The Kogi State government has concluded plans to inaugurate newly constructed N4 billion rice mill.
Yayaha Bello, the governor disclosed this during an inspection tour to the factory site at Omi Dam in Ejiba, Yagba West LGA of the state.
”In 2016, we visited this particular dam and I promised to establish rice mill here, and today we have this factory 100 percent completed by the state government, which had been neglected by the immediate past PDP administration,” he said.
“We are here to inspect a new rice factory that is second to none as far as northern Nigeria is concern,” he added.
Bello also noted that the factory has the capacity to produce over 1,000 bags of 50 kg of high quality rice every day, and could employ over 5,000 people directly with more of indirect jobs to be created.
He added that over N300 million would be injected into the economy of the state every month through the factory, while generating additional N120 million to the state’s IGR monthly.
”The rice mill will also be producing fish and poultry meals, because we are presently having over 500 fish ponds at Omi Dam. We have the capacity to produce cassava and all agro allied products in this particular location.”
“The factory had its own independent power generation plant, powered through biomass gasification technology. The capacity of the plant is 500 kWh and the rice milling plant capacity at every processing line (shift) is 200kwh.”
“The plant would have an excess power of 300kwh which would be used to power strategic locations in neighbouring communities. 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,” he added.
Earlier, Solomon Owoniyi, the Obaro of Kabba, who spoke on behalf of all the traditional rulers in the region, thanked the governor for his kind gesture, saying the facility was the first of its kind and the best in the whole of the state.
However, the monarch 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.
Victoria Nnakaike, Lokoja
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