Tailors in Aba, under the aegis of Modern Garment Makers Association (MOGMA), have appealed to the federal and Abia State governments to establish an industrial park for tailors and fashion designers in the commercial city.
They argue that a cluster would provide a conducive environment for the sector, which is mainly made up of micro entrepreneurs..
Innocent Onwukwe, chairman, MOGMA, observed that it would be difficult for government to provide the needs of tailors in Aba, especially power, because of their spread.
He explained that with a cluster arrangement Aba tailors would be able to undertake high volume jobs, like military and paramilitary uniforms, and deliver on time.
“The state is also losing funds, because we are operating individually and cannot do paramilitary uniforms because we are not in a cluster. If we are in a cluster, we can apply for such jobs and when they come, they will see all of us in one place. There is no job that we cannot do, considering our number.
“Some African countries can also come here to do their uniforms because that is what we do here. We make clothes for customers in other West African countries. I even have customers in United Kingdom, but we do these informally.
Read also: FEC gives nod for repatriation of $321m fresh Abacha loot
“Some of our customers go to China when they receive high volume jobs, running into thousands, because individually, we don’t have the capacity to do high volumes. But if we are in a cluster, that will be easy to do,” he stated.
He appealed to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to ensure that the vision of the proposed Umukalika Industrial Cluster in Obingwa Local Government Area of the State was realised in his tenure, stressing that he was their only hope.
“We want government to build an industrial park for tailors in Aba. Even if it is a facility that can take about 5,000 tailors, that would boost the sector.
“We also need a common facility centre in Aba, but it must be sited within the cluster to enable tailors have easy access to it.”
Meanwhile, Godwin Iheme, managing director, ICI Garments Nigeria Limited, one of the leading garment makers in Aba, urged the federal government to ban importation of finished garment products into the country.
He noted that locally-made products, although superior to most imported labels, would not compete favourably with imported finished clothing items due to cost of production.
According to him, for local producers to compete favourably with their foreign counterparts, electricity and other infrastructure must be put right and urged the federal government not to relent in its quest to achieve constant power supply in the country.
He stressed that epileptic power supply and multiple taxation were major challenges faced by the manufacturing sector and urged government to support the sector, which according to him, held key to the industrial development of the country.
