The house of representatives has asked the federal government to revive Nigeria’s textile industry and implement stricter regulations on textile imports.
At Tuesday’s plenary, the green chamber asked the power ministry to collaborate with its trade and investment counterpart to provide necessary facilities to local textile manufacturing companies to enhance quality outputs.
The lower legislative chamber urged the finance ministry and other related agencies to encourage local textiles by providing soft loans and easy access to credit facilities through the Bank of Industry.
The house passed the resolutions following the adoption of a motion sponsored by Garba Muhammad, a lawmaker from Kano state.
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Muhammad said the textile industry, with over 180 mills in operation in the 1960s and 1980s, significantly impacted the manufacturing sector, employing nearly 450,000 people and generating 67 percent annual growth, making it the highest employer of labour at the time.
The lawmaker noted that the decline in the textile industry over the last two decades resulted in the layoffs of thousands of workers.
He said the discovery of oil resulted in decreased cotton production, a crucial raw material for the textile industry, thereby significantly impacting the textile sector
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Muhammad said government policies such as higher taxation, expensive production costs, and trade liberalisation, which have led to extensive importation of textile materials, have negatively impacted local textiles’ production.
He said Nigeria possesses significant raw materials for textile production, such as cotton and wool, which can boost local productivity and the economy.
The legislator said revitalising the textile industry will create employment, reduce social issues, boost revenue, diversify the economy, and enhance socio-economic development in the country.
The motion was adopted after Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house, put it to a voice vote.
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Consequently, the house resolved to hold a public hearing with relevant stakeholders in textile industries to review challenges of moribund textile sector.