Governor Namadi Sambo of Kaduna State since assuming office in 2007 has, within his own capacity, tried to solve some of the problems that led to the collapse of the textile firms. After so many visits to most of the textiles and meetings with management of the affected mills, he decided to exclusively dedicate the 30 megawatts that will be generated from the Gurara dam for the use of the industrial areas where the textiles firms are located.
Kaduna State government also commenced a complete overhaul of its water system at a cost of $300 million, which the governor feels, would, apart from meeting the needs of the people of the state, will also solve the water need of the collapsed textile firms. In addition to that, the governor extracted a commitment from officials of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to make available all the LPFO, popularly known as black oil, which it would need for its operation.
So, when the federal government decided to show more passion in its desire to revive the textile industries, by announcing that it would personally visit the collapsed textiles in Kaduna, the governor was simply ecstatic. He quickly issued a statement that the Governor of Kaduna State wishes to express his joy over the expected visit of the assessment team of the Cotton, Textiles and Garment (CTG) Sector Revival Scheme's formal visit to Kaduna textiles hub.
"The committee has the Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Dr Tanimu Yakubu, the Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, Dr Abba Sayyadi Ruma, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Chief Achike Udenwa and the Managing Director of the Bank of Industry (BOI) Evelyn Oputu.
"The Committee is expected, while on the visit, to assess existing infrastructure at the textiles hub as well as other existing structures in the city that may facilitate an early commencement of the garmenting project. While in Kaduna, the committee is expected to pay a courtesy visit to the governor who will in turn lead the delegation on the tour of facilities around Kaduna."
Eventually, when the delegation came, it include the Minister of Finance, Dr. Mansur Muktar, accompanied by the Chief Economic Adviser to President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, Dr. Tanimu Yakubu, Minster of State for Commerce and Industries, My Humphrey Abba, Managing Director of the Bank of Industries, Mrs. Evelyn Oputu, Vice chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Issah Aremu, officials of the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN), led by Alhaji Ibrahim Usman and other top government functionaries that include representatives of other ministers that couldn't come.
Before embarking on the tour, the Minster of Finance who commended Sambo for his earlier effort in reviving the textiles, admitted that Federal Government, after realising that money was not the only solution to the revitalisation of the textiles, carried out a holistic assessment of the myriad of problems besetting the sector and came up with some measures that would revive the factories.
The Federal Government however, announced that it has re-launched another 100 billion naira for the revitalisation of the Cotton, Textile and Garment Industry. Mukthar said N10b has already been released and would be disbursed through the Bank of Industry (BOI) at six per cent interest rate, just as another N10 billion was voted for in the 2009 Supplementary Budget passed by the National Assembly for the stimulation and revival of the sector.
The minister then told management of the affected textiles factories to start making preparation to commence production, as government has also commenced the process of removing all obstacles that led to their closure. The Federal Government, strictly for the industrial area has awarded the finance minister said in order to tackle the problem of electricity, contract for a 215-megawatt power plant with a completion date of 18 months, to General Electricity (GE). He further said that government has embarked on the reformation of the Nigeria Custom Service so as to check the activities of smuggling, while both state and federal governments will tackle water and other infrastructures.
He said that the federal government is in discussion with the Chinese government in order to ensure that counterfeiting of Nigeria wax, and the dumping of cheap textile fabrics from China, which is said to be with the active connivance of some Chinese officials, is brought to a complete halt. He further disclosed that the first garment industry in Nigeria will be sited in Kaduna since the country with over 140 million people is yet to have a garment industry that will support the textile industry, adding that the Federal Government was already looking at trade and tariff policy with a view to reviewing the fiscal and tariff incentive for the sector that would cushion the cost of operating.
According to the Finance Minster, "When this administration came in, it pledged support for revitalising the real sector, particularly the vibrant industries that we had and as part of that, there has been a comprehensive review of areas with great potential. Of particularly interest are the textile and garment industries. Great, sustainable and holistic way of revitalising this sector was explored."
Explaining why earlier initiatives of reviving the textile factories didn't work, the minister said "a review of the earlier initiative revealed major inadequacies because it was a very partial approach that did not take into account the myriad of problems affecting this sector and it is because of that that a more robust and comprehensive programme addressing both the production side including cotton production and the manufacturing side was looked at.
"We are looking not just at the supply of credit because the initial concept was to put in money that was not sustainable and it didn't go far enough in addressing all the key problems of the sector. So what the Federal Government has proposed is a more comprehensive approach that will look at both the supply of impute to the industries, looking right from support to cotton production, looking at improving the technology, providing credit at that level and beyond that to the industries and partnering with other technical partners abroad and more importantly looking at some of the existing constrains which include power."
Dr. Tanimu Yakubu said "at the peak of the textile industries nationwide, about 700,000 people derived their livelihood from the sector. About 1.1 million cotton farmers in the parts of Katsina, Kaduna, Kano, Zamfara, Yobe, Sokoto, Kebbi and Gombe States derived their means of live hood from the subsector. When you add those who derive direct formal employment from this sector with the reckoning that each of this people has dependents, then you are looking at an industry that provided means of livelihood to 17 million people. This means that the revitalisation of the industry has become more important in fighting crime and idleness.
"At the peak of the industry, it was contributing about 25 per cent of the manufacturing GDP, so the decline of the industry resulted in the contribution of the north to the manufacturing industry also declining. At the peak of the industry, the turnover on real terms was a little over $8 billion. Today it is not more than $300 million. At the peak of the textile industries, we have over 170 textiles working day and night between two to three shifts, today it is less than 20. We use to have about 49 ginneries, but today the number is below 10.
"We further realised that money was in fact the least problem of the industry. The cotton produced was not meeting the requirement of the international market. Operating cost for the industry was also responsible for the decline of the industry," he said.
Also in his speech, the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Humphrey Abbah said if the textile mills were revived, they would take 10 per cent of the unemployed off the street. He gave the reassurance that the federal government's effort to revive the subsector would soon yield fruits.
Later on, the delegation were taken to the site where the 215 megawatt would be generated and also taken to Kakuri industrial area where most of the mills are located and in the course of the tour, most of the government officials, after coming face to face with the awesome machineries in the mills and how they are just wasting away kept shaking their heads and lamenting.
Governor Namadi Sambo, therafter expressed appreciation to the Federal government for the attention being given to the industry and the concession and favour to Kaduna State. He said effort to revive the textile industry is partly influenced by the realisation that people from all part of Nigeria worked in the mills before their closure
He also urged all owners of the industries to start making preparations to commence production. Consequently, the United Nigeria Textiles Limited (UNTL)-the largest in the state, whose 4000 workers lost the jobs when it collapsed, has started the process of spinning yarn, while Fintex Industry will also start putting it machines in shape for eventual production of yarn-the first step in weaving of textile materials.
Presently, the federal government has started receiving commendation from key stakeholders in the industry. Comrade Umaru Mohammed who is the deputy general secretary of the National Union of Textiles, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) commended government for releasing the N10 billion to the textile industry to enable them begin operation.
He pointed out that this would go a long way in alleviating the suffering of the textile workers who have been out of job for a long time.
But a problem that the federal government or the management of the closed textile companies would have to quickly settle is the issue of gratuity. For examples, workers of the Kaduna Textile limited, (KTL) which folded up in 2002 is yet to pay it worker's gratuity and entitlement worth about N687 million. This has made them to protest at every available gathering of politicians. They have accused the 19 northern state governors who collectively owned KTL of refusing to pay them and have even demonstrated on streets where they refused to allow motorist access the roads for hours.
Even those who have died while waiting for their entitlements are totaling about 1,050. They are demanding for their gratuity through their next of kin. The numbers of textiles that stop manufacturing in Kaduna State were eight but only three were able to pay their entire worker's gratuity and other financial obligations. Workers from KTL, Arewa Textile, Finetex, and Nortex, whose gratuity was not paid have continued to agitate for it and have vowed not to allow any activity within the closed mills without their previous entitlements paid to them.
But that notwithstanding, a lot of them are interested in seeing the textiles reopened. Some have even started visiting some of the mills every morning so that they can be the first to be hired or rehired when the mills eventually commence production. But whether the federal and Kaduna state governments would ensure the reopening of the textiles despite some of the obstacles remain to be seen.
