The National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria says it supports Lagos State Government’s move to enforce the use of face masks in public places.
Its president, Mr John Adaji, who made this known in a statement on Wednesday, said the move became necessary as the country tackled community spread of coronavirus.
He called on the Federal Government and other state governors to emulate the south-west governors by making the wearing of face masks in public places compulsory until the country was free of the pandemic.
Adaji advised governments to look inwards in the procurement of protective devices and other materials which Nigeria had the capacity to produce locally.
He said that the industry had the capacity to produce quality cloth face masks for the citizenry and for export, thereby saving the country huge foreign exchange in importation.
The union president asserted that the advantage of locally produced cloth face masks was that it could be washed and re-used.
“Cloth face masks can help prevent people who have the virus but may not be showing any symptoms from spreading it by containing the respiratory droplets that we all expel when we talk, cough, or sneeze.
“It is against this background that we commend the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo Olu; Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade; Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, for supporting the local production of cloth face masks.
“We call on the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 and other state governments to also buy Made-in-Nigeria cloth face masks, hand sanitisers and other protective equipment in line with the Federal Government’s executive order for the patronage of locally produced goods,” he said.
Adaji called for continuous enlightenment and sensitisation on the COVID-19 pandemic.
He urged all stakeholders to support and cooperate with the federal and state governments to curb the spread of the virus in the country.
