The Chairman, Nigerian Union of Textile and Garment Industry, Mr Ali Paul, has called on the Federal Government to adequately fund the Textile and Garment industry to enable it to contribute to the growth and development of the national economy.
Paul made the call in an interview on Wednesday in Abuja, he said that adequate funding of the industry would help revive the sector to create more wealth for the nation and generate employment for the teeming youths.
According to him, the fortunes of the textile industry in Kaduna has declined significantly, due to negligence by past administrations.
For now, the textile industry has gone down and a lot of Nigerians are jobless.
“When the industry is revived, jobs will be created; the industry will contribute towards socio-economic development.
“We call on the government to see funding of the sector as a prerequisite for national development.”
He said that if the military and the paramilitary in the country could contract one textile industry to produce their uniforms, the industry will come back to life and it will create jobs for youths.
The unionist appealed to the government to prioritise the use of taxes to enable it to meet the demand of the people.
“If the challenge is funding, let them use tax payers money to revive ailing industries so that Nigerians will have jobs to be able to put food on the table.
He also urged the Federal Government to address the issue of salary arrears, saying that people would perform better with the payment of their wages.
