Oshiomhole Urges Tinubu to Mandate Military, Paramilitary to Wear Locally Made Uniforms

Senator Adams Oshiomhole has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to issue a directive compelling the nation’s military and paramilitary agencies to wear uniforms produced locally, as part of efforts to revive Nigeria’s ailing textile industry and create millions of jobs.

Speaking on Monday in Kaduna at the 37th Annual National Education Conference of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN), Oshiomhole said the continued importation of military uniforms and foreign fabrics undermines Nigeria’s industrial growth and employment opportunities.

> “If we wear what we produce and produce what we wear, we can employ up to 20 million Nigerians,” Oshiomhole declared to a standing ovation from thousands of textile workers. “That is the true meaning of putting Nigeria first.”


The event, themed “Industry, Labour and National Development,” also featured the renaming of the union’s five-storey headquarters in Kaduna as the Adams Oshiomhole Textile Labour House, in honour of the former Edo State governor, who served as the union’s Secretary-General four decades ago.

Oshiomhole urged President Tinubu to move beyond rhetoric and take bold, practical steps to support local manufacturers.

> “As Commander-in-Chief, the President should direct the Nigerian Army, Navy, and Air Force to wear only uniforms made in Nigeria,” he said.


Reflecting on the once-thriving textile industry, the former labour leader recalled that Kaduna’s textile factories previously employed over 27,000 workers, running three shifts daily. He blamed the collapse of the industry on “reckless government policies” and unguarded trade liberalization.

> “Those factories didn’t die of old age, they were murdered by bad policies. When we joined the World Trade Organization, we surrendered our right to protect our industries and jobs,” Oshiomhole lamented.


He praised the vision of the late Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, who established the Kaduna Textile Mills in the 1950s to promote local production and reduce dependency on imported goods.

> “Our leaders then knew it made no sense to export cotton and import clothes. That vision created jobs and built communities,” he said.


Oshiomhole linked the decline of the industrial sector to Nigeria’s rising insecurity and social tension.

> “When people had jobs, nobody cared about religion. Today, with factories shut and millions unemployed, we are producing anger instead of cotton,” he warned.


Commending President Tinubu’s foreign exchange reforms, Oshiomhole said the measures had curbed the excesses of “emergency billionaires” who profited from currency manipulation.

> “Before Tinubu, people made money without effort, just with a phone call. Now, those distortions are being corrected,” he noted.



He urged workers to remain steadfast in their demand for fair wages and decent working conditions, describing it as a patriotic duty.

> “Never apologize for fighting for dignity. The first duty of government is the welfare of its citizens, not the profit of businesses,” he stated.


Reaffirming his lifelong loyalty to the labour movement, Oshiomhole said:

> “I remain a labour man for life. From the age of 18, I’ve known no other calling. I will continue to fight until Nigeria returns to the path of production, not importation.”