Textile worth N300bn imported annually without paying taxes into Nigeria

Textile and garments worth N300 billion being annually imported into Nigeria without paying duties or taxes. This was revealed by Issa Aremu, the General-Secretary of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria in llorin, the Kwara State Capital at the 26th National Education Conference of the Union. He is also the vice president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

Aremu who disclosed that smuggled products occupy over 90 per cent of the market has warned that unless effective steps were taken by the government to reverse the textile Industry, several gains would be lost and thereby aggravate the unemployment situation in the country.
The Federal Government has been talking about a new textile policy, since February 2013, but there had been no progress.

Most of the clothes for sale in Nigeria are imported from China. According to Industry leaders, low cost helped drive the textile factories out of business. But they stress that corruption; mismanagement and lack of resources are equally to blame for the industry’s collapse.

According to him, the NLC and the TUC would observe this year’s Africa Industrialisation Day on the November 20, to stimulate the International Community commitment to the Industrialisation of Africa.