Reuben Buhari
13 June 2009
Kaduna — Hundreds of former workers of the Kaduna Textile Limited (KTL) yesterday held a demonstration at the premises of the closed company demanding their unpaid entitlements of about N687 million from governors of the 19 northern states who are the owners of the collapsed textile company.
The KTL workers, who are just one of the eight textile firms in Kaduna, that have closed down, were also alleging that the plots of land belonging to the company in Barnawa, Kaduna South Local Government Area, were being sold by the management of the company without the proceeds being used in settling part of the entitlements of the workers who have been without work since the company's closure in 2002.
The protesters who were demonstrating under the aegis of the National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) led by their Senior Deputy General Secretary, Alhaji Umaru Mohammed, said "if the Northern Governors, Forum (NGF) could mobilise resources to salvage Bank of the North, the current NGF could in the same manner mobilise resources to revive the Kaduna Textiles and settle the entitlements of the workers."
Mohammed while appealing to the NGF for the workers entitlements to be settled without delay, added that "whereas the entitlements of the workers have remained unsettled by the management and owners of the workers in spite of all efforts made by the union, it is highly disgusting and provocative to learn that the properties of the company are being disposed of to unknown persons allegedly by some members of the management. It is bad that KTL plots of land are being illegally sold, but worse that proceeds from the sales are not geared toward settling the entitlements of the workers."
According to him, "the workers have noticed that the issue of Kaduna textile and indeed industrial development is yet to fully featured in the agenda of the Northern Governors Forum in the current dispensation," alleging that the union has consistently asked the NGF for the former worker's money to no avail. He pointed out that "KTL workers are wallowing in abject poverty and impoverishment due to long lay off from work without pay. A good number of them have died to starvation and hunger. Urgent settlement of their entitlements will go a long way in alleviating their increasing destitution, poverty and desperation," which he adds is capable of causing communal disharmony.
The workers thank former governor Ahmed Makarfi who severally distributed grains to families of the workers from distressed mills in the state and also commended Alhaji Adamu Aliero , former governor of Kebbi State for financially coming to the aid of workers of KTL during one of the NGF meeting held in Kaduna.
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