Ogun state will soon witness the establishment of a biggest cotton and apparel industry in West Africa, with a capacity to employ about 40,000 people.
The Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, gave the hint while receiving the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Senator John Owan Enoh, and his team who came on a courtesy to his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
Governor Abiodun said, the State was planning to house the biggest Cotton and Apparel industry perhaps in West Africa and the ground breaking would be scheduled to take place soon. He pointed out that, the Industry had the prospect of employing about 40,000 people, when production would commence at the state Special Processing Zone.
“What we did to ensure ease of doing business in the State, is to co-locate the Special Agro-Processing Zone with our Airport and we are just at the final stage of completing our Ogun State Agro-cargo and passengers airport. We called the entire place an aerotropolis where we have the airport, the Special Agro-Processing Zone and the new and biggest Customs facilities in Nigeria.
“That airport is an ecosystem of different things and all centres around efficiency and production,” the Governor stated.
He said on assumption of office, his blueprint for the State economy was to create a conducive business environment, based on Public Private Partnership as well as enablers as encapsulated in Infrastructure, Social welfare and wellbeing, Education, Youth Employment and Agriculture (ISEYA mantra).
To realise his administration’s vision, Governor Abiodun said efforts were geared towards road construction, provision of affordable housing and healthcare, building and renovation of schools, youth empowerment among others.
Governor Abiodun maintained that, the construction of three major roads, the Sagamu -Abeokuta, Ijebu-Ode -Epe and the Agbara-Lusada-Atan roads, which were in deplorable state, were meant to open up the State for easy movement of investors and people of the State.
The Governor while highlighting the potentials that exist in the State, said minerals like Bitumen, Limestone, Silica, Gold and others were in abundance, adding that the State was one of the six States given approval to operate a Special Processing Zone, assuring that, Ogun State would be a reference point in the country.
The State Governor said, the State had maximized its closeness to Lagos, the nation’s financial capital with the busiest air and sea ports, just as he is working towards Ogun State becoming an oil producing State in a short while.
He said his administration was working on generating power, that would offer industries and companies in the State the cheapest source of energy, just as he intimated his guests on the efforts of his administration towards reviving the Adire industry and its value chain.
Speaking earlier, Senator Enoh said, Ogun State represented the main belt of Nigeria’s industrial base in terms of industrial activities taking place in the State.
According to him, “I thank Ogun State for being such a good host to industries. I thank you for encouraging the growth of industry. I think that we as a people and a country, I believe this visit brings back to life and get our industries to know the role they play.
“We appreciate the constraints our industries are facing as part of the general constraints in our country, but the advantages that lies in this country are so enormous as well. While the constraints are being grapple with, the good thing is that there are potentials that continue to exist and I think that, working with industries and the private sector, we will be able to achieve the goals of this administration,” he noted.
He said his visit to the State was on “industry push” to see how government could collaborate and partner with industries for the economic advancement of the country in line with President Bola Tinubu’s eight points agenda which number seven entails industry and the need for diversification through industrialisation, digitalisation, innovations and manufacturing.
