In Nigeria, there is no better way to identify people from the different ethnic regions than through their dress. Some of these dresses have since been elevated to the status of national dresses and are worn by members of other ethnic groups at weddings and other public functions, for example the Babanriga dress also known as Shagari dress or One thousand five hundred which was made popular by politicians during the second republic has crept its way up there as one of the most widely accepted Nigerian national dress, complete with matching Shagari cap. The Babanriga dress is traditionally associated with the Hausa – Fulani stock in Northern Nigeria but it has managed to achieve the cross-over winning wide appeal in the process from other Nigerians who have come to associate the dress as a sign of status symbol, many therefore aspire to own a piece to add to their wardrobe collections.

In the same vein, the long flowing dress made of brocade materials popularly known in Nigeria as Senegalese is also heavily associated with the Hausa – Fulani stock, but it does appear though that both the Yorubas, the Igbos and some of the other ethnic groups despite having what could be regarded as their own indigenous dresses have embraced it. Perhaps not to be seen to be losing out in the race for inter-cultural assimilation, the Yorubas it could be argued have successfully exported their taste for exotic lace materials also called Agbada (the type worn by men) to the other Nigerian tribes, particularly to the Igbos who seem to be caught in the middle of the emerging cultural revolution, and who seem to be struggling somewhat in clearly identifying what truly could be regarded as a true Igbo national dress, and consequently attempting to export such to the other Nigerian tribes just like the Ijaws are attempting at the moment to do with their distinctive dress which comprises of a flowing robe, a wrapper tied around the waist, this is completed with a walking stick which is then topped up with a hat – also known as the South South hat.

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