The Director General Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Professor Hussaini Doko Ibrahim, has reaffirmed the Council’s determination to revamp the ailing textile industry in Nigeria as a major source of employment and revenue generation.
Ibrahim stated this when the director, DLK Clothing Signatures Ltd, Barr. Lovelyn Mbanefo, and her team paid him a working visit, Monday, Abuja.
The RMRDC boss noted that the cotton, textile and garment sector had in the past stabilised Nigeria’s economy, providing jobs and contributing to the nation’s GDP.
According to him, the case is different today as the sector is being faced with lots of challenges such as poor cotton production, poor man-made fibres and especially the use of obsolete machines in processing and production by the textile industries in Nigeria, which he said had drastically affected the growth of the sector.
He said the world economy is increasingly becoming knowledge-based and innovation-driven, and therefore, the sector needed to be modernised for better efficiency.
The director general informed that Council is interested in bringing together stakeholders, experts in textile R&D, the military and paramilitary to brainstorm on reviving the sector to ensure stability and build patronage for indigenous producers and manufacturers.
He also informed that RMRDC being a member of the national Tariff Board, will intervene in the area of tariff to make it favourable for the textile industry and the consumers.
Earlier, the director DLK Clothing, Barr. Lovelyn Mbanefo, had said she was elated at the warm reception accorded her and her team by the Council.
She had also highlighted some of the challenges her clothing industry is facing, including unavailability of raw materials locally for processing, especially PPE amongst others, cumbersome process involved in the importation of raw materials and machineries, inaccessibility to government intervention, loans and grants to enable the company scale-up production output and productivity.
She added that DLK offers trainings to empower individuals with adequate knowledge and entrepreneurial skills in the bid to encourage them to set up their own businesses.
She said with the intervention of RMRDC, she is certain that the clothing sector in Nigeria will have cause to smile again.
