On March 19, 1990, global attention was focused on the rural community of Umuagbai, then of Khana/Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State when the Princess of Wales, Lady Diana, accompanied by her husband, Prince Charles (now King Charles III) formally inaugurated the Women Weaving and Training Centre.
For many, the event was to mark a turning point in the evolvement of the over a century old unique art of women of Umuagbai and other neighbouring Ndoki communities in the weaving of the Akuruaku cloth, which had become well known all over the world.
The centre built by the then Rivers State government and equipped by Khana/Oyigbo local government was fitted in a way that it provided for virtually all that he women needed to improve their art, train more women in it and market their products.
Set in the community, the women carried on with the craft while also attending to their other family demands, chores and livelihood patterns in a rural setting. Among facilities at the weaving centre were six weaving halls with 20 looms, several weaving accessories, conference centre, showroom, offices and waiting areas. The premises were also designed to host outdoor programmes that could crop up from time to time.
The March 19th, 1990 event was the first time that the community was playing host to such high calibre visitors. Apart from the royal visitors from England, the then Nigeria’s First Lady, Mrs. Maryam Babangida, under whose pet project, Better Life for Rural Women, Umuagbai women and their art were recognized, sent representatives. But the core hostess of the event was Mrs. Jane Adeleye, the wife of the then military governor of Rivers State.
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