Trade union leader demands three fold increase in revival funds

17 Mar '09

2 min read

Nigeria has been propagating a textile revival fund amounting to N70 billion since a long time, but without any tangible results. Now, the head of a major textile union says that N200 billion will be needed to stave off the crisis which engulfed the sector in Nigeria.

Mr Issa Aremu, General Secretary of the Textile Workers Union said that this figure was much more than the hyped N70 billion textiles and cotton industry revival fund announced by the government, but is yet to be implemented.

He advised the government to release a stimulus package for all sectors instead of only the textile sector, since all sectors had been affected in recent months and said the funds to disburse can be availed from lending agencies like NDIC and from the pension funds.

These loans, he suggested should be of long re-payment tenures and with low interest rates, preferably in single digits and the current interest rates of around 27 percent, does not provide a conducive atmosphere for investment.

He requested the government to immediately release the stimulus package; otherwise he warned that all sectors will start collapsing in quick order and increase un-employment across Nigeria, rendering the stimulus plan useless if it is delayed for long.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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