The Senate on Tuesday urged a comprehensive prohibition on the importation of textile products into Nigeria as part of renewed efforts to revive the country’s declining textile industry and stimulate job creation.
According to The Punch, the resolution was passed after lawmakers adopted a motion sponsored by Senator Sunday Katung and co-sponsored by several senators, including Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, Adams Oshiomhole, Mohammed Monguno, Ibrahim Khalid and Mustapha Khabeeb.
Presenting the motion, Katung expressed concern over the collapse of an industry that once ranked among Nigeria’s largest employers of labour.
He recalled that the country’s first major textile manufacturing mill was established in Kaduna in 1957, adding that policy support in the 1960s and 1970s enabled the sector to expand significantly.
According to him, Nigeria operated about 167 textile mills during the late 1970s and 1980s, providing employment for nearly 500,000 workers.
He further noted that Kaduna earned the popular description “Textile City” due to the heavy concentration of textile firms operating within the state at the time.
During the debate, lawmakers attributed the sector’s collapse to weak policy enforcement, widespread smuggling, and the surge in imported fabrics flooding the market.
Senator Jibrin Isah urged the National Assembly to collaborate with relevant ministries to ensure full implementation of the resolution.
“This motion is very important, but I don’t want it to die like other motions,” he said.
“I want us to engage the Ministry of Industry. We have to sit down with the ministry and tell them how this thing should go. This is what we call financial engineering; we have to structure it.”
Also contributing, Senator Ogoshi Onawo stressed that reviving the textile sector could help reduce unemployment and address rising insecurity across the country.
“This motion wouldn’t have come at a better time than this. All that is happening in our country today is due to lack of jobs for our youths,” he said.
“I am sure we can come back on track, get our youths employed, get our farmers engaged, and this country will be better for it.”
In his remarks, Senator Adamu Aliero insisted that banning textile imports entirely was necessary to protect local manufacturers and revive cotton farming.
“Nigeria used to be the largest producer of cotton in the world,” he said.
“We were producing a lot of cotton, but because of a lack of protection and smuggling, textile mills started closing, and we saw a lot of textiles coming from Asia.”
“If we really want to revive the sector, the only solution is a total ban.”
After a voice vote, the Senate called on the Federal Government, alongside the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, to take concrete steps toward reviving local textile production nationwide.
Lawmakers also backed a total ban on textile imports, increased funding for the Bank of Industry to support manufacturers, and stronger policies to boost cotton farming across the country.
Speaking after the resolution, Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin described the matter as critical to Nigeria’s economic recovery.
“It is something that touches on the overall well-being of Nigeria and our economy,” he said.
Nigeria’s textile sector, once a major pillar of the economy, previously employed hundreds of thousands of workers and sustained cotton farming communities across the country.
However, decades of decline driven by poor infrastructure, smuggling, high production costs, and competition from imported textiles led to widespread factory closures and significant job losses.
