BY DAHIRU SULEIMAN, DUTSE
Jigawa State Governor Muhammad Badaru Abubakar has unveiled plan by his administration to float a 150,000 metric tons annually sugar factory.
He assured the Management of Great Northern Agriculture Limited that the state government is on course towards the actualization of this set objective, adding no amount of blackmail will deter him.
Speaking on the site of the firm at Gagarawa during an unscheduled visit, he said the sugar project was a done deal by the special grace of Allah as the project was going on ahead of schedule with sugar cane yield from the seed plantation averaging 100 tons per hectare or almost 20% more than expected.
The General Manager took the Governor round the plantation which had been expanded to 150 hectares in the 1st phase and would get to 1,000 hectares by the end of the year on the way to meeting the 12,000 hectare target in 3 years
The plantation has the largest and most sophisticated plant in the country where a fully computerised control room regulated irrigation and fertiliser and pesticide application throughout the plantation automatically using sensors in the field.
The General Manager explained that an irrigation canal 17km long and costing over $37 million will carry excess water from the Hantsu river to the plantation barrage, and will afford farmers along the route the opportunity to engage in dry season farming for the first time.
When asked about the news item credited to outgoing house of reps member Sani Zorro claiming the house had passed a motion condemning the project, the Governor said he had stopped dignifying Sani Zorro’s “incoherent outbursts” on the issue with any response and referred reporters to the newly elected member of the house representing the zone, Nazif Sani, to speak “on behalf of his people since they had reclaimed their mandate from the previous representative.”
Hon Nazifi who accompanied the Governor to the site expressed his delight with the pace of work so far and said the community had already began to enjoy the benefits of the project with the permanent employment of several Agronomy graduates from the host local government and the use of local labour for transplanting sugar cane.
He said the project which will produce 100,000 tons of sugar when completed would also have a fertilizer plant, seasoning factory and produce MDF and HDF as well as generating about 5MW of power, was absolutely in line with the government’s resolve to promote mega agri investments in the country and save the country scarce foreign exchange from the import substitution.
The member elect also dismissed the claim of the former rep member representing the zone and said his attempt to move a motion in the house for the 2nd time to disparage the project failed miserably as his colleagues dismissed it at the first instance and advised him to have a rethink on the issue.
He said the story appearing in one of the papers that the house of reps was probing the company was a tissue of lies and consistent with former rep Sani Zorro’s penchant for bizarre and incredulous press releases relating to the project, ranging from alleging that the company was taking the cane to China to process, to insinuating that it was not growing cane but acquiring the land to prospect for diamonds.
He said the people of Gagarawa were tired of Sani Zorro’s negative representation and had accordingly voted him out with with a huge margin, so the 6 weeks he has left in office would be better served apologizing to his base for his diabolical attempts to scuttle a multi -million dollar legacy project when he couldn’t point to a single empowerment initiative that he anchored in his constituency in the last 4 years.
Honorable Nazif advised the people in the area to cooperate with the company and continue exposing the few bad eggs in their midst that were being used to give the project a negative image, and said the law will deal with anyone who engages in illegality irrespective of his standing in society.
*Gov Badaru