Ifeanyi Onuba
The Federal Government on Monday said
that a total of 145 textile companies had shut down operations between
1980 and now due to harsh economic climate.
The Minister of State for Industry,
Trade and Investment, Aisha Abubakar, stated this during a meeting with
members of the Cotton, Textile and Garment Implementation Committee.
She lamented that the industry, which
used to be the highest employer of labour after the government, had
become a shadow of itself, employing very few people.
The meeting held at the headquarters of
the ministry in Abuja was aimed at reviewing the progress so far made
with the implementation of the National Cotton, Textile and Garment
Policy.
The Federal Executive Council had on
December 17, 2014 considered and approved the CTG policy, which was
launched on January 20, 2015, and a National CTG Policy Implementation
Committee was subsequently constituted.
At the commencement of the policy, the government said it was targeting a cumulative investment of N255bn between 2015 and 2020.
The main thrust of the policy is to
reposition the sector as the second largest employer of labour and a
revenue earner for the government.
The policy document also states that the
economy will witness savings of $2bn in foreign exchange spent
importing textiles and garments.
According to the document, the policy is
expected to increase the level of direct employment in the sector from
50,000 persons in 2015 to 100,000 by 2017.
Indirect employment, it added, was also expected to increase from 650,000 people to 1.3 million by 2017.
Speaking with members of the committee,
Abubakar said the Federal Government would take the implementation of
the policy seriously as it would assist in revitalising the growth and
development of the industry.
She said, “Since our coming on board, I
have taken time to understand the policies and programmes of the
ministry. We have identified the CTG sector as an important sector for
revival in view of the very high potential of job creation along its
value chain.
“The CTG sector, which used to be the
highest employer of labour next to the government, with over 175 mills
at its peak in the 1980s, is now a shadow of itself with barely 30
companies operating presently.
“This is no time for lamentation, we are
determined to succeed. The country is looking at us. This meeting is
called to review the activities this far and to chart the way forward. I
am sure the successful implementation of the CTG policy will indeed
bring back the glory of this sector through its multiplier effects.”
The Chairperson of the committee, Mrs.
Omotanwa Awobokun, said there was a need to address some of the
challenges facing the sector.
Some of the challenges, according to
her, are funding constraints, smuggling, inadequate power supply,
standardisation and the poor yield from cotton seed.
As part of measures aimed at addressing
the issue of smuggling, she said a presidential task force on textile
had been set up with a clear mandate to reduce textile smuggling by 15
per cent.
The task force, she added, would also
carry out diplomatic initiatives to persuade neighbouring countries to
support the Nigerian anti-smuggling initiatives.
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