The Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, inspected a newly constructed N4 billion rice mill with the capacity to produce 50 tonnes of rice per day.
Bello disclosed this during an inspection tour to the factory site, at Omi Dam in Ejiba, Yagba West LGA of Kogi.
Speaking during the tour, the governor said he visited the dam and promised to establish a rice mill.
“Today we have this factory 100 per cent established by Kogi State Government, which had been neglected by all the past PDP administration.”
“We approached the Federal Government through the Minister for Water Resources to allow us to use this dam for the benefit of our people.”
“Today, we are here to inspect a brand new rice factory that is second to none as far as the northern Nigeria is concerned,” he said.
He noted that the factory has the capacity to produce over 1000 bags of 50 kg of high quality rice every day, and could employ over 5000 people as direct jobs, and more of indirect employment.
He added that over N300 million would be injected into the economy of Kogi State every month through the factory, while generating additional over N120 million revenue to the state IGR monthly.
“The rice mill will also be producing fish and poultry meals, because we are presently having over 500 fish ponds in this Omi Dam.
“We have the capacity to produce cassava and all agro allied products in this particular location,” he stated.
He added that the factory had its own independent power generation plant, powered through biomass gasification technology.
According to him, the capacity of the plant is 500 kWh and the rice milling plant capacity at every processing line (shift) is 200kwh.
He stressed that the plant would have an excess power of 300kwh which would be used to power strategic locations in neighbouring communities.
“Kogi State is situated in the centre of Nigeria, where people traveling to north, south, east and west must pass through Kogi, which means we are saddled with lots of responsibilities.
“All that is required now is that the FG through CBN to come to our aid because we have the capacity to expand this factory in multiple folds.
“Through this factory we are going to pull many of our people out of abject poverty,” Bello restated.
The governor assured that the rice factory and all other projects in the state would be commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari before the November 16 governorship election.
The governor further said that his administration’s effort had made insecurity to be reduced to the barest minimum in Kogi State.
He, therefore, urged the indigenes to continue to embrace peace, security and live in harmony with all the people including the Fulanis and other tribes for the development of the state.
“This factory will only exist if we protect, safeguard and cherish it jealousy as our own.
“When critics speak anything negative on social media, please don’t abuse them but rather respond to them with the prove of our achievements.
”I urge you to live with each other in harmony and respond to the critics with facts and figures of our achievements,” he said.
Speaking earlier, Solomon Owoniyi, the Obaro of Kabba, who spoke on behalf of all traditional rulers in the region, thanked the governor for the kind gesture, saying the facility was first of its kind and the best in the whole of the state.
The monarch, however, urged the governor to use his influence and connection with the presidency to ensure that the Kabba-Ilorin road was rehabilitated for the benefit of the people and the factory.
