Lately in Abuja, an excessively formidable Vice President Kashim Shettima led a delegation that included Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma and Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo to a gathering with Eric Trachtenberg, Govt Director of Worldwide Cotton Advisory Committee, based mostly in Washington DC, in America.
Discussions centred on growing the cotton worth chain of farming, ginning, weaving and processing. On the finish of the assembly, Nigeria’s delegation felt sufficiently satisfied to announce that it will have the ability to “create over 1.4 million jobs within the cotton/textile sector yearly.”
To realize this grandiose goal, Vice President Shettima “urged stakeholders to give you a roadmap for the revitalization of the cotton/textile sector in Nigeria,” noting “it’s time to work extra and speak much less.” Throughout the problem thrown by the Vice President is the Freudian slip that this authorities got here with nary a thought nor plan for neither the cotton sub-sector nor even the whole textile sector that was once the biggest employer of labour in Nigeria, after authorities.
From the standard echo chamber, Governor Uzodinma stated “the chance created by the assembly is a brand new starting in Nigeria’s quest for industrial restoration and creation of jobs for our teeming youths in addition to a brand new alternative for a brand new partnership.”
Governor Sanwo-Olu additionally weighed in with an incredulous promise of readiness to off-take cotton grown in different elements of Nigeria, on behalf of Lagos State that doesn’t personal a textile manufacturing unit! He would have been taken extra significantly if he got here to the assembly with some executives of textile factories which can be based mostly in Lagos. He put the cart earlier than the horse.
His gaffe is minor when in comparison with the ambition of the Federal Authorities that has no understanding or clear plan of tips on how to revive the textile sector. It’s baffling that Senator Adams Oshiomole, who spent his whole working profession within the textile trade, was not on the federal government crew.
In the event that they did, they’d not be asking stakeholders to give you roadmaps, virtually late within the day. Additionally, they’d have identified that, relating to cotton as the one supply of base material for the textile trade is like flying the proverbial MKO Abiola chook with one wing. Nigeria’s textile trade makes use of cotton yarn to weave base material for its manufacturing. Nevertheless, it makes use of polyester, a petrochemical materials, excess of cotton. Even khaki material, historically woven out of cotton yarn, now has polyester as weft yarn to weave its base-cloth.
A rustic that grows a mere 27,000 tonnes of cotton yearly, and has no concrete plans to safe the lives of its farmers, and their farmlands, is constructing its citadel within the air, by making textile revitalization plans with out wanting on the polyester, a derivable from its personal huge petrochemical that it has in additional than ample provide.
For context, Mali, the one African nation within the prime 10 record of cotton growers, grows 340,000 tonnes yearly. Will Nigeria import cotton to reinforce its meagre stock from Mali, or India, {that a} report of the Worldwide Cotton Affiliation (to not be confused with Worldwide Cotton Advisory Committee) signifies, grows 5,900,000 tonnes of cotton yearly?
It seems that the Federal Authorities is unwittingly making Nigeria a prepared sufferer of the worldwide cotton enterprise, selling cotton as a recreation changer for the clearly supine textile trade, whereas neglecting the available petrochemical useful resource. There’s an excessive amount of ‘ad-hocism’ within the method to coverage formulation in Nigeria over time.
The Worldwide Cotton Advisory Committee, shaped in 1972, is an affiliation of nations that develop, devour and commerce in cotton. What this implies, in easy English, is that this affiliation is shaped to maintain nations, like Nigeria, as major producers of commodities solely. If we could ask, what are the plans of the Federal Authorities to revive the textile trade?
Two coverage or attitudinal paradigms want to vary within the ranks of Nigeria’s coverage makers: First is, the angle of working off the cuff by coverage makers, who hardly come to the planning desk with satisfactory and applicable preparation. Second, is the belief by the coverage makers that cotton is the only or main supply of base material of Nigeria’s near-comatose textile trade. Polyester, sourced from petrochemical, should take the cake for that.
Nonetheless, we commend the federal government for the brand new curiosity in reviving cotton/textile sector.
