Fabric sellers in Kano have frowned at the move to ban and criminalize the importation of Adire/Kampala and other fabrics that can be locally produced.
The House of Representatives, through a motion by Afolabi Afuape (APC-Ogun), Tuesday said the move was to protect the local cottage industry and conserve scarce foreign exchange.
Afuape argued that the influx of foreign imitations of Adire/Kampala, tie, and dye into Nigeria’s market had negatively impacted the local industry.
Nigeria Info reports that the cost of production, lack of favorable government policies, and competition with cheap and often substandard imported fabrics have all contributed to suffocating the country’s textile industry.
The Nigerian textile industry was a dominant force in Africa and beyond in the 1970s and 1980s.
All that is left of the past glory is an abundance of labor-related crises as seen in the case of Angel Spinning and Dyeing Limited in Kano.
However, the affected fabric sellers in Kano who import from China and India admonished the government to establish the local producers first before moving to ban importation.
“If the government wants to ban it, they should ensure to produce a good quality for us to use because nobody likes something inferior,” one of the sellers said.
“If you (government) can provide the kind of quality materials we sell in the market, fine. But if that company does not produce the kind of material we need, we will not agree with that decision,” said another seller.
Another adire trader also urged the government “to establish Nigerians” and “let them start their production.”
Yet, another trader wants the government to revive moribund textile companies.
“What happened to NICHEM, what happened to Kano Textile Company?” Mrs. Ovenseri queried.
“There is no encouragement. Let’s improve on our own local products first before we say we will ban anything coming from outside because we cannot go naked.”
With over 117,000 jobs in the nation's textile industry lost in the past 27 years, the Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association is warning that more would be lost if the federal government does not intervene to salvage the crumbling industry.
