AFDB plans agro-processing zone in Ogun

• Governor gives free 2,000 hectares to farmers
• State APC congratulates Abiodun on 100 days in office

The African Finance Development Bank (AfDB) is putting machineries in place to site Africa’s largest agro-processing zone in Ogun State.

Governor of the state, Prince Dapo Abiodun, hwo disclosed this while flagging off the state’s Anchor Borrowers’ Scheme at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, said the development was as a result of several engagements by the state government with officials of the bank who had been in his office twice in the last two months and a half.

The AfDB is headed by Prof. Adewunmi Adesina, an indigene of the state.

“The bank decided that they were going to have two agro-processing zones in Nigeria and Prof. Adesina decided that the biggest must be sited in Ogun State.

This is the result of our constructive engagement with the bank over the last 70 days or so,” the governor said he said.

He said the anchor borrowers’ scheme was another avenue to boost the nation’s self-sufficiency in food production in line with the Federal Government’s agenda on food security to save foreign exchange spent on food importation, which could be produced locally.

Abiodun, who expressed surprise that despite the success of the scheme in other states, Ogun had never accessed the funds from the scheme, hence the setting up of the state anchor borrowers’ committee to ensure that farmers in the state are partakers, said 2,000 beneficiaries had been selected and would be given certificates of acceptance and a leasehold, adding that adopting the scheme in the state would help in addressing food security and creating employment for women and youths.

The governor noted that the scheme was a tripartite agreement between the state as facilitator, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as financier and the beneficiaries.

Meanwhile, the Ogun State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has congratulated the governor for “strong and steady footing” as he clocked 100 days in office.

A statement signed by the Publicity Secretary of the party’s Caretaker Committee, Tunde Oladunjoye, yesterday in Abeokuta, the state capital, insisted that the governor had started on a “strong steady footing” and urged him not to look back “having put his hand on the plough.”

“We wish to felicitate with Your Excellency on the attainment of 100 days in office, as you gave fulfilled the real reason behind the idea of 100 days by its originator, which include key policy pronouncements, critical appointments and the review and unfolding of strategy for enduring and sustainable development.

“As against the background of violence and insecurity that pervaded our dear state, especially between October last year and March 2019, your administration has not only restored peace, but also clearly demonstrated that Ogun State is no longer safe for criminal elements.”