ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the rise, prosperity, and crisis of the Nigerian textile industry in general and that of the Chinese-owned United Nigerian Textiles Limited (UNTL), in particular from the 1960s through the 1990s. Nigerian governments’ all-around support for the textile industry accounted for its rapid rise in the 1960s and early 1970s, yet decreased industrial policy support from the 1970s onwards, deteriorating conditions of infrastructure, steep declines in cotton production, the country’s porous borders, and the unwillingness of most factories to modernize their equipment worked together to lead to its crisis in the 1980s and 1990s. UNTL managed to survive the decades-long crisis and grew into the largest textile factory group in Nigeria with its exceptional effort in improving its technology, design, equipment, and product quality. However, UNTL’s long-term success and integration into the Nigerian economy did not fully disassociate it from its Chinese identity, especially during the Biafran War and the acquisition of Kaduna Textile Ltd.
