As the impact of the closure of land borders continues to tell on Nigerians, government is relentlessly assuring the nation that the action is in the interest of the nation and her citizens.
According to the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), the essence of the exercise is to strengthen the nation’s security and protect its economic interests. In his words, “Our interest is to make sure that our country is secure, the well-being of our people is assured and our economy is secure.
“The step we have taken is in the interest of Nigeria, the step is not to hurt anybody but to protect our own interests as a nation”.
Similarly, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, said the border closure is in the interest of producers and farmers in Nigeria. Speaking during a town hall meeting in Edo State, the VP said. “Part of the reasons for shutting the border is the smuggling that has been going on. If we continue to allow the Chinese and others to continue to bring in all those things, we will kill farming completely and most of our people will not be employed.
“There may be some pain in order to gain. The countries of the world that are prosperous didn’t allow anybody to bring in anything to their countries. They make sure they grow what they eat. I can assure you that very soon you will see a great deal of progress. You will see more of our own commodities coming into the market. If we allow our own people grow these things, our people will prosper. The only way our people can prosper is if we let them use the opportunity that they have, such as farming, fishing and others…”
Going by the above statements, it could be said that government actually means well for the nation. It has always been said that our economy cannot grow, our agricultural sector cannot thrive  if we continue to allow all countries make Nigeria a dumping ground for all manner of things they produce (both standard and substandard), hence the need to support our local industries.
It was, therefore, baffling to read that a government which claims to be doing all things possible to make life better for her citizens will also authorise actions capable of killing some sectors of the economy. Reports have it that on Thursday, October 24, the federal government and a Turkish firm, Sur Corporatewear,  signed an agreement on the establishment of a military and paramilitary clothing factory in Kaduna. According to the reports, the factory will be located inside the Defence Industry Complex (DICON), Kaduna. The Defence Minister, Bashir Magashi, who signed on behalf of the government, said the Turkish firm is expected to develop local brand of textile materials and accessories, adding that a total of $13 million will be invested by the firm to finance the enterprise and make it viable. He also assured patronage of the materials by the Armed Forces of Nigeria.
The deal seems laudable, doesn’t it? A whopping sum of $13 million (about N4.68billion) will be brought in by the Turkish firm. Interesting! But what harm does this portend for our moribund textile industry? How will assigning a foreign company to produce our military uniforms help the industry to grow? Just three months ago, President Muhammadu Buhari, directed all security agencies and hospitals to patronise local textile companies for their uniforms so as to tackle unemployment and grow the economy. And now a foreign company is invited to produce military uniforms. Isn’t it rather unfortunate; more so, when stakeholders in the textile industry were said to have been meeting with the military and paramilitary bodies for that same purpose?
As a giant in the industry, Mrs Adenike Ogunlesi, pointed out, ”If you don’t invest in capacity building, how do we grow? The government needs to believe in us. This is an attempt to kill the local industry because we have been looking forward to building local capacity.
“This is an opportunity to develop the local capacity; bring in technical partners to deliver on a project as big as this and create jobs. We are a sovereign nation, so why is another nation in charge of our security uniforms? This is a project that has the capacity to grow the entire garment industry and it is given to one company. This is definitely not right”.
So it’s imperative that government reconsiders the deal with the Turkish firm. Let a level playing ground be created for our local textile industries to partake in the military uniform venture and jobs in other sectors.  A situation where jobs that could be perfectly done by Nigerians are given to foreigners who sometimes cannot measure up to their Nigerian counterparts in terms of qualification and experience must be seriously addressed. Sometimes you see foreign construction companies patching up roads in our states and you begin to wonder where this nation is headed.
There are talented people in the textile and garment industry in Aba, Lagos, Kaduna and other parts of the country who are already competing with other nations in terms of quality output. Engage these people in this deal and you can be sure you will get exactly what the Turks will give you, or even better. The only edge foreign companies may have over the local ones may be in terms of possession of modern, sophisticated machines. That, governments at various levels, can handle by liaising with stakeholders in the industry on how to acquire them, perhaps through soft loans and others. What our local industries need is governments’ support and encouragement, not actions capable of crippling them.
It is also advisable that government ascertains the sincerity of the Turkish firm. These foreign companies that come here to invest are not charity organisations. They are out to make money and records have shown that, most times, they exploit Nigerians instead of making life better for us. No skills are transferred to the people and the only jobs they give are those of security men, labourers and others in that category. Let us be wise!

Calista Ezeaku