Senator Adams Oshiomhole has called on President Bola Tinubu to demonstrate his “Nigeria First” policy by directing the armed forces to stop wearing foreign-made uniforms and instead patronise locally produced textiles.

The lawmaker challenged government and citizens, saying: “If we wear what we produce and produce what we wear, we can employ 20 million Nigerians. That is the real meaning of putting Nigeria first.”

Senator Oshiomhole, who spoke on Monday, October 27, 2025, in Kaduna at the 37th Annual National Education Conference of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN), said such a directive would revive Nigeria’s ailing textile industry and create millions of jobs. The conference, themed “Industry, labour and national development,” drew union leaders and policymakers from across the country.

The five-storey building housing the headquarters of the NUTGTWN Secretariat in Kaduna was renamed after Oshiomhole. The secretariat was built about 40 years ago when he was the Secretary General of the union. The edifice was hitherto called Textile Labour House, but it is now renamed Adams Oshiomhole Textile Labour House.

The former Edo State governor and ex-President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) urged the President to go beyond policy speeches and take practical steps to back Nigerian manufacturers. “As Commander-in-Chief, the President should direct that the Nigerian Army, Navy, and Air Force wear only uniforms produced and sewn in Nigeria,” Oshiomhole declared to thunderous applause. “That is how to put Nigeria first in action, not just in words.”

Recalling the days when Kaduna alone employed 27,000 textile workers running three shifts round the clock, Oshiomhole lamented that “reckless government policies” and unguarded trade liberalisation destroyed one of Africa’s most vibrant industrial sectors. “Those factories didn’t die of old age; they were murdered by bad policies,” he said. “When we joined the World Trade Organization, we surrendered our right to protect our industries and jobs.”

He praised the late Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, for having the foresight to industrialise the region in the 1950s by establishing Kaduna Textiles, long before Nigeria had an abundance of engineers or graduates. “Our leaders then knew it made no sense to export cotton and import clothes,” Oshiomhole said. “That vision created jobs and gave dignity to workers. We lost that spirit.”

The former labour leader said the collapse of industries had far-reaching social consequences, including rising insecurity. “When people had jobs, nobody cared about your religion,” he said. “Today, with factories shut and millions idle, we have produced anger, not cotton.”

Oshiomhole commended President Tinubu’s reforms in foreign exchange management, saying they had ended the era of “emergency billionaires” who made huge profits through currency arbitrage. “Before Tinubu, people made money without effort—just with a phone call. Now, those distortions are being corrected,” he said.

He reminded workers that the struggle for decent jobs and fair pay was legitimate and patriotic. “Don’t ever apologise for fighting for dignity,” he told the gathering. “The primary purpose of government is the welfare of citizens, not the profit of business.”

Oshiomhole, who once served as General Secretary of the Textile Union, reaffirmed his lifelong commitment to labour causes. “I remain a labour man for life,” he said. “From age 18, I’ve known no other calling. I will keep fighting until Nigeria returns to the path of production, not importation.” (The Sun)