Collapse Of Textile Factories Robs Kaduna Of Commercial Status

THE surviving workers of the comatose textiles factories In Kaduna have gone through untold hardship. Many have even died, but Nigerians are still hopeful that the sector may bounce back again to commence production of local made fabrics.

Already, the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has given assurance that his government will revive all the collapsed textile factories in the state.

The governor made the promise during his familiarization tour of some textile factories in Kaduna State soon after he assumed office, a few weeks ago.

During the tour of the comatose textile factories, El-Rufai lamented what he described as the sorry state of infrastructure at the factories, which he said had led to loss of jobs and revenue for the government.

As part of effort to turn around the sector, the governor said he would ensure the full implementation of the ban on smuggled textile materials into the country as well as giving the textile factories lifeline to pick up again.

The leadership of the textile workers union has been campaigning for the revival of the industry, in view of its contribution to the nation’s employment profile. They said the major problems facing the textile industry and the manufacturing sector in general is infrastructural inadequacy. They enumerated the problems as: electricity supply, smuggling, counterfeiting, fake raw materials, and lack of local patronage, among others.

Kaduna used to be hub of textile manufacturing activities in 70s and 80s when many of the companies operated at full capacity. The city had many textile companies, including Kaduna Textiles Limited (KTL) and Arewa Textiles that employed thousands of youths. Today, the story is no longer the same as those that could have been absorbed by these factories are roaming the streets and have also become easy tools for use by Boko Haram.

United Nigerian Textiles Company Limited had over 7,000 workers in its payroll before 2007, when it was shut down and later re-opened in 2010. Despite having quality machines and manpower, the company has been producing at very low capacity with few staff, due to low patronage. Although, the Federal Government had earlier intervened by providing a lifeline of N60 billion to ensure revival of the companies, till today, there has been no signal that the funds injected have produced any meaningful results. Many of the companies still remain closed, while their former workers continue to die due to unpaid entitlements.

Specifically, a recent report by the Coalition of Closed Unpaid Textiles Workers, Kaduna State chapter, indicates that over 2,700 ex-workers of the shutdown textiles companies and family members have so far lost their lives. The report also shows that many living members of the coalition have also developed one sickness or the other, which are likely to lead to more deaths if nothing is urgently done to salvage the situation.

The National President of the National Union of Textile, Garments and Tailoring Workers (NUTGTWN), Comrade Oladele Hunsu, gave a graphical account of how the textiles sector contributed to the nation’s development, in the past, pointing out that the textile industry in the
1980s used to be the second largest employer of labour, after the Federal Government.

“But over the years, there has been steady decline in operations of the textiles companies. This had led to their eventual collapse, and loss of jobs, low capacity utilisation and drop in government revenue due to non-collection of excise duties. Some manufacturers actually got the loan and it was judiciously utilized, but I don’t have the list of beneficiaries,” he added.

Hunsu called on the government to ban importation of textile materials or impose higher tariffs on imports, improve infrastructure and engage Asian governments on best trade practices, adding that it was necessary for the government to chart a new course for the revival of the industry.

“This will not only bring back jobs and boost economic activities again, but will also halt the progression of deaths among the unpaid textiles workers,” he said