Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to describe the role of women in rural communities of South-Western Nigeria in entrepreneurial engagement through craft practice. Design/methodology/approach -Literatures were reviewed on crafts practice and appreciation in Nigeria. This enabled the contemplation of the place of craft practice as occupational engagement before, during and post colonial periods. The process of data gathering consists of field work, interviews, observation and photographing; through this, the technical production of mat and indigo dyed fabric were explored. Findings -Women of rural communities in Western Nigeria have been actively been involved in crafts production to make ends meet in a male dominated economy. They form professional guilds to revive craft production/patronage, to network among members, and to seek help from the government and relevant organizations. The study found out that the potentials of the rural women can be fully developed if the method of making their products is given a facelift through partial mechanization. Practical implications -An average Nigerian wants to be employed in white collar job and people are no longer interested in craft practice. The apprenticeship system of learning in the traditional system whereby skill is transferred from parents to their children is almost becoming a history. Thus, craft production is in the hand of few people among which the rural women are very spectacular. Originality/value -This paper considers the women of rural communities in Southwestern Nigeria as a factor in the revilitalization of traditional crafts through occupational engagement in craft practice.

Ceramic water filtration is the process that makes use of a porous ceramic (fired clay) medium to filter microbes or other contaminants from water. Ceramic water filtration has been greatly improved upon such that it takes care of most microbial contamination in water. However, the ceramic filter is not known to treat chemical contaminants in water. Therefore this project was aimed at developing a ceramic filter that could treat certain chemical contamination in water at the household level. Porous ceramic bodies were formulated and constituted from various materials such as kaolin, laterite, bonechar and charcoal. Bone char was added as a defluoridation agent while the charcoal doubled as the pore-creating combustible material and as an Activated Carbon media in the ceramic body for the adsorption of metals from water. The formulated ceramic bodies were shaped into filters (pot) using the slip casting technique and fired bisque (850˚C-900˚C). The developed filter samples were subjected to physical properties tests, while analysis on the microbial and physio-chemical parameters of the filter-treated water samples were compared vis-à-vis the raw water samples. The results indicate that the developed filters were effective in the treatment of chemical contaminants detected in the raw water samples; with significant reductions in fluoride, lead, and sulphate levels amongst others. The resulting filter samples also showed viability in physical handling strength and flow rate; while the availability of the raw materials and the processing technique used, makes a good economic case for the production of the developed filters.

The manufacturing sector at all levels is performing below-expectation in Nigeria. Many sectors, such as ceramic industry, glass industry and textile industry among others, are facing difficult times. The non-performance has been traced mainly to the unfavourable economic environment. A survey of small-scale ceramic enterprises established in south-western Nigeria from post-independence Nigeria of 1960 to 2004 was carried out in this study; their characteristics in terms of the facilities available for production, types of wares produced and current situation were examined. The study examined this against the business environment in Nigeria. It gave suggestions on how the necessary infrastructures and polices that enhance business environment could be harnessed to make small-scale ceramic production viable in Nigeria.

African print fabrics is commonly referred to as Ankara fabrics. It is a major textile product produced in Nigeria, which has the high economic value. This study focused on the customary practices in the African print fabric design process in the Nigerian textile industry. The study adopted survey research design. The population of the study comprised of African print fabric designers in the functioning textile companies in Nigeria. Ten African print fabric designers were sampled. Questionnaires and interviews were used for data collection. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistical tools. The study revealed that textile companies in Nigeria do not have value for quality designers, intellectual property right and originality of designs. It was recommended that the design institutes and professional design bodies should intervene in the design process in the Nigerian textile industry so as to generate designs that are original and capable of promoting the Nigerian textile industry.

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