Nigeria’s Federal Government has been urged to take immediate action to protect the country’s remaining cotton, textile and garment production assets following the reported closure of approximately 180 textile factories.
The Cotton, Textile and Garment Development Forum (CTGDF) issued the warning as Nigeria marked World Cotton Day 2026, arguing that years of industrial decline have reduced local cotton production, eliminated manufacturing jobs and increased dependence on imported textiles.
According to the forum, Nigeria’s cotton output has fallen to an estimated 13,000 metric tonnes, while imported products now satisfy approximately 90% of domestic textile demand. These figures are estimates provided by the CTGDF and highlight what the organisation describes as a severe contraction across the national textile value chain.
Factory Closures Affect the Entire Textile Value Chain
Anibe Achimugu, Coordinator of the CTGDF, said the closure of textile factories represents more than the disappearance of individual businesses.
The decline has affected cotton farmers, ginning companies, industrial workers, local economies and government revenues. It has also increased Nigeria’s reliance on imports and placed additional pressure on the country’s foreign exchange resources.
Nigeria imported textiles and textile articles valued at approximately ₦578.51 billion during the first half of 2026, representing a 2.2% increase compared with the same period in 2025.
Annual textile imports had already risen from ₦365.46 billion in 2022 to ₦1.06 trillion in 2025, reflecting the growing presence of imported products in the Nigerian market.
Read More: Nigeria’s Textile Imports Surge as Northern Cotton Industry Struggles to Recover
The CTGDF called on the government to prevent avoidable losses among the country’s remaining cotton, ginning, textile and garment manufacturing facilities.
Particular attention was given to factories facing receivership or enforcement measures over financing provided by the Bank of Industry and other creditors.
The forum stressed that legitimate public and private debts must be recovered. However, it argued that the recovery process should be structured to preserve productive industrial assets wherever a business still has a realistic prospect of returning to operation.
According to the organisation, restructuring debt or transferring a viable factory to a capable new operator may generate better repayment prospects than selling its machinery and other assets through distressed liquidation.
The central question, the forum argued, is not whether outstanding public loans should be repaid, but whether recovery can be achieved without permanently dismantling the industrial capacity those loans were initially intended to support.
Forum Proposes 12-Month Industrial Asset Recovery Plan
The CTGDF has proposed a 12-month Cotton, Textile and Garment Industrial Asset Preservation and Recovery Protocol.
The programme would begin with a 90-day national audit of distressed factories that may qualify for intervention. Each facility would be subjected to independent technical, financial, legal, environmental and market assessments.
Based on the findings, factories could be classified for rehabilitation, financial restructuring, transfer to credible operators or orderly closure.
The forum also proposed the creation of a verified national register containing information about each facility’s ownership, creditors, legal status, machinery, utilities, workforce and current operating condition.
Such an audit could help distinguish factories with genuine rehabilitation potential from facilities that no longer possess the machinery, market access or financial viability required to resume production.
The CTGDF believes this case-by-case approach would be more effective than either automatically continuing support for failed businesses or dismantling factories that may still have economic value.
Read More: Nigeria Unveils Plan to Revive Textile Industry with Kaduna Overhaul
Government Asked to Activate Textile Development Board
The forum also called for the immediate operationalisation of the proposed Cotton, Textile and Garment Development Board.
Nigeria’s government inaugurated a steering committee in early 2026 to develop the framework for establishing the board. Its mandate includes reviewing policy recommendations, proposing funding sources, defining the board’s powers and preparing a comprehensive report for the President.
The CTGDF has now urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to approve the steering committee’s recommendations and authorise the preparation of an Executive Bill for submission to the National Assembly.
The proposed board is intended to coordinate policy, investment, standards and industrial development across Nigeria’s cotton, textile and garment value chain.
For Nigeria, reviving the industry will require more than rescuing individual factories. Cotton cultivation, ginning, spinning, fabric manufacturing, garment production, energy supply, financing and import policies will need to operate as parts of a coordinated industrial strategy.
Without such coordination, the country risks losing more of its remaining production capacity while its large domestic textile and apparel market becomes increasingly dependent on imported goods.
