The National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) has called on the Federal Government to increase the Textile Intervention Fund from the sum of 100 billion Naira to one trillion Naira.
The Union insisted that the 100 billion Naira approved by President Goodluck Jonathan for the revival of the textile sector is a far cry to the amount required to revive the over 35 textile factories that were shut down across the country due to unhealthy business environment.
President of the Union, Oladele Hunsu, made the demand on Tuesday when he led other executive members on a visit to Arewa Textiles Limited in Kaduna, which is about to re-open for production after 11 years of inactivity.
The company which used to have over 3,000 workers on its payroll was also the last place of work of the Present governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomole, before he delved into politics. While majority of the workers who were laid off have died or on their sick bed, those still alive and in good health are hoping that one day, they will resume work again at the company.
According to the Union, Nigeria loses over 170 billion Naira Value Added Tax annually to smuggling and spends over 300 billion Naira on importation of textile materials that can also be produced locally.
The Union argued that if the Central Bank of Nigeria could inject about 6 trillion Naira to bail out four distressed banks two years ago, such gesture should be extended to the textile sector that has the second largest workforce and generate huge revenue to the nation.
The union commended the management of Arewa Textiles for the step taken so far to re-open the company, and called on the Federal Government to put a total ban on importation of textile products into the country, reduce the interest rate of the intervention fund from 6 percent to 3 percent and also provide adequate power supply to the industrial sector.
On her part, the Chief Executive Officer of Arewa Textiles Limited, Dr Nemile Achimugu expressed optimism of assessing the Federal Government loan in order to bring the company back to life.
