ADEJOKE LASISI: A YOUNG AND PASSIONATE WEAVER IN IBADAN Femi Ojo



Adejoke @ work


 Weaving is a profession in the fashion industry that is as old as time itself. It is common knowledge that this profession is populated by the more older generation in Nigeria and when it comes to venturing into any business, majority of Nigerian youths do not see this profession as their first choice of business. But in Ibadan, there is an unusual young lady, Adejoke Lasisi, who has not only seen weaving as an occupation but a feeling, an art, a passion and she uses her skills in this art to inspire and empower the youths in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.



Adejoke Lasisi is a graduate of Economics from Obafemi Awolowo University and a proud President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative, Regional Leadership Center, West Africa, Accra Ghana award winner in September 2015.  She  participated in the Global Entrepreneurship Training in West Africa held in Ghana in conjunction with Handong Global University (HGU) Korea in 2014. She won the funding award at AYEEN 2014, where some international business experts were inspired by her exceptional, creative, problem-solving and employment generating ideas.  The young lady is the Chief Executive Officer and founder of Jokelinks Weaving School in Ibadan. The weaving school provides basic and advanced weaving techniques by using handlooms and other weaving equipment exploring different colours, fibers and textures to create beautiful handmade material. Adejoke boasts that hers is the premier weaving school of this type in Nigeria and it offers a full slate of classes and workshops in weaving to everyone who is interested in this line of business.
One of the Trainees @ work


Speaking about how she started her business in weaving, Adejoke passionately responded “I was exposed to weaving at a very tender age, my mother is a weaver, I learnt the art from her but with my education and exposure, I have taken it beyond how it used to be. I left the business to further my education at the university and after finishing school, I returned and found Jokelinks; a weaving school and clothing company, I am doing what I have passion for. I bring creative concepts and ideas alive through mastery of yarn, thread and loom. I am a weaver with a difference, I impact knowledge and train youths”.

work mood activated

Jokelinks Weaving School,  is a unique brand that blends traditional and modern wears in a way that creates unique style in clothing. Indeed, if anyone is looking for a brand that specializes in beautiful Asooke (loom weaving of cloth) Jokelinks is the  right place to go!  Adejoke explaining  her innovative idea on her business said “in the past people only use Asooke (hand woven cloth) for occasional purposes but not for casual wears due to its non-durability. Now I have found a way to make this durable but also lighter and fit enough for casual outfits”

Aside Adejoke's entrepreneurial skills on weaving, she is a great advocate of knowledge and she has devised many ways of giving back to the society. One of such ways, is her partnership with the Oyo State Government Skills Acquisition Program for senior secondary schools. She has been using her skills and knowledge of weaving to train senior secondary school students in Oyo State empowering them while still pursuing their academics.
Starting a weaving business at first was met with great opposition by my family. Adejoke said “ it seemed impossible to start my profession , it did not receive any warm welcome by my family especially my mother from whom I first learnt the trade, she was of the opinion that a white collar job would pay since I am educated. I had to convince her that I could bring new ideas, innovations and unique creativeness and expand the frontier of weaving profession and reduce the over-reliance on government” Today Joke has made good her promise, she has actually expanded the frontier of this business by taking her business beyond Nigeria. 
Adejoke's work

In her final words, Adejoke said’ at JWS, we offer day, evening and weekend classes. Our day session runs between 9am-4pm and our evening session runs between 4pm-6pm. The weekend session starts from 10am-4pm (Saturdays), 1pm-5pm(Sundays) and from November 6th – 8th, 2015 we have an upcoming three-day workshop on introduction to weaving, where we are going to teach people on the basics of weaving. We want everyone that is interested in Ibadan and environment to participate in this workshop, we are going to empower more youths"

For further information please contact Joke on: 08050700525, 08125258788
 and BBM: 331422DF.





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