By Abubakar Y. Ojima
The Federal Government says it is committed to using the sugar master plan to reduce poverty and unemployment in the country.
The Executive Secretary, National Sugar Development Council, Zach Adedeji, made this known during the ground breaking ceremony of a N300 billion sugar plantation and mill in Iseyin, Oyo State.
The Sugar industry is an essential sector that has significantly contributed to Nigeria’s GDP in the past decades.
According to reports, despite the government’s efforts to boost local production of sugar, and claims by some private investors to have substantially invested in the industry, the nation has relied on about 98 per cent importation of raw sugar for the last 3 decades which was not the situation before now.
While Nigeria produced up to 41,478 metric tonnes of sugar in 1990, the figure fell drastically to 38,597 metric tonnes in 2019.
Now, to change this narrative, the Federal Government along side the Government of Oyo state are commissioning this Sugar Plantation and Mill sited along Iseyin-Ogbomoso Road.
The Oyo state governor who was represented by his deputy, promised to ensure good roads that will attract investors.
The project when fully ompleted will improve the socio-economic development of Oyo state through poverty reduction and employment creation in the Oke-Ogun and Ogbomosho axis while also attracting both Local and Foreign investors.
The plantation site is a strategic one by the Federal Government in conjunction with the Oyo State Government through the National Sugar Development Council and seeks to return the glory of sugar production in Nigeria to the Days of the Bacita Sugar Company and Others which also produced a former Governor of Kwara State as its managing Director before his advent into Politics, Senator Muhammed Shaba Lafiaji.
The strides made by the National Sugar Development Council in places like Oyo State through the plantation is also expected to be a template for other parts of the country to not only produce Sugar cane but to also generate employment opportunities for thousands of Nigerians.-
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