The planned revival of the textile industry in Nigeria is a strategy in the right direction of improving the economy, creating jobs and funding the industries necessary for appropriate industrialization of our country. Most of the textile industries in Nigeria fulfill the spatial criteria for inclusive national development because they are located mainly in Kano, Kaduna, Aba and Ikeja.
When Governor General Sir Reginald Wingate of Sudan In 1925 decided to irrigate vast area of the Sudan for agricultural development especially the growing of cotton and other produce, Nigerians were sought after for work in the Al Jazirah scheme. Most of the workers who built the scheme were Nigerians stranded on their way to or return from the hajj. They have now made the Sudan home and constitute a large portion of the population of the Sudan usually referred to as “Fellata”.
Since our avowed aim is to diversify our economy away from oil and gas and to replace it with agriculture and other sustainable industries, textile industries fit appropriately our strategy. Firstly, most of the textile mills are state corporations owned and even where there are substantial foreign participation in ownership there should be no hindrance in local buy in through the stock exchange.