* Military indicates interest in partnership
The Cross River state-owned Calabar Garment Factory has procured order for the production of 8,000 pairs of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) uniforms.
The garment factory is one of the industries established by Governor Ben Ayade in his first term in line with the industrialisation policy of his administration.
The state Commissioner for Industry, Mr. Peter Egba disclosed in a statement that the factory was given eight days to produce the uniforms.
Egba said: “For me, this order is a manifestation of the engagement we have had over time. It helps sharpen our skills, keep the employees and generate revenue.
“The governor of Cross River state, Ben Ayade, in establishing the garment factory, stated that the factory will be among those to decouple the state from over dependence on federal allocation.”
The commissioners maintained that the sophisticated machines at the garment factory greatly aided in meeting the NYSC order.
“The NYSC brought their materials to us to make for them at the Garment factory. Basically, the idea behind this was that they wanted to test our capabilities to deliver within a short period of time. That was why they gave us only eight days to deliver 8,000.
“Because of staff strength and the sophisticated machines put in place by Ben Ayade, as I speak to you now we’ve been working for five days to beat the deadline.”
Egba stated that plans are in top gear to also ensure that the factory gets NYSC order for uniforms for the next stream of corps members in May.
“Another stream of corps members are coming in May this year, and we fully expect that after we might have delivered this present order and on time, we will get an even bigger order when the next stream of corp members come on board”, he said.
