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Nigeria: 100 Textile Factories Closed, 50 in Distress

Published date:
Thursday, 19 May 2005

The textile sub-sector appears to be on the verge of final collapse as the workers have announced that 50 other factories currently in distress may close down operations unless urgent fiscal measures are adopted by government.

Already, National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers had said 100 factories had been shut down since the country joined the World Trade Organisation which paved the way for the liberalisation of trade in Nigeria.

They noted that only ten out of the 150 factories which existed in 1999 are in stable conditions. Out of this number, only one, United Textile Plc (UNTL), is in Kaduna, which used to be a textile city. The first indigenous factory, Arewa and Nigeria's oldest textile company, Kaduna textile Mill (KTL) had all gone down.

In a statement made available to THISDAY by the Head, Education and Research Department, Bello Ismail, the union said over 100,000 jobs had been lost, claiming that the textile industry in Nigeria which was the second largest in Africa, after Egypt, is in dire need of government assistance.

Among the big factories that have closed operations completely are Zamfara, which had over 3,500 workers on its payroll, KTL and Arewa, which accounted for over 3,000 workers each, Afprint, Aba Textile, Specomill, among others, all with 2,000 employees each.

However, the union has advised the federal government to initiate fresh fiscal measures to check the dwindling of the sector. Although it acknowledged that the ban on the importation of certain categories of textile is good, it demanded the "setting up of a task force consisting of stakeholders to assist customs in ensuring effective implementation."

On the issue of Export Grant (EEG), the union canvassed for a legislative framework that will ensure that the grant last for at least ten years, in a manner that will secure export price.

The textile workers also pleaded with the federal government to create a low interest textile appropriation fund as well as proper funding of bank of industry. This, they contended, will make fund available for recapitalisation of the sector.

The local market, according to the workers, is big enough to absorb made-in-Nigeria products only if there is fresh orientation. To achieve this, the union urged government to popularise the policy of patronage of local fabrics by mandating agencies, parastatals, and schools armed forces to source their uniforms locally.



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