A fire outbreak has ravaged the factory and showroom of Nigeria’s most respected and renowned fashion designers, Vivid Imagination at Obanikoro, Lagos. It is owned by unassuming gentleman, Godwin Mekwuye
In spite of saying so himself, even the blind can see and the deaf can hear that Godwin has lost all that he laboured for over the years via this accident.
But that notwithstanding, the gifted designer whose praise the likes of Sir Shina Peters and K1 de Ultimate documented in some of their albums is set to gradually pick up the pieces of what is left of the fire incident that engulfed his premises last week.
Looking down but not out when we visited on Tuesday, February 13, 2018, Mr. Mekwuye, a jolly good fellow who was sitting inside his car downstairs, admitted losing all.
‘I’ve lost everything…’, he muttered. And obviously not in any mood for a long chat, he pointed us to where the wreckage was dumped. Shaking our head, we also could not help but ask the Lord to give him the strength and courage to pull through.
Vivid Imagination, one of Nigeria’s oldest and most popular fashion brands, it would be recalled, lost millions of naira days ago following an early morning fire that enveloped its main showroom and factory located at Falemi House, Obanikoro, Lagos.
The fire which must have been caused by a power surge started at about 2 am, raged for hours, before it was put out by men of the Lagos State Fire Service, assisted by some well-wishers..
By the time the dust had settled, however, the store, which is home to the company and clients’ fabrics, ready-to-be-delivered outfits, ready-made clothes, shoes, accessories and documents, were completely razed. At the factory also, virtually all the machines were burnt. Another office on the premises was equally affected.
An official statement from the Management, signed by the Managing Director, Mr. Godwin Mekwuye, which was made available to us read:
“We wish to announce that early this morning (February 9) there was a fire incident at our company that vastly affected our store and factory. The damage done by this incident was phenomenal because it affected over thirty years of the brand’s history and memories as well as hundreds of millions naira worth of goods and equipment.
“This is a very difficult time for us as we begin to investigate the cause or causes of this disaster, but we assure our clients that the process of revival will begin immediately and we would ensure that this setback will not affect our time-tested efficiency and qualitative service delivery”.
Credit: theyesng.com
