The senate has called for a total ban on the importation of textile products into Nigeria as part of efforts to revive the country’s struggling textile industry.
The resolution followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by Sunday Katung, senator representing Kaduna south.
The motion was co-sponsored by Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan representing Kogi central; Adams Oshiomhole, senator representing Edo north; Ibrahim Khalid, senator representing Kaduna north; Mohammed Tahir Monguno, senator representing Borno north; and Mustapha Khabeeb, senator representing Jigawa south-west, among others.
Presenting the motion, Katung said Nigeria’s textile industry was once one of the largest employers of labour in the country.
He noted that the first large textile manufacturing mill in Nigeria was established in Kaduna in 1957 and that government policies in the 1960s and 1970s helped the industry flourish.
According to him, Nigeria had 167 textile mills by the late 1970s and 1980s, employing about 500,000 workers.
Katung said Kaduna earned the nickname “Textile City” because of the concentration of major textile companies operating in the state.
He, however, lamented the decline of the industry.
The lawmaker said major textile firms in Kaduna had become moribund by the late 1990s and eventually shut down by 2007, leaving thousands unemployed.
He added that Nigeria now relies on imports to meet more than 99 percent of its domestic textile demand.
Contributing to the debate, Jibrin Isah, senator representing Kogi east, urged the national assembly to engage relevant government agencies to ensure implementation of the resolutions.
“This motion is very important, but I don’t want it to die like other motions,” he said.
“I want us to engage the ministry of industry. We have to sit down with the ministry and tell them how this thing should go. This is what we call financial engineering; we have to structure it.”
Ogoshi Onawo, senator representing Nasarawa south, said reviving the textile sector could help tackle unemployment and insecurity.
“This motion wouldn’t have come at a better time than this. All that is happening in our country today is due to lack of jobs for our youths,” he said.
“I am sure we can come back on track, get our youths employed, get our farmers engaged, and this country will be better for it.”
Babangida Hussaini, senator representing Jigawa north-west, called for a comprehensive approach to addressing the challenges facing the industry.
“Beyond the prayers of the motion, it is very important for this chamber to understand the importance of this motion,” he said.
“We have to have a holistic and comprehensive approach to deal with this problem. At the level of processing, our machiner are obsolete and outdated.”
Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, senator representing Kogi central, stressed the importance of addressing raw material supply.
“We have to have very serious discussions on the raw materials that will revive our textile industry,” she said.
