The Senate on Tuesday called for a total ban on the importation of textile products into Nigeria as part of efforts to revive the country’s struggling textile industry and create jobs.
The resolution followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by Senator Sunday Katung and co-sponsored by several lawmakers, including Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, Adams Oshiomhole, Mohammed Monguno, Ibrahim Khalid and Mustapha Khabeeb.
Leading the debate, Katung lamented the decline of an industry that was once one of Nigeria’s largest employers of labour.
He recalled that the first large textile manufacturing mill in Nigeria was established in Kaduna in 1957, while government policies in the 1960s and 1970s helped the sector flourish.
According to him, Nigeria had about 167 textile mills in the late 1970s and 1980s, employing nearly 500,000 workers.
Katung noted that Kaduna earned the nickname “Textile City” because of the concentration of major textile companies operating in the state.
Lawmakers who contributed to the debate blamed the sector’s collapse on inadequate government protection, smuggling, and the influx of imported textile products.
Senator Jibrin Isah urged the National Assembly to work closely with relevant government agencies to ensure that the Senate’s resolutions are implemented.
“This motion is very important, but I don’t want it to die like other motions,” he said.
“I want us to engage the Ministry of Industry. We have to sit down with the ministry and tell them how this thing should go. This is what we call financial engineering; we have to structure it.”
Also contributing, Senator Ogoshi Onawo said reviving the textile industry could help address rising unemployment and insecurity across the country.
“This motion wouldn’t have come at a better time than this. All that is happening in our country today is due to lack of jobs for our youths,” he said.
“I am sure we can come back on track, get our youths employed, get our farmers engaged, and this country will be better for it.”
For his part, Senator Adamu Aliero argued that a complete ban on textile imports was necessary to protect local manufacturers and revive cotton production.
“Nigeria used to be the largest producer of cotton in the world,” he said.
“We were producing a lot of cotton, but because of a lack of protection and smuggling, textile mills started closing, and we saw a lot of textiles coming from Asia.”
“If we really want to revive the sector, the only solution is a total ban.”
Following a voice vote, the Senate urged the Federal Government, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to take steps towards reviving textile industries across the country.
The upper chamber also called for a total ban on textile imports, additional funding for the Bank of Industry to support the textile sector, and policies to encourage increased cotton production among farmers.
Speaking after the motion was adopted, Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin described the issue as vital to Nigeria’s economic growth.
“It is something that touches on the overall well-being of Nigeria and our economy,” he said.
Nigeria’s textile industry was once a major contributor to the economy, employing hundreds of thousands of workers and supporting cotton farmers across the country.
However, the sector has suffered decades of decline due to poor infrastructure, smuggling, high production costs, and competition from imported fabrics, leading to the closure of many textile mills and the loss of thousands of jobs.
