National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) has urged the Northern Governors Forum (NGF) and other textile company owners to resuscitate the textile industry to enable it to create jobs for the youth and subsequently reduce insecurity in the North.
Deputy General Secretary of NUTGTWN, Sylvester Chimezie, told journalists in Kaduna at the weekend that if the NGF decided to pay workers’ entitlements and revive Kaduna Textile Limited (KTL) and other textile industries follow suit, they would absorb most unemployed youths in the country through direct and indirect jobs.
He said the dearth of textile industries in Kaduna, Kano and Lagos states, as well as other textile hubs in the country contributed hugely to the high rate of unemployment, which could be blamed for the insecurity in the country.
He said: “Sustainable development of any country or state lies in industrialisation and mass job creation.
The root of the current crisis in the country is economic and social. It is against this background that the union is disturbed by the continuous closure of Kaduna Textiles Limited since 2002.
“Even more worrisome is the continuous delay in settlement of the entitlements of KTL workers by its owner-19 northern states. KTL workers are suffering untold hardship due to non-payment of their benefits since the unilateral closure of the factory in 2002.
“The union since September 2005 obtained a court judgment for settlement of the entitlements of the workers amounting to N687, 073,346. Unfortunately, the 19 Northern states are yet to comply with the judgment through settlement of the entitlements of the workers in spite of repeated appeals, rallies and protests by the union.
“In March 2012, the NGF set up a committee of five-governors headed by the Governor of Kwara state, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed with Governors of Zamfara, Kano, Bauchi and Borno states as members. The committee was mandated to proffer solutions towards the resuscitation of the moribund company. The outcome of the meeting of that committee is yet to be known.
“We again call on the Northern governors and the management of KTL to settle the terminal benefits and entitlements of KTL workers without further delay.”
