The Senate has asked the Federal Government to impose an outright ban on the importation of foreign textile materials as part of efforts to revive the country’s struggling textile industry and stimulate local cotton production.
The Senate also urged the Ministry of Agriculture and Trade and Investment to take urgent steps to revive textile manufacturing nationwide, particularly along the Kaduna-Kano industrial corridor.
The resolutions followed the adoption of a motion titled ‘urgent need to revive the textile industries in Nigeria with particular reference to the Kaduna-Kano Axis’, sponsored by Senator Sunday Katung (APC, Kaduna South) and co-sponsored by several lawmakers.
Presenting the motion, Senator Katung noted that Nigeria’s first large-scale textile manufacturing mill was established in Kaduna in 1957, a development that later spread to other regions and contributed significantly to industrial growth and employment generation.
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Katung noted that government intervention policies in the 1960s and 1970s, including restrictions on textile imports, encouraged investment in local production, and by the late 1970s and 1980s, Nigeria had about 167 textile mills employing more than 500,000 workers directly, making the sector the second-largest employer of labour.
He further lamented the sector’s major setback, attributing it to obsolete equipment, lack of capital, and an inconsistent power supply, among other factors.
Lawmakers who supported the motion emphasised the need for deliberate government intervention to restore the industry’s competitiveness, boost local production, and reduce dependence on imports.
The Senate also called for increased funding to the Bank of Industry (BoI) to support the revival of textile companies and requested the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to intensify efforts to encourage cotton farming, describing it as critical to the survival of the textile sector.
After extensive deliberations, the Senate adopted the motion and urged the Government to take steps towards reviving the entire textile value chain, from cotton cultivation to manufacturing and distribution, to enhance industrial productivity, create jobs and stimulate economic growth.
