President Mohammadu Buhari yesterday directed the Central Bank of
Nigeria and the Industrial Training Fund to provide special funds for
the training of members of the National Union of Textile Garment and
Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN). The president gave the directive
in Abuja yesterday when he declared open, the 31st annual national
education conference of the NUTGTWN.
Buhari, represented by
Registrar, Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria, Prof. Josiah
Ajiboye, said the CBN and ITF should provide the training required for
textile members to meet up with the quality and quantity required in the
production of local fabrics expected by the implementation of the
Executive Order 003. A
“The existing 40,000 garment and textile
workers must be trained and re-trained. I will use this opportunity to
call on the CBN to collaborate with your union and the ITF to come in
and encourage the union to provide funds to train and retrain the
textile workforce in Nigeria,” the president said. He said the union had
the capacity to transform Nigeria’s rural economy and revive the sector
by creating more than 2 million jobs, assuring that “we are going to
ensure that the garment industry is expanded.”
Buhari said the
closure of Nigeria’s land borders and import restriction was to
encourage local production and benefit local industries. NUTGTWN General
Secretary Comrade Issa Aremu, said the borders’ closure had helped to
overhaul the textile and garment industry in the country. He, however,
stressed that the border closure should not be permanent.