The Federal Government’s latest push to revive Nigeria’s Cotton, Textile and Garment (CTG) sector is facing mounting scrutiny, as industry players warn that persistent insecurity in key cotton-producing states, weak agricultural foundations and a history of policy failures could derail the initiative before it gains traction.
At a recent high-level meeting in Abuja led by John Owan Enoh, Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, officials unveiled plans to integrate cotton farming, ginning, textile manufacturing and garment production through a network of industrial parks.
While the proposal signals a shift towards a value chain approach, findings by stakeholders and analysts suggest the plan may be built on fragile ground.
“There is a disconnect between policy ambition and on-the-ground realities,” said Suleiman Bello, former Deputy President of the Kano Chamber of Commerce, Mines, Industry and Agriculture (KACCIMA).
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“Unless the government confronts the real constraints—especially insecurity and production shortfalls—this may end up like previous interventions.”
Insecurity: The missing link
BusinessDay’s investigations reveal that insecurity—largely absent from official policy framing—has become one of the most critical threats to cotton production across Northern Nigeria.
In states such as Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and parts of Sokoto, recurring incidents of banditry, kidnappings and violent attacks have forced farmers off their land, disrupted planting cycles and reduced harvest volumes.
Farmers and local operators say entire communities in some cotton belts have been displaced, while those who remain are often unable to access farmlands during peak seasons due to fear of attack.
Despite this, the current revival blueprint makes limited reference to concrete security interventions tailored to agricultural zones, raising concerns about how the government intends to guarantee steady raw material supply to the proposed textile hubs.
A ginner in Kaduna, who requested anonymity, said: “You can’t talk about scaling cotton production when farmers cannot even go to their farms safely. Security is not just a challenge; it is the foundation of the entire value chain.”
Cotton supply deepens
Beyond insecurity, Nigeria’s cotton production remains critically weak. Although the country has vast arable land across Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara, Kaduna, Kano, Adamawa and Gombe States, average yields hover between 400 and 500 kilograms per hectare—far below the global average of up to three tonnes.
Experts attribute this gap to a mix of poor seed quality, high input costs, pest infestations and limited extension services but note that insecurity has further compounded these challenges by discouraging investment and limiting access to farms.
Data from Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Cotton, Textile and Garment Industry Sector Group, indicate that local cotton output is currently insufficient to meet even a fraction of the demand that would be generated if textile mills were revived at scale.
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A broken value chain
Even where cotton is produced, structural inefficiencies persist. The absence of a functional coordinating body, following the collapse of institutions such as the Cotton Marketing Board, has left farmers, ginners and textile manufacturers operating in silos. Price instability and weak aggregation systems continue to discourage farmers, many of whom are shifting to alternative crops perceived as less risky.
Ali Madugu, a Kano-based Industrialist warned that without first rebuilding these market institutions, efforts to “integrate” the value chain through industrial parks may prove premature.
Industry in decline, Revival in question
Nigeria’s textile industry, once a continental leader with over 250 factories and hundreds of thousands of workers, has largely collapsed. Today, fewer than 25 firms remain operational, most running at suboptimal capacity.
Multiple factors contributed to this decline, including erratic power supply, smuggling of cheap textiles, outdated machinery and insecurity, which has both disrupted supply chains and deterred investment.
Despite these lessons, stakeholders say the current plan does not yet demonstrate how these longstanding constraints will be systematically addressed.
Policy credibility on the line
Nigeria’s history of failed textile interventions continues to cast a shadow over the new initiative.
A N54 billion bailout package introduced in 2012 delivered limited results, with many firms shutting down shortly after accessing funds. Industry players cite poor monitoring, weak implementation and policy inconsistency as recurring issues.
Financial institutions, including the Bank of Industry, have again highlighted the need for long-term financing, but concerns abound whether the broader ecosystem can support sustainable investment.
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High stakes, familiar risks
The integrated CTG strategy, if successfully executed, could generate employment, revive rural economies and reduce reliance on textile imports.
However, analysts warn that without confronting insecurity head-on, strengthening cotton production systems and restoring confidence in policy execution, the initiative risks becoming another well-intentioned but ineffective reform.
“The success of this plan will not be determined in Abuja boardrooms,” Bello said. “It will be determined in the farms of Zamfara, Katsina and Kaduna where today, insecurity is still driving farmers away.”
For now, the gap between vision and reality remains wide—and closing it may prove far more difficult than designing the policy itself.
