The Federal government has revealed plans to establish textile clusters in Lagos and Aba to reposition the cities as regional powerhouses for garment manufacturing and export, Minister of State for Industry, John Enoh, has said.
The Senior Special Adviser on Strategic Communications to the Minister, Ifeoma Williams, said that an agro-processing hub where cassava will be turned into ethanol and starch will also debut in Kano.
She said: “Agro-processing hubs in Kano, turning cassava into ethanol and starch while powering thousands of new jobs, will be established. Textile clusters in Aba and Lagos, poised to reposition both cities as regional powerhouses for garment manufacturing and export, while a pharmaceutical production enclave in Ogun State will come on, which is aimed at securing Nigeria’s medicine supply chains and drastically cutting import dependency.”
In an address to stakeholders at the 16th National Council on Industry, Trade and Investment (NCITI) in Lagos, the minister insisted that there is no time for pilot programmes or policy lip service.
“We are entering an era of full-scale industrialisation—where every investment, every reform, every decision must drive us toward a globally competitive, inclusive, and innovation-led economy,” Enoh noted.
He urged the private sector and sub-national governments to embrace this momentum with both hands, declaring that the IRWG offers an unprecedented opportunity to convert Nigeria’s vast potential into measurable industrial might.
The minister also disclosed that the Federal government is dismantling barriers to trade and investment through its Industrial Revolution Work Group (IRWG) initiative.Enoh argued that Nigeria’s economic transformation hinges squarely on the bold agenda of the IRWG, which is a cross-sectoral initiative inaugurated in February this year.
Speaking to a high-level audience comprising federal and state officials, captains of industry, and development partners, Enoh described the IRWG as a strategic engine room designed to dismantle legacy barriers, ignite real sector productivity, and position Nigeria as a continental powerhouse of value-added manufacturing.
He called on all stakeholders to move from rhetoric to results by aligning with the IRWG to unlock financing for MSMEs, activate dormant industrial zones, and build thriving, employment-generating clusters across the federation.