… Over 5,000 to get direct, indirect jobs
Niger state including eleven other states are to benefit from a 3.2Billion US dollar investment for the establishment of tricycle plants specifically designed for Nigerian roads to boost agriculture.
While briefing Governor Abubakar Sani Bello when he led some team of investors to Government House, Minna, the Executive Chairman (EC), Buckstalker Engineering, Manasseh Joshua said similar producing plants will be established in Taraba, Cross River, Sokoto, Borno, Kano Gombe, Nasarawa, Benue, Enugu, Delta and Oyo states.
He explained that the tricycles which would be produced in partnership with a South Korean Company and in two types; trucks and passengers would create direct and indirect job opportunities for about 5,000 people in the state and that the company will bring in 266 expatriates.
According to him “the tricycles are specifically designed for Nigerian roads to help farmers to convey goods and services from hinterlands to urban centers and to also boost agriculture in the state.
“Twelve states are selected across the country based on their comparative advantages of Agricultural potentials. We have already inspected the site in Minna and will soon kick start.
“The employment is endless, indigenes will be employed, it is a long chain of advantages. This is just a tip of the iceberg.
“We have already procured the land and we are set to go. It is not the project that is starting now, we are 95% done to start the project all over the country. The project is private sector driven”.
In his remarks, Governor Abubakar Sani Bello applauded the effort of the Company maintaining that they are in the right place considering the highest landmass of the state in Nigeria and the large farming population in the state.
Governor Sani Bello said though the state is faced with insecurity which has reduced farming activities in the state, he expressed optimism that it would soon be a thing of the past as significant success is being recorded in the fight against terrorism.
He assured them of Government support to ensure the desired result is achieved.
“The governor said with the right intervention and political will,Niger state can be the food basket of not only Nigeria but west Africa as a whole”, he said.
The Governor informed the investors of a designated place in Dikko that the state intends to make an Industrial Estate for big factories to be established.
He asked the company to apply for a land at the Industrial Estate to site a factory, assuring them of Government’s efforts to take advantage of the presence of the four hydroelectricity dams in the state to ensure steady power supply at the Industrial Estate.
The Governor however said that the land has to be put to use within 2 years or else it will be revoked.
