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Last Friday, in Lagos, the Interior Designers Association of Nigeria (IDAN) inaugurated new executive members to run the association for the next three years.
The new executives are Jennifer Chukwujekwe, president, Freda Anegbe, vice-president, Bukola Adeyemi, secretary-general, Titi Fowora, treasurer, Bayo Adalemo, assistant secretary general, Bukola Adeyeye, financial secretary, and Andrew Adeniji, public relations officer.
In her welcome address, Jennifer said, “For me, this is an opportunity to give my quota to the industry and grow the industry that I am so passionate about. This is doing what needs to be done and not waiting for someone else to do it.”
According to the new president, some of her things she hopes to achieve includes inclusiveness. I want members to be together because as it is now, we are not together, so we need to bring ourselves together.
“Secondly, we also need to work on empowerment because once you empower members, they can do as much as they can do. We are going to do the right empowerment, lots of training.
She recalled that I have an interior design school, Jenniez School of African Interior Design (JSAID), so training is very important.
“We are also going to create standards and policies to run a successful interior design business in the country.”
Jennifer promised that the executives will build from where their predecessors stopped, so there is no need to stop and start all very again rather we will build from where they stopped and take up the notch higher and hope that by the time we leave the office too, whoever we hand over to will continue from where we stopped.
“ It is just a succession plan, so, we will just move on from where they stopped and do something better.
Dr Ekua Akinsanya, Chairman Board of Trustees, Interior Designers Association of Nigeria (IDAN), said the inauguration is a significant event because we are going to witness a new era and this is a fresh start for IDAN.
“ We are very happy to have them inaugurated and we are the looking forward to all the new innovations that they will bring to the industry.
“ I wish the new executives all the best. They should be focused, peaceful and be united and ensure that professionalism should be their mantle to make sure that the industry is as professional as it should be.
She enjoined them to also concentrate on the educational aspect of members since IDAN was set up to set up an institute for interior designers so that even if people have a flair of interior designs, they can go and and learn current trends in the industry that will assist them on the job.
Dr Ekua recalled the Interior Design industry was one of the few industries that managed to scale through COVID-19.
“ Of course everything was down, the showrooms were closed and many people were forced to sit at home and when you sit at home, and many people did that little extra to make their home comfortable. And it was this industry that they looked to and the industry had to find the most innovative to make sure that they attended to the needs of people.
According to her, the environment is not just a function of furniture but also about your well being and space where you are happy with peace and you feel secured.
She disclosed IDAN is catering for everyone. There are people who like Nigerian fabrics and there are people who like foreign fabrics, but the important thing is that there are standards. If you are manufacturing fabrics, you need to have certain standards. One doesn’t have to give way for the other, just make sure that your products meet international standard.
She urged Nigerians to aspire to make their products for everyone in the world, similarly because items will be imported doesn’t mean that you should take less or take anything from foreign countries.
There are general standards in the industry whether it is being manufactured locally or internationally because people have different taste, so it is up to the individual because it is a personal thing and IDAN is catering for everybody, we do encourage products manufactured in Nigeria as long as it is of good quality.
