The Director General, Textile Manufacturers Association of Nigeria,TMAN, Mr. Hamma Kwajaffa, has said that Nigeria spends over $4billion annually on imported textiles and ready-made clothings.
The association Boss said the country’s textile sector has the potential to produce textiles for the local market as well as for export to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), made up of over 175 million people.
Kwajaffa added that textiles from Nigeria can also be exported to the United States of America (USA), under the AGOA platform and to the European Union (EU), under its GSP scheme which Kenya, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Madagascar and a number of African countries are already exploiting.
The DG who made the disclosure in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja, stressed that textiles used to be Nigeria’s foremost industry, being the second largest employer of labour after government and utilising indigenous raw materials such as cotton.
With the country spending so much annually on importation of both ready- made and second hand clothings, the situation, he said is worrisome despite government intention to revive the sector, adding: “the reality on ground continues to be worrisome.” he said.
He said: “The prevailing unprecedented harsh environment has no doubt dealt a serious blow to the already fragile industry.
“Unless urgent steps are taken by the government to address key issues raised by the industry, the ray of hope that had arisen from the recent government initiatives may get extinguished.
“Nigeria’s huge population of over 165 million people, represents a large natural market for textiles.
“Influx of smuggled goods continues to flood major textile markets in Kantin Kwari, Kano and Balogun and Oshodi, Lagos.”
According to him, continuous importation of textile products, not only undermines the local industry, steal our jobs, and deprive government of revenue, it is a drain on Nigeria’s precarious foreign exchange reserves.
While commending the effort of government in its recent move at revitalising the sector, he said: “In the past six months, we were called by the Minister of industry, Trade and Investment, Governor of CBN and even the Vice President who is at the helm of the economic affairs.
He stressed that government should review the tariff on gas supplied to the industry in Naira which should be affordable, adding that scarcity of black oil has crippled the operations of the textile mills in the north.
