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The National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN), has emphasised the need for the Federal Government to revive the textile industries to overcome recession. Issa Aremu, NUTGTWN Secretary General made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Friday. According to Aremu, the revival of manufacturing sector would create sustainable jobs for the unemployed youths in the country.
He said that special attention should be given to the revival of textile industries in the country to reduce importation of used clothes otherwise called (Tokunbo Clothes) “Textile industries are the largest employer of labour in the country, but it is a matter of regret that the subsector has been relegated to the background. “Nigeria has been turned to a dumping ground of used clothes and we have been promoting foreign textile industries as well as providing employment for their parent countries.
“To revise this trend, the Federal Government should provide an environment conducive for the development of local textile industries to grow Nigeria’s economy and generate employment for Nigerians.’’ Aremu said that it was imperative for the Federal Government to implement the Cotton and Garment Policy that had been in place in order to achieve the set goals of the industry.
“ The policy says that there must be patronage of locally produced textile goods. “ Federal Government should make use of fabric produced by Nigeria textile to produce uniform for police, customs and school children among others to promote the industry. “Many of these factories will be stable, they would not go under and some would come back to live if these measures are taken, ‘’he said. He also said that government must fashion out ways to address the issue of raw materials importation.
“As I am taking to you now, we are in a mess because cotton is not available. It is available in limited quantity; even the limited quantity is being exported. He explained that the cotton being produced in the country was being exported for obvious reasons known to those involved. According to him, people are exporting cotton in order to make foreign exchange, with the devaluation of the naira, our products have become cheaper. “We want government to come in and regulate this, because we cannot be exporting inputs that we need for our industries and turn around to be looking for Forex to import.
“So, it is very important that we address the shortage of raw materials such as cotton among others.’’ He, however, said that industrialisation could not be promoted in the absence of stable power supply. Aremu noted that lack of stable electricity and the high cost of raw materials did not encourage competition in the sector. “Even the charges of gas we are using and the plants are in dollars, it is completely unfair. “So we have been negotiating and discussing with government to put an end to this.’’
He said that finance was a major problem in the sector but commended the Central Bank of Nigeria and Bank of Industry for providing intervention fund to assist the industry. “CBN has added another N50 billion to the existing N100 billion but this financing has to be complemented with other issues that I have addressed. “Because if you have money available and you are just using it to buy diesel, generators, and pay high cost of energy, you are back to square one.
“Even with the amount that the CBN made available, it is still token, we are talking about 250 textile mills that are down, ‘’he added. He called on the Federal Government to implement the existing policies to make the system work
NAN
