No fewer than 100 textile factories in the country closed shops since year 2000 - TGTSSAN

The President of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (TGTSSAN), Comrade Ambi Karu says no fewer than 100 textile factories in the country closed shops since year 2000 and also the only surviving garment factory in Nigeria  closed shop recently with about 450 job losses. The union’s president attributed the frequent closure of the country’s textile and garment factories to unbridled importation, smuggling and lack of water-tight government’s policies to protect infant industries in Nigeria. Karu expressed displeasure over the dwindling fate of the sector that used to provide one of the largest job opportunities for Nigeria as well as serve as economic support for the country during post-independence era. He said successive government in recent years did well by imposing ban on the importation of textile products as well as supporting the sector with bail-out funds, which helped in no small measure to stabilize it. He said some of his members actually accessed the loans and plugged it into their businesses, while the frequent smuggling of the textile products into Nigeria was to some extent checked by government officials at the border posts when the ban was in force. He said the bail-out fund would have gone a long way in turning around the fortunes of the sector if the current government had not lifted the ban on the importation of textile products into the country in a recent announcement. According to him, the removal of the ban on textile products by the incumbent government was very unfortunate and ill-advised, adding that the nation has nothing to gain by allowing  its borders flooded by all manners of imported products. He said the path of genuine industrialization and job creation in the country would not be guaranteed with the unbanning of importation of textile products outside the shores of Nigeria. He appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to reverse the policy and embark on aggressive re-industrialization of Nigeria that would not only provide enabling business environment but also open up the country as an investment haven.

Culled from Daily Independent Nigeria