The Federal Government has collaborated with the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) to revive the moribund cotton/textile industry.
Disclosing this in a statement on Tuesday, the Vice President’s Media Aide, Stanley Nkwocha, said the government met with the ICAC at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Chairing the meeting is the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima.
At the meeting, discussions centred on developing key components of the cotton value chain comprising farming, weaving, ginning and linking of cotton, all in line with the industrialization drive of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.
The target, Nkwocha stated, was to “create over 1.4 million jobs annually in the cotton/textile sector.” He said the delegation from the ICAC was led by its Executive Director, Eric Trachtenberg.
The statement read, “Senator Shettima urged stakeholders to come up with a roadmap for the revitalization of the cotton/textile sector in Nigeria, noting that “it is time to work more and talk less.”
The Vice President assured that “the Tinubu administration will make conscious efforts to ensure the country harnesses opportunities in the cotton value chain, including ensuring that Nigeria regains its ICAC membership.”
Shettima thanked the delegation for the visit, just as he acknowledged ICAC’s commitment to the development of the sector in Africa, noting that “your diverse backgrounds in ICAC gives a nuance understanding of the complexities and opportunities in the cotton value chain.”
In his remarks, Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said his state was well positioned to harness opportunities in the cotton value chain, given that it hosts the factories, the market and is a critical component of the business ecosystem for the cotton sub-sector.
The governor expressed excitement at the possibility and opportunity for the resuscitation of the cotton and textile sector with a particular focus on job creation and economic transformation.
Sanwo-Olu pledged the state’s readiness to offtake cotton produced in other parts of the country for companies based within the area.
On his part, Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State said the meeting with the delegation from the ICAC is the beginning of Nigeria’s quest to revamp the textile industry as part of the broad objective for industrializing the economy.
He said Imo State and the Southeastern region will key into the renewed effort to revamp the cotton/textile sector with the bid to create jobs for the people and for the overall industrialization drive of the country.
“The opportunity created by the meeting is a new beginning in our quest for industrial recovery and creation of jobs for our teeming youths as well as an opportunity for a new partnership,” Uzodimma said.
