By Fatima Mohammed-Lawal
THE NATIONAL Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) on Tuesday called for partnership with governments at all levels to revive the nation’s textile industries.
The union’s President, Mr Peters Godonu, said in Ilorin at the 36th Annual National Education Conference that this was necessary for job creation and wealth generation.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the conference was organised in conjunction with the Nigerian Textile Garment and Tailoring Employers’ Association (NTGTEA).
The theme of the conference was “Partnership for Sustainable Industrial Development in Nigeria”, with the programme organised in collaboration with the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Ilorin.
Godonu who said the NUTGTWN was committed to industrial development in the country stated that collaboration could be done even on the public-private-partnership (PPP) basis as a strategy.
He commended Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for establishing the Kwara Garment Factory in Ilorin, urging other governors, particularly, in the cotton-producing states to emulate the governor by promoting value-added manufacturing industries.
He also commended AbdulRazaq for his commitment to sustainable industrial development, saying participants at the conference would have a guided tour of the Kwara Garment Factory before the conference ended.
In his address, the Director-General of the MINILS, Mr Issa Aremu, described the theme of the conference as apt.
Aremu, who represented the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, said the revival of the textile industry was key to the nation’s growth.
He said importation of fairly-used wears, insecurity and electricity power problem were among the challenges bedeviling the industrial sector, especially the textile industries.
Aremu charged government to protect existing textile factories and bring old factories back to operations to ensure job-creation and poverty eradication.
“The conference should aim at developing strategies for fostering effective partnership between the government, the industry and labour.
“It can also identify the various roles of each of these stakeholders for sustainable industrial development.
“This compliments President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda with respect to poverty eradication, economic growth, sustainable industrialisation, job-creation, access to capital and improvement of living standard,” he said. (NAN
