Mat Making in Badagry

From being a slave port to being the location of the first story building in Nigeria, there are just so many historical facts associated with a cultural town called Badagry in Nigeria. Badagry is located on the south-west coast of Nigeria, bordered by the Gulf of Guinea to the south Lagos to the southeast and Benin Republic to the west.
Due to the location of Badagry town in the zone of coastal lagoons and creeks, fishing has always been the most popular occupation of the town. However, some women of Badagry engage in beautiful craft of tradiational mat weaving.

The long process of mat making involves harvesting of stalk from the farm, smothering, drying, dyeing and weaving.
There are two types of mats: one is purposely designed to cover rooftops and the other for spreading on the floor for people to lay on for relaxation or religious activities or even for beautification, depending on what the user wants. The two mats are made of the same base material. However, while the one for the rooftop is stronger and more expensive, the other is weaker, but more colorful. Advanced and creative weaving goes beyond just mat making to making of crafts like tablemats, drink covers, curtains, book covers, door blinds etc. which are very lovely and colorful.

Hotels and resort homes are the major buyers of the rooftop mat which could be dyed to different colours as required . Just like the local sleeping mats, the rooftop mats do not generate heat, as they tend to absorb heat, though they need to be fumigated once in a while so that they don’t become havens to rodents and insects. They could also be used to construct makeshift shade for picnickers at the beach.