Sought by luxury labels, Nigerian leather reclaims home market

MOST Nigerian leather, often semi-finished, is exported to Europe and Asia and turned into luxury items bearing international brand labels, with zero trace of its origins.

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But with her homegrown brand, Isi Omiyi creates high-end pieces to try to reclaim Nigeria's leather identity.

In her apartment in the Lagos metropolis, she has created a boutique corner where bags, wallets and shoes are carefully displayed on shelves, some carrying price tags of up to $1 500. "Leather is part of our heritage. I can't just stand by and watch others receive all the credit for work that we started here," the 56-year-old designer said.

Her mission is to amplify "Made In Nigeria" craftsmanship.

She "would like these foreign brands to indicate on their products: 'originally from Nigeria' and 'made in Italy', 'made in France,' or elsewhere, because most of them don't," Omiyi said.

According to the country's export promotion agency, Nigeria exports 90 percent of its leather, mainly to Italy and Spain, which make up around three-quarters of the total volume. Leather exports generate about $600 million in annual revenue, said Oluwole Oyekunle, a researcher at the Nigerian Institute of Leather and Science Technology in Samaru in northern Kaduna state.