Nigeria spends $4bn to import textiles annually –Aremu

-N2.07trn on fuel in 9 months – NBS

By Moses John and Donald Iorchir Abuja

General Secretary of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, Comrade Issa Aremu, has revealed that Nigeria spends a whopping $ U S 4 b i l l i o n annually on imported textile materials. He also challenged the Police and Customs to stop buying officers’ uniforms from Bangladesh and China, when the surviving textile factories can produce at home. He made the disclosures in a birthday message congratulating President Muhammadu Buhari who recently turned 75.

“Th e point cannot be overstated. Nigeria currently spends over US$4 billion annually importing textiles and ready-made clothing when it has the potential to produce for the local market and even export to the ECOWAS market of over 175 million people, as well as to the developed world, (e.g. the United States under AGOA and EU GSP scheme which Kenya, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Madagascar and a number of African countries are already exploiting).” On the president’s birthday, Aremu said “celebration of life assumes special importance for President Buhari, who with the grace of God and global solidarity, recently triumphed over health challenges.”

He described his health recovery and 75th birthday, as total pleasure for textile union and labour movement in general. “President Buhari commendably made the revival of textile industry and manufacturing sector his cardinal campaign programme.

We bear witness that through the active facilitation of the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osibanjo and Ministers of Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah and Aisha Abubakar, Buhari administration has initiated a number of measures aimed at industry revival. “Of particular significance was the unprecedented signing of Executive Orders by Vice President Osibanjo in line with the promise of President Buhari on the ease of doing business.

“Of special importance to textile industry is the order mandating government agencies to spend more of their budgets on locally produced goods. Th is singular order would help in the recovery of the textile and garment industry.”

 ‘…N2.07trn on fuel’

Also, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that Nigeria spent N2.07trillion on fuel importation in nine months. It said the country spent the sum of N476.755 billion on petrol importation during the third quarter of 2017 alone.

The NBS also noted that gas importation accounted for 2.42 per cent of the country’s total import with N56.752 billion. The data was obtained from the NBS foreign trade statistics for third quarter of 2017, indicating that, of the total petroleum products imported, N1.544 trillion was spent on the importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol.

 

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