The approval by the National Economic Council (NEC) for the establishment of a Cotton, Textile and Garment Development Board, alongside new strategies for agribusiness expansion and livestock transformation projected to generate up to $90 billion in economic value by 2035, is a welcome development.
The initiative, aimed at reviving the textile industry that once formed the backbone of Nigeria’s economy, will not only boost the nation’s quest for a $1 trillion economy by the year 2030 but also create jobs as part of the non-kinetic strategies in the fight against insecurity ravaging the nooks and crannies of the country.
At its 149th NEC meeting last week in Abuja, NEC also observed a minute of silence for victims of the recent killings in Benue and Plateau states, while expressing its condolences for the people and governments of the affected states.
Other initiatives approved by NEC included the establishment of the Green Imperative Project (GIP) national office in Abuja and regional offices across the six geopolitical zones, as well as addressing the crises fuelled by the current system of animal husbandry in the country.
The NEC was chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, with governors of the 36 states of the federation, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), minister of finance, and other co-opted government officials as members.
As the regulatory body for the cotton, textile and garment sector of Nigeria, the board will have representations from the six geo-political zones, with ministers of agriculture and food security, budget and economic planning, and industry, trade and investment as members.
The board, when set up, will be domiciled in the presidency, private sector-driven, with representation of the relevant public sector stakeholders, and funded from the Textile Import Levy being collected by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
“Our goal is not just regulation. It is a revival. This is our opportunity to re-industrialise, to empower communities, and to restore pride in local production,” Shettima said.
He noted that while cotton can grow in 34 states, Nigeria produces only 13,000 metric tonnes, forcing the country to rely heavily on textile imports. The new board is expected to reverse this trend and reposition Nigeria as a textile manufacturing hub.
Shettima had during a meeting with a delegation from the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) in August last year hinted of plans by the federal government to revive the textile industry to boost job creation in the country.
The ICAC delegation was led by its Executive Director, Eric Trachtenberg, to the meeting organised to discuss ideas for reviving the cotton and textile industry in Nigeria. Shettima challenged participants at the meeting, which included some state governors, to develop a roadmap for reviving the cotton and textile sector in Nigeria.
The vice-president assured that the President Bola Tinubu administration will make conscious efforts to ensure Nigeria harnesses opportunities in the cotton value chain, including ensuring that the country regains its ICAC membership.
Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo state told journalist that the meeting afforded Nigeria the opportunity to revamp the moribund textile industry in the country for job creation. “So, for me, I’m very excited to be part of this conversation that will now revamp the economy of the country. We need to engage our young men and women and then align properly with the new digital age for production and economic stimulation.”
Executive Director of ICAC, Mr Trachtenberg, said they were excited to come back to Nigeria, stressing that they would tap into the potential of Nigerians. “You (Nigeria) have low-cost labour, you have market access to AGOA, and to the economic partnership agreements with the European Union, you have a lot of really talented people and very forward-leaning government officials.
“So I think now is the time, and ICAC is ready to help Nigeria, to help you achieve your goals as a country, to help create quality jobs, to help generate foreign exchange and reimagine the global cotton economy and the Nigeria cotton and textiles economy.”
Nigeria’s textile industry has continued to struggle for years despite the country’s huge market potential for cotton production. In the 1970s and 1980s, Nigeria was an industrial hub for textile production, having about 180 textile mills functioning optimally with 450,000 workforce (about 25 per cent) in the manufacturing sector.
Sadly, Nigeria’s textile industry suffered a decline in the 1990s after many companies exited the country due to impacts of smuggling, harsh economy and unfavourable government policies, among others.
Between 1985 and 1990, the Nigerian textile industry had been reduced to 250 companies with 250,000 employees. Presently, the number of employees in the textile industry has dropped to an abysmal 10,000.
It is on the backdrop of this reprehensible and undesirable state of the nation’s textile industry, which has the capacity to generate over two million jobs and attract $6 billion in foreign exchange, that Blueprint lauds the establishment of the Cotton, Textile and Garment Development Board by the federal government.
It is our conviction that when fully operational, the board will, to a large extent, revitalise the real sector of the nation’s economy and, by extension, improve the well-being of the people as well as curb the insecurity bedeviling the citizenry.