The National Union of
Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN), has said that the country spends up to N300 billion on the importation of textile materials whereas it has injected only N100 billion into local production of some.
The NUTGTWN president, Mr Oladele Hunsu, said this in an interview with newmen recently in Port Harcourt.
He disclosed that Nigeria also loses about N170 billion worth of value added Tax (VAT) yearly to smuggling and piracy.
Hunsu, noted that those imported textile materials could be produced locally, as he urged the federal government to step up on the N100 billion textile intervention funds.
He suggested N1 trillion as the ideal fund for the intervention scheme if the federal government was serious about reviving the textile and tailoring industry.
He maintained that the already N100 billion earmarked by President Goodluck Jonathan for the expected rebirth of the industry, (textile and tailoring), was a sort of slight, saying 35 factories were already shut down due to unhealthy business environment.
Hunsu, who led some of his executive members on a courtesy visit to Arewa Textile Mills in Kaduna State, recalled that the former labour leader now Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, was a stuff of the company.
He hinted that the company which has gone under for the past eleven years has concluded plans to return business.
Others, also called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to inject some fund into the industry as to give it the required push.
Meanwhile, they have adviced the federal government to ban the importation of textile materials inorder to guarantee quick revival of the industry.