The National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, (NUTGTWN) has attributed the current meltdown of the textile industry to the activities of smuggling and wholesale importation of textiles and other clothing in the country.
Comrade lssa Aremu, General Secretary the union who disclosed this on Thursday last week, while commending the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for banning sale of Forex to importers of textile materials.
The scribe reiterated that textile industry in the last two decades was the largest employer of labour after the public sector
According to him, CBN will make life difficult for smugglers and warned forex dealers in the country to desist from granting any importer of textile material access to foreign currency in the foreign exchange market.
He recalled that in the 70s and early 80s, Nigeria was home to Africa’s largest textile industry, with more than 180 textile mills in operations, which employed close to over 450,000 people.
Aremu, who also doubles as the Labour Party governorship candidate in Kwara in the March 9 elections, said the action of the CBN would promote growth of the textiles industries in Nigeria.
Recall that the CBN had in its meeting with stakeholders in the Cotton, Textile, and Garment value chain on March 5, listed all forms of textile materials among items prohibited from foreign exchange in the official windows.
The CBN also promised financial intervention to textile manufacturers at “single digits rate, to refit, retool and upgrade their factories to enable them produce high quality textile materials for the local and export market.”
The union’s scribe equated smuggling to “economic terrorism”, adding that the new initiative of the CBN governor would boost local production, create jobs and lessen pressure on forex if fully implemented.
Comrade Aremu, also a National Executive Council member of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), gave the commendation in llorin.
