By Ehis Agbon.
Kaduna, Nigeria — Comrade Gabriel Ishaka, a former union leader and long-time employee of the now-defunct Kaduna Textile Limited (KTL), has died after collapsing at his Kaduna home on Monday morning. His son confirmed the news to Kaduna Political Affairs, describing the loss as “heartbreaking but not unexpected,” given his father’s prolonged health challenges and mounting frustrations over years of injustice.
Comrade Ishaka, who served KTL for 14 years, was a central figure in the long-standing fight for severance pay and terminal benefits for thousands of former textile workers left in the lurch after the company abruptly shut down on December 16, 2002—without any official notice or compensation.
For nearly 24 years, the ex-workers of KTL, once a thriving industrial symbol in Northern Nigeria, have continued to battle with government institutions and private stakeholders for what is legally and morally owed them. Ishaka remained on the frontlines of that struggle until his final days, often speaking out about the dire conditions faced by many of his former colleagues.
In an emotional interview earlier this year, Ishaka told Kaduna Political Affairs, “This has been an inhumane and heartbreaking experience. More than 480 of my fellow workers have died waiting for their gratuities. We were not given any notice, no explanation. They simply shut the factory gates and left us.”
A Pillar of Nigeria’s Textile Legacy
Kaduna Textile Limited was established in 1957 by the visionary leadership of the late Sir Ahmadu Bello, Premier of Northern Nigeria, as part of a broader push to industrialize the region. At its peak, KTL employed over 2,300 workers and played a vital role in Nigeria’s economy, exporting fabric to both local and international markets.
However, by the early 2000s, the company began to buckle under the weight of massive debts, aging equipment, policy neglect, and the unchecked importation of foreign textiles that flooded Nigerian markets. The final closure in 2002 was sudden and devastating, triggering a humanitarian crisis among its workforce.
Despite his role as a board member of the company in its later years, Ishaka was not spared the consequences of the collapse. By 2010, he became homeless, living in a single rented room provided by his son. His wife’s health steadily declined due to lack of access to proper medical care, and he himself had no source of income or retirement security. Like many of his peers, he became wholly dependent on his children.
Failed Promises, Broken Dreams
Ishaka had placed high hopes in multiple revival attempts over the years, including a proposal involving a Turkish investment firm that never materialized. He frequently criticized successive administrations for promising intervention funds for the textile industry—none of which, according to him, ever reached KTL.
In one of his last public appeals, he called on Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State and the 19 northern governors, who collectively have stakes in the textile company, to act in the spirit of Sir Ahmadu Bello’s vision and deliver justice to the workers who helped build the industry from the ground up.
“Justice for us is not complicated,” he said in what now stands as one of his final recorded statements. “We want our benefits, our gratuity. We want to be acknowledged for the years we gave to this country’s industrial growth.”
A Painful Symbol of Nigeria’s Industrial Decline
Comrade Ishaka’s death adds another name to the long list of former KTL workers who have died without receiving a kobo of the benefits due to them. His life and death now stand as a painful reminder of the human cost of Nigeria’s industrial failures and the neglect of its labor force.
He will be remembered not only as a devoted unionist and father, but as a symbol of resilience in the face of systemic injustice.
Funeral arrangements will be announced by his family in the coming days.
