NACOTAN calls for establishment of cotton council

The National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN) has called for the establishment of a cotton, textile and garment (CTG) council for proper regulation of the sector. This is contained in a communiqué issued in Abuja after a one-day seminar involving key players of the CTG value chain on national dialogue on CTG policy. The communiqué was jointly signed by Mr. Anibe Achimugu, NACOTAN President; Hamma Kwajaffa, Director-General, Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association; and Samuel Oloruntoba, Executive Secretary, Cotton Ginners Association, among others.

The association recommended that apart from the two government officials, who are to serve on the CTG council, other members should come from the private sector. They also said that the CTG Development Forum should have a strategic business plan that would be private sector-based. Among other resolutions was that players should come up with actionable timelines for the implementation of resolutions reached at the meeting. Accordingly, the association also desired the creation of CTG processing zones and clusters in different parts of the country to aid concentration of infrastructure in those areas as well as to reduce cost.

They also said there must be a follow through by the CTG leadership for the implementation of the Executive Order 003, among others and that, the government had set aside fund for the different aspect of the value chain, which would require that players take advantage of this opportunity through collective bargaining. The communiqué stated further that the seminar was coordinated with the collaboration of the German Cooperation agency, Deutsche Zusammennarbett, the European Union, and the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment.