• The collapse of textile companies in Nigeria has significantly damaged domestic cotton production, plummeting from over 300,000 metric tonnes in the 1980s to just 51,000 tonnes recently.
• With no major textile firms currently operational, cotton farming is no longer profitable.
• Key producing states like Katsina, Jigawa, and Sokoto once contributed the majority of Nigeria's cotton.

The closure of textile companies across Nigeria has weakened domestic cotton production, with production falling to about 51,000 metric tonnes from over 300,000 tonnes in the 1980s.

Cotton producers complain that in the absence of a full-fledged textile company in the country now, the business has become unprofitable.

In the 1980s, Katsina, Jigawa, Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara states produced 60-65 per cent of Nigeria’s cotton, while Adamawa, Taraba, Yobe, Maiduguri, Bauchi and Gombe states generated 30-35 per cent.

Kano, Kaduna, Ondo, Oyo, Kwara and Ogun states also produce the crop on lower scales.

The cotton value chain is going comatose, Anibe Achimugu, national president of Cotton Association of Nigeria, said.

Seed cotton of the value chain is witnessing production decline as approximately 100,000 metric tonnes were produced in the 2023-2024 cotton season, but the 2024-2025 season is not likely to be above 15,000 metric tonnes, he was cited as saying by domestic media reports.

Ginning, textiles and garment companies are operating much below installed capacities or have completely shut down, he said.

Farmers are shifting from cotton to food crops and workers in the value chain are entering other sectors to make ends meet, he noted.

He urged the government to set up a cotton textile and garment body and craft a well-thought-out road map.