NUTGTWN Secretary General advocates dynamic role by state
22 Jun '06
2 min read
'End of (Textile) Industry?' is a stark study of the prevailing situation in the Nigerian textile industry, authored by Comrade Issa Aremu, Acting General Secretary of National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN).
Over 150,000 textile jobs have been lost as a result of closure of 92 factories spread across the country since late 1998, reveals the study.
Issues concering employment and poverty eradication, government apathy and several remarkable suggestions to revive the textile industry in Nigeria have all been discussed in this study.
According to Aremu, despite massive closures in the recent past, the industry still employs about 25,000 workers and offers hope.
The textile industry according to Aremu lacks in policy inconsistency, unable to withstand vagaires of trade liberalization, and high cost of production due to bad governance.
It calls for more dynamic role of the state in the economy.
Pathetic performance of State run textile mills and public enterprises in general shows that this area may best be left for private sector entrepreneurs.
However, government cannot shirk from its responsibilities of protecting the existing industries by framing suitable policies.
He seeks urgent steps to be initiated by Nigeria to reinvent its textile industry and initiate industrialization since there is a direct relationship between industrialization, employment and poverty eradication.
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