they can connect emotionally and spiritually. They are fond of children, but, can be a little demanding as parents.

 

 

 

JIMIKING COLLECTIONS

New York Art Exhibition (May 5–7, 2017)

 

 Branquinho, Filipe

Emefiele Ndidi

Duku Ernest

 Bouabre Frederic

 

 Tshindele Pathy

Contemporary African Art Fair

Special projects at 1:54 NY 2017

 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair announced a lineup of special projects for the 2017 edition of the New York fair (May 5 – 7, 2017). This year’s special projects program is the largest roster of non-for-profit programming for the New York fair since its inauguration in 2015, and will highlight an incredibly diverse mix of projects and partnerships that will complement the gallery presentations throughout the main fair.

 Malick Sidibé: The Eye of Modern Mali

Malick Sidibé, Danseur Méringué, 1964, © Malick Sidibé, Courtesy Galerie MAGNIN-A, Paris

 Thursday, May 4 – Sunday, May 7
Red Hook Labs
133-135 Imlay Street,
Brooklyn, NY11231

  Nataal: New African Photography II

Malick Sidibé, Les Retrouvailles au bord du fleuve Niger, 1974, © Malick Sidibé, Courtesy Galerie MAGNIN-A, Paris

Thursday, May 4 – Sunday, May 14
Red Hook Labs
133-135 Imlay Street, Brooklyn, NY11231

 1:54 Lounge designed by Ousmane Mbaye Design

 Ousmane Mbaye, GRAPHIK chairs

  Hassan Hajjaj: Kesh Angels and My Rockstars series

 Hassan Hajjaj, M., 2010, Courtesy Taymour Grahne Gallery

 

THE ABUJA FASHION FIESTA:

 TUE, MARCH 14 2017-Silverbird Entertainment Centre and April 28th Production have announced the launch of ABUJA FASHION FIESTA, the biggest high-end fashion exhibition to ever hit the Federal Capital City. Taking place at the Silverbird Galleria Abuja on the 29th and 30th April 2017, the Abuja Fashion Fiesta is a unique two-day fashion extravaganza that will feature exhibits from major fashion designers and fashion houses from all over Nigeria.

In addition to being a unique opportunity for talented fashion designers the event will also spotlight the finest in local make-up artists, hair stylists, fashion accessories, jewelleries, manufacturers, and striking runway models.

The concept of this event is to create a posh environment to see top-of-the-line fashion items and first class runway shows and also give visitors the opportunity to place orders and interact with the designers and other exhibitors.
The show comprises of three distinct and glamorous activities running concurrently – Fashion Workshop on the first day, Fashion Exhibition all day for the two days, and Fashion Runway Show at the end of each exhibition – all culminating in a grand Gala Night, where awards will be given to some of the most fashionable dignitaries in the country, on the final day.
Speaking about the event, Meg Alabi the CEO of April Production said that boutiques, specialty fashion buyers for designer to high-end fashion, fashion representatives, selected VIPs, socialites, fashion projects financiers/investors and corporate sponsors are expected to grace the event.

 

 

Amazing quilts to inspire you to Get Creative

Quilty pleasures

Want to know more about quilting? Whether modern or traditional in design, many of these examples are cherished heirlooms lovingly handed down through the generations, as well as unique historical objects.

For early American settlers, quilt-making inspired generations of women to work together stitching and telling stories as they pieced together a new life amidst the harsh conditions of the New World.

It’s more than likely quilting and patchwork came to North America courtesy of the first British families who emigrated there. Now, the craft is experiencing a creative rebirth with over 6,500 members of the Quilters’ Guild, plus many other artists and creative people making wonderful quilts blending the traditional and the contemporary.

Silk Patchwork Coverlet, 1718. © The Quilter's Guild.

Victorian coverlet by Lucy Anson, 1914. © The Quilter's Guild.

 Wholecloth, Frances Binns, 1902. © The Quilter's Guild.

 The Chalice Quilt c. 1860, Mimosa Hall Plantation, Marshall, Texas. © American Museum in Britain.

Mrs Reed's Quilt: Homage to Gee's Bend, by Tracy Chevalier.

Get Creative Gallery

Get Creative Gallery: Share your creativity with the world!

 Do you paint, dance, knit or sing? Then grab your phone and film yourself doing your hobby during the Get Creative Weekend, share it with us and we’ll showcase it to the world.

Hundreds of activities are taking place across the UK on Friday 7, Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 April 2017 aimed at getting everyone to try something new and creative. A mass-participation dance up one of Wales' highest mountains kick-started this year's Get Creative Weekend - a bumper three-day fiesta of arts, crafts and creativity.

Pottery studios across the UK are throwing open their doors for Hey Clay!, giving would be potters a chance to get fired up behind a pottery wheel, while other highlights include steam-bending furniture making in Manchester, learning circus skills in Northern Ireland, an interactive workshop mixing Shakespeare and dance in Dundee, and an audio tour of historic King's Cross in London to name just a few.
The 650 events - many of them free - are being held by arts organisations big and small including the British Museum, Derby Theatre and a host of others from Orkney to Cornwall, Brecon to Belfast.

Events being held on Sunday include:
* An afternoon of storytelling at the Horniman Museum in London
* A special extended version of Mix It Up to encourage young and old to take part in some fun arts and craft at Z Arts in Manchester
* A day of singing, theatre, painting, crafts, printmaking, dancing, textiles and circus at the West Dean Parish Centre in the Forest of Dean.
Activities are not organised by the BBC and parents should check that events are family friendly.

 

 

INDIA ALPHABET

INDIA ALPHABET

MY RECENT MURAL PAINTING

MURAL PAINTING

scarce forex is killing textile industry

Nigerians used scarce forex to kill textile industry


In the early 1970’s through to the 1990’s, the Nigerian industrial horizon was dotted with textile manufacturing industries. In the Kaduna-Kano axis, one recalls with nostalgia several large textile companies employing thousands of Nigerians. It used to be an intriguing experience to be close to a textile mill. At the close of business, several employees will be trooping out of the premises of a textile company. It was like a market that has sold out all its wares.

These textile mills were using local materials that further employed millions of farmers. At the same time, Nigeria was exporting an estimated 25 to 30 per cent of production, making the industry an important earner of foreign exchange for Nigeria. At that time, instead of being a consumer of foreign exchange, the textile sector earned the country some foreign currencies that added to the build up of the nation’s external reserves. Looking back on those golden years, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Annual Report for 1995 showed that out of 13 sub-sectors in the Manufacturing sector, the Textile sector (Cotton, Textile and Synthetic Fabrics) accounted for a significant proportion of the overall growth of manufacturing production.

The sector was saving a lot of foreign exchange for the country as between 60 to 70 per cent of the raw materials used in the industry were sourced locally. As the sector is labour-intensive, it provided an estimated employment of around 1,500,000 direct jobs for Nigerians.

During this period, the textile industry was at its peak with 124 companies in existence. But there are only 30 textile companies in existence in Nigeria today. This is a shocking reduction of 70 per cent. Despite the fact that global textile trade is booming, these industries are gradually diminishing in Nigeria. The reason behind this is the influx of smuggled foreign textile products into Nigerian markets. Huge quantities of both new and second-hand garments from Asian countries flood the Nigerian markets. Domestic markets are facing a major threat from smugglers importing cheaper textile fabrics from other countries and selling them at a price, which is lower than the market price of garments manufactured locally.

Where do these smugglers get their foreign exchange from? Of course, the parallel market which many Nigerians are now using as the reference exchange rate. This anti-social behaviour has led to the closure of 90 textile mills and a layoff of about 1,500,000 workers during the last decade. Data quoted by a Nigerian Garment union states that more than one million people, whose jobs were indirectly related to the textile industry like cotton farmers, traders, suppliers etc have lost their source of revenue as a result of these shutdowns.

It is unfortunate that there are only about 30 operational textile mills which are running at an average of 40 per cent of installed capacity in Nigeria today. The influx of cheaper fabrics from China and India has been highlighted as one of the reasons for under performance in this industry. Based on trade data from the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria spent about N24.7 billion on textile imports between July and September last year. This represented a 17 per cent decline in naira terms from the N29.8 billion recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Nigeria had placed a ban on textile importation in 2010 in order to encourage domestic production. However, this led to increased smuggling. Textiles also feature in the CBN’s circular of June 2015 specifying 41 import items for which foreign exchange from official sources is not available. Smuggled imported textiles account for over 85 per cent of fabrics sold locally. It is Nigerians that are buying these imported goods, killing the local industry, sending several Nigerians out of jobs while increasing the job opportunities in Asia, Europe and America by patronising their products. It is the same Nigerians that are using the country’s scarce foreign exchange to import these goods. Yet, they bend backwards to accuse government and CBN of not making enough foreign exchange available to private sector operators.

The annual global output of textile firms is estimated at $400billion. China’s production accounts for half of this figure. According to the CBN’s 2014 Statistical Bulletin, the value of cotton production in Nigeria contracted by -1.1 per cent year on year in 2014 and accounted for 5.1 per cent of crop production GDP in the same quarter. The Bank of Industry blames state governments’ failure to implement the National Cotton, Textile and Garment policy in their respective states for the collapse of textile companies across the country.

It is the shame of a nation that government officials from Turkey are currently visiting Nigeria and Turkey happens to be an important cotton producer and has a well-developed domestic textiles industry. Maybe this government wants to learn from Turkey, how to grow cotton and develop the textile industry that was once booming in the country. Now that Nigeria is cash-strapped, anything in the name of diversification goes. What a shame, what a pity, what a nation to weep for.


 

Nigerian textile industry

Time to revive Nigerian textile industry

Nigeria’s textile industry blossomed in the 60s and 70s, following committed government interventionist schemes such as the ban on importation of textiles, which ultimately drove many investors into the sector.

At that time, Kaduna was referred to as the Textile City because it housed giant integrated mills and had the headquarters of the Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association (NTMA). Then the state could actually boast of about 11 textile companies, including the Arewa Textile Plc, Fantext Nigeria Ltd, Notext Nigeria Ltd., Super text Ltd., United Nigeria Textile Ltd, providing employment and business opportunities to thousands of people.

However, the Kaduna Textile Limited (KTL), one of the oldest mills in the country, established in 1957, was shut down in 2002, with its over 7000 employees laid off, and its once admirable structure now a shadow of itself.

 Part of what made the Kaduna Textile Limited close shop was massive corruption on the part of the management of the company, poor power supply, smuggling of relatively cheap textile goods from foreign countries, capital depreciation, lack of access to long-term finance and competition from newer firms.

From available statistics, the dwindling of the textile industry actually started off in the 80s, as the industry began to struggle with high production costs, taxes/levies and poor infrastructure, worsening by 1997, when the ban on importation of textiles was lifted, against many outcries from industry players. Alas, many Nigerians began to patronize foreign textile materials, leading to a decline in sales, a fall in the number of workers employed in the industry, and ultimately to the shutdown of many local textile factories.

It was against this background that the government of Olusegun Obasanjo, recognizing the need to revive the textile sector, consequently imposed a temporary suspension on importation of printed textiles in 2004 to protect the local textile manufacturing firms from unhealthy competition with the foreign firms. Nevertheless, smuggling of cheap foreign textiles continued to trail the market.

Today, though there are local textile companies trying to raise their voice with various designs and fabrics in the Nigerian market, we cannot feign ignorance of the fact that there is still a wide gap that needs to be filled in the Nigerian textile industry. It is undeniable that the lost glory is yet to be restored. Presently, it is even hard to believe that the Nigerian textile industry once occupied an enviable spot of being the third largest in Africa in the 80s, generating as much as $2 billion annually and with a capacity of producing more than 1.4 billion different pieces of textile products, including African prints, shirting, bed sheets, furnishing fabrics, towels, embroidery lace, table and bed linen, guinea brocades, wax prints, java prints, jutes and fishing nets.

It is true that, in recent times, the Nigerian government has taken giant strides to turn around the fortunes of the sector, with the former Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, introducing an Industrial Revolution Plan aimed at revamping and fast-tracking the growth and development of the cotton, textile and garment (CTG) sector, and addressing the various problems facing it.

Despite these steps, it is obvious that, at the moment, one of the most daunting challenges staring the sector on the face is the influx of foreign textiles into the country. With the lifting of the ban on textile importation in 2010, Nigeria now has almost 80% of its textiles imported from China, Indonesia, Taiwan and other countries. This trend is definitely not helping the Nigerian economy and needs to be stopped with an outright ban or some other measures. There is also the need to increasingly check the menace of smuggling, which is another monster derailing growth in the sector.

Above all, we need a well orchestrated campaign for the patronage of local Nigerian textiles, as opposed to the foreign ones. This campaign should be the business of both the government and those playing within the private business sector. This alone will widen the market and create more employment opportunities in the sector. But, for that to be achieved, Nigerian fabrics must offer competitive value in terms of variety and quality. What the government needs to understand is that, even if it increases the funding of the sector, as some players are calling for, the impact won’t be much felt if the issue of patronage is not squarely addressed. 

Nigeria’s textile industry blossomed in the 60s and 70s, following committed government interventionist schemes such as the ban on importation of textiles, which ultimately drove many investors into the sector. Read more: https://www.naij.com/1096734-nigerians-4th-highest-consumers-soft-drinks-globally.html

What would you describe as the current challenges facing the textile industry that you would want the in-coming government of General Muhammadu Buhari to look into? Read more: https://www.naij.com/1096838-senator-allegedly-operates-20-accounts-banks-different-signatories.html