FG Bars MDAs From Importing Uniforms — Emefiele

• FG Bars MDAs From Importing Uniforms — Emefiele

The Federal Government has order the Ministries, Departments and Agencies to ensure full compliance with the Executive Order 003 and patronise local manufacturers for their textiles and uniforms.

The Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, said this on Thursday, during the meeting with service chiefs and chief executives of uniformed services in Nigeria, towards reviving the textile industry through enforcement of Executive Order 003, which supports local content in procurement by MDAs.

He said, “Crucial to this resolve is the call for patriotism and the need to support local manufacturers of textile, through patronage by MDAs as entrenched in Executive Order 003.

“Mr President has directed full compliance with this order as it will help in addressing the pressure on our foreign reserves, through demands for forex for the importation of textile and clothing materials.

“Our interactions with stakeholders revealed that MDAs have not made any significant order for uniforms or clothing materials from our Nigerian textile manufacturers and garment companies, and the governments’ efforts at resuscitating the textile industry will not be actualised if they are not supported through local patronage, among other incentives.”

The CBN governor said that the event with the uniform men symbolised the country’s commitment to attain self-sufficiency in cotton production, with a view to serve the textile and garment segments of the value chain with quality inputs, as it targeted zero importation by the year 2020.

“I am pleased to inform you that I have been holding meetings with the Cotton, Textile and Garment sector stakeholders toward reviving Nigeria’s textile sector. We analysed the huge potential that exist in the sector, identified the challenges militating against the sector’s contribution to Nigeria’s growth and development, and presented quick wins for reviving the sector.”

He mentioned that the CTG sector was faced with some systemic challenges, which had hampered and diminished its role as the leading employer of labour, thereby preventing its contribution to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product.

In the 1970’s and early 1980’s, he said, Nigeria was home to Africa’s largest textile industry, with over 180 textile mills in operations, which employed close to over 450,000 people and contributed over 25 per cent of the workforce in the manufacturing sector.

He added that presently, most of the factories had all stopped operations, as only 25 textile factories were operating below 20 per cent of their production capacities, and the workforce in Nigeria’s textile industry stood at less than 20,000 people.

Emefiele said the chief executives of uniformed services, had what was necessary to change the narrative and rewrite the history of Nigeria’s struggling CTG Sector.

“Crucial to this resolve is the call for patriotism and the need to support local manufacturers of textiles, through patronage by MDAs as entrenched in Executive Order 003,” he said.