By Ayo Akinfe
Would you not just love it if one of Nigeria’s political parties unveiled a textile manufacturing policy as ambitious as this? For decades, we have watched our once-thriving textile industry collapse, leaving millions unemployed and our markets flooded with imports. It is time to revive this sector with bold, structured reforms.
First, governors of the 19 northern states must be encouraged to make land available so Nigeria’s cotton cultivation area expands to at least 2 million hectares by 2029. To support this, the Bank of Industry should provide loans to cotton farmers at interest rates no higher than 2%.
Nigeria’s Arewa Textiles should be reborn as the Nigerian Textile Company, privatised, floated on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, and opened to foreign partners, with the federal government retaining a 25% stake. Nigerian tailors must also be empowered. By forming a Nigerian Tailors Guild, they can secure government clothing contracts and take a 25% stake in the textile company. Farmers too should organise into a Nigerian Cotton Producers Association, holding a 10% stake.
To protect local industry, it must be illegal for any government ministry, department, or agency to outsource clothing contracts to foreign companies. If we cannot produce an item locally, we simply do not need it. At the same time, global fashion giants like Armani, Dior, Gucci, Ralph Lauren, and Yves Saint Laurent should be offered five-year tax holidays and 50-year land leases if they establish plants in Nigeria employing at least 500 people.
Imports must be discouraged with heavy tariffs — 500% on clothing imports and 1,000% on designer labels. Goods produced within Nigeria, however, should be tax-free. The Nigerian Textile Company should also brand and patent unique designs of our traditional attires — agbada, isi agu, head tie, wrapper — turning them into globally recognised fashion statements.
This policy would not only revive Nigeria’s textile industry but also create jobs, boost exports, and give our culture a global platform. It is time for our political parties to think big and make textiles the pride of Nigerian manufacturing once again.
📧 ayoakinfe@gmail.com
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