Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has said the state would
support the upcoming BUA Sugar Factory and other investors in the
state to succeed by creating the right environment.
Abdulrazaq said the strategies to attract and keep investors in Kwara
would include sustaining the state’s peaceful environment and putting
in place the necessary infrastructure and policies to ease the
business climate.
The Governor stated this on Monday as he toured the facility in
company of its chairman Abdulsamad Rabiu and other officials of the
conglomerate.
He commended the BUA Group for siting its multimillion dollar sugar
plant in Lafiagi, Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State, enthusing
that the facility would make the area the richest in the North
Central.
“BUA today is the biggest investor in North Central Nigeria and we are
happy that their investment is in Kwara State. I am in fact happy that
it is in Lafiagi, Edu Local Government,” AbdulRazaq who was
accompanied by the Speaker of Kwara State House of Assembly Yakubu
Danladi; and Kwara commissioner-designates Rotimi Iliasu and Joanna
Kolo said..
He said the plant will produce about 25% of Nigeria’s sugar need when
it begins operation later next year and 75 per cent of the country’s
sugar needs in the next 10 years.
“Kwara wants to be the epicentre of sugar production in Nigeria and we
are creating a peaceful environment for business to thrive.”
He added that such investments would cut poverty rate and strengthen
Kwara’s capacity to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development
Goals since the issues of water and electricity would be tackled once
the factory begins operation.
In his response, Rabiu, said the sugar plantation in Lafiagi and the
refinery is one of the most advanced anywhere in the world with the
capacity to produce 14,000 tonnes of canes per day when completed.
“Kwara State is one of the states with land, water and climate and we
set up our business here because we know sugar refining will succeed
here,” he added.
“Instead of importing raw sugar and process it in Nigeria, we decided
to establish sugar plantation and refinery in Nigeria and Kwara State
happens to be the best located state for the investment.
“When completed, it will generate over 10,000 direct employments and
produce over 200,000 tonnes of refined sugar together with 200,000
litres of ethanol and 35 megawatts of power – using the bye product of
sugarcane.”
Rabiu praised the effort of the state in attracting investments,
saying “this is the only sugar plant in Nigeria with plantation and
refinery and will be completed by the end 2020”.
The Governor later inspected some roads and a cottage hospital in
Tsaragi, a town in the local government.
…why we renovated NYSC camp
Kwara State Governor, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has said his
administration renovated the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) in
the state as part of his efforts to project Kwara in positive light to
the outside world.
“This intervention is the right thing to do. Each corps member that
comes to Kwara becomes an ambassador for the state when they leave.
Then, we want them to leave with right impression from the state. That
is why we need to make sure the right facilities are in place for
them,” Abdulrazaq said during a visit to the renovated facility,
Monday evening.
He was accompanied on the visit by the Speaker of the Kwara State
House of Assembly Yakubu Danladi and two Commissioner-designates
Rotimi Iliasu and Joanna Kolo.
Abdulrazaq recalled likening the facility to a penitentiary that was
not fit for human living, saying his action was to fulfil his promise
to make the place habitable for the NYSC members undergoing the
mandatory scheme.
“When I visited here in June, I felt it was not habitable. I felt I
couldn’t stay under such environment and I don’t want the corps
members to leave in such condition either. They were managing with no
proper running water and the toilets were unusable. Going into the
bush put them at the risk of snake bites. So, we needed to come in and
do the right thing,” he said.
The governor urged the management of the NYSC to manage the facilities
properly and to always inform the government when there are issues
before they degenerate.
The state Coordinator of NYSC, Esther Ikupolati, said the prompt
intervention of the governor has brought relief to the camp as
“hostels now can be called five-star hostels when compared to their
previous state.
“The hostel facilities renovated were indeed in bad shape before now.
And when His Excellency came to this camp barely a month in office, he
expressed displeasure over the state of the hostels. He said the place
was not habitable for humans.”
She appreciated Abdulrazaq for coming to the aid of the NYSC with
additional 400 mattresses, 200 double bunk beds, 100 benches for the
hall and drugs for the clinic.
“Kwara NYSC camp is one of the few states enjoying the largesse of the
state government in terms of meal subsidies, fumigation of the camp
and support,” Ikupolati said.
