He said there was the need to embrace the campaign which he said could contribute to the revival of the cotton, textile and garment industries which is one of the goals of the present administration.
According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, the Vice President spoke during a meeting he had with industry stakeholders and members of the Implementation Committee on the National Cotton, Textile and Garment Policy at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
While noting that the challenge of smuggling of foreign textile materials into the country had to be tackled, Osinbajo reportedly said overall “it is up to all of us to see that this particular initiative works, we have talked enough.”
While stressing the benefits inherent in patronising locally-made products, the Vice-President added, “Nigerians buying Nigerian products is very important and it goes beyond the symbolism of wearing Nigerian-made dresses. It is important for our economy and well-being.”
Earlier, the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs. Aisha Abubakar, noted that the ministry came up with the Cotton, Textile and Garment policy, in order to provide “a suit of interventions holistically across the value chain, including encouraging local patronage, controlling smuggling, production of improved seedling, cost of energy, cost of funds, training and upgrading and modernization of infrastructure.”
She added that past attempts to revive the industries failed because they had addressed only the issue of funding.
Leading the stakeholders to the meeting was the General Secretary of the National Union of Garment and Textile Workers of Nigeria, Mr. Issa Aremu, who praised the Buhari presidency of “walking the talk,” explaining that the APC presidential ticket had promised to revamp the industry during the electioneering campaigns last year.
Members of the committee comprising of both government officials and industry stakeholders were said to have earlier highlighted a number of strategies for the revival of the cotton, textile and garments industries.
The strategies include the promotion of Nigeria-made dresses among others.
Specifically the committee is proposing a “Wear Naija Day,” where public officials and employees of corporate organisations would all wear locally made fabric.
The Federal Government through the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment had articulated a new policy to revamp the industries through a number of interventions including battling smuggling in order to attain a 15 percent reduction by next year, facilitating assess to funding for the sector, addressing the challenges of energy, lifting the ban on importation of finished products and using the duties and levies raised therefrom to support the industries, among several other strategie.
Punch.
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