Executive Vice Chairman, State/ Chief Executive National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) Prof. Mohammed Haruna has expressed Nigeria’s readiness to stop outsourcing of garment making from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Senegal, Mauritania and Cote D’Ivoire.
To this end, Prof. Haruna said NASENI would soon collaborate with state governments, small and medium scale entrepreneurs to revive the collapsed ginneries, particularly those in Gusau, Funtua, Zaria, and Sokoto.
Haruna announced this in Daura, Katsina state, during the opening ceremony of skill development training and empowerment of 100 youths in modern methods of tailoring and fashion design.
“I have noted that of recent, some young men and women of northern Nigeria are outsourcing tailoring and garment making from Senegal, Mauritania, Cote D’Ivoire and even in the United Arab Emirates due to non-utilization of appropriate new and emerging tools in the occupation in Nigeria.
“NASENI under the chairmanship of President Muhammadu Buhari will not allow further loss of gainful employment of Nigerians in this occupation.
“This training therefore targets to improve the hands-on experience of the tailoring and design professionals in Katsina State with advanced training tools such as motorized straight sewing machine, computerized broidery, weaving machine, pattern design, steam pressing among many more occupational resources required to undertake all kinds of simple and advanced cloths design and home fabrics to satisfy tastes, customers and attracts patronage.
“The 100 trainees in this exercise were carefully selected from those already in the field of fashion, tailoring, design and garment services who have been earning their living through these professions. They are expected to learn and train others.
“It is therefore train the trainer exercise. The start-up equipment to be distributed to participant at the end of this training and the ones yet to arrive are adequate to carryout multifunctional services and compete favourably with the foreign service providers.
“Let me use this opportunity to declare that NASENI is willing to collaborate with SMEs, governments and individuals to revive the collapsed ginneries particularly of Gusau, Funtua, Zaria, Sokoto etc where I had previous experiences of been a service provider of factory and other facility maintenance in these industry’s glory years. The Agency can jointly invest and or have stake in a profit-sharing format to revive textile manufacturing in this region,” the NASENI boss said.
Haruna, who said plans were afoot to construct a modern vocational training centre in Daura, displayed the Certificate of Occupancy of the land handed over to him by the Katsina state government for the project.
He said: “Tailoring and fashion design vocation is among top earning and profitable occupation. The missing link that is essential is the application of modern tools, techniques, creativity, and capacity to deploy modern design techniques and use of advanced sewing machines and other working tools for growth and expansion.
“It is about style, trend and human taste that are constantly changing into whatever is trending. Any tailor that is not updating his/her knowledge with modern system of patterns, embroidery and fashion will also be thrown out of business.”
