The federal government, in collaboration with the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), has commenced moves towards resuscitating Nigeria’s moribund cotton industry.
The target is to create over 1.4 million jobs annually in the cotton/textile sector. The focus is on developing key components of the cotton value chain, comprising farming, weaving, ginning, and linking cotton, all in line with the industrialisation drive of President Bola Tinubu’s government.
This formed the high point of a meeting held yesterday between Vice President Kashim Shettima and a delegation from the ICAC led by its Executive Director, Eric Trachtenberg, at the State House, Abuja.
Speaking after remarks from the ICAC delegation and other participants at the meeting, Shettima urged stakeholders to come up with a roadmap for the revitalisation of the cotton/textile sector in Nigeria, noting that, “it is time to work more and talk less”.
He assured that the Tinubu administration would make conscious efforts to ensure the country harnesses opportunities in the cotton value chain, including ensuring that Nigeria regains its ICAC membership.