The Nigeria Customs Service, has been called upon to declare a serious war against the smuggling of textile products into the country in order to protect the local Industry and enable it grow.
Stakeholders under the aegis of Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association, NTMA, who made the call asked customs to go to the extent of identifying and destroying smugglers’ warehouses in major cities including Kano, Lagos, kaduna and Onitsha.
Speaking at a forum in Lagos, the President of the association, Mr Folorunsho Daniyan, decried that despite the efforts to revive the textile industry, it was still being confronted with many challenges.
Mr. Daniyan said the challenges confronting the textile industry included high cost of production, unrestrained smuggling and counterfeiting of Made in Nigeria textile, poor patronage despite federal government’s executive order 093 of 2017 and inadequate and costly electricity supply.
Others are poor infrastructure, high taxation and interest rates, high cost of diesel and the depreciating value of the Naira.
He said the Nigerian Customs Service needed to be more patriotic and adopt new creative measures in the fight, which must include consistent raids of warehouses of smugglers in Kano, Lagos, kaduna, Onitsha other big cities.
Mr Daniyan also demanded the establishment of Presidential task force made up of relevant stakeholders including the textile manufacturers and the union with the power to confiscate goods smuggled into the country.
He said the promised benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement will elude Nigeria if the illegal importation of textile fabrics and other products Nigeria has the capacity to produce locally, continue to find their ways into the Nation’s markets unchecked.
Mr Daniyan conveyed NTMA’s appreciation to some Government Institutions,namely Central Bank of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment as well as Bank of Industry for the measures they have taken aimed at reviving the textile industry.
The NTMA president also called for urgent stakeholders’ meeting that must include the union to objectively review some measures to ascertain the level of success as well as the challenges.
The President of Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association, who called on President Muhammad Buhari, to ensure holistic implementation of the Cotton Textile Garment policy, noted that the textile industry remains a critical area for addressing the current high level of unemployment and attendant security challenges in the country.
He commended the governor of Anambra State Governor Prof. Chukwuma Soludo for embracing the wearing of Nigerian made fabric, urging other Government functionaries at all levels to emulate him.
