Kogi Govt. to inaugurate N4 billion Rice Mill

Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi State

The Kogi Government is set to inaugurate a newly-constructed rice mill worth over N4 billion and with the capacity to produce 50 tonnes of rice per day.
Gov. Yahaya Bello disclosed this on Tuesday during an inspection tour of the mill at Omi dam in Ejiba, Yagba West Local Government Area of the state.

“In 2016, we visited this particular Dam and I promised to establish a rice mill here, and today we have this factory 100 per cent established by Kogi State Government.

“We approached the Federal Government through the Minister for Water Resources, to allow us to use this dam for the benefit of our people.

“Today, we are here to inspect a brand new rice factory that is second to none, as far as northern Nigeria is concerned,” Bello said.

He said that the factory had the capacity to produce over 1000 bags of 50kg of high-quality rice every day, and could employ over 5000 people as direct labour, and more of indirect employments.

The governor assured that the rice factory and all other projects in the state would be commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari before the Nov. 16 governorship election in the state.

The governor further said that his administration had curtailed insecurity to the barest minimum.

He, therefore, urged the people of the state to continue to embrace peace and security and live in harmony with one another, including the Fulanis and other tribes for the development of the state.

“This factory will only exist if we protect, safeguard and cherish it jealously as our own,” he said.

In his remarks, the Obaro of Kabba, Chief Solomon Owoniyi, who spoke on behalf of all traditional rulers in the region, thanked the governor for the gesture, saying the facility was the first of its kind and the best in the whole of the state.

The monarch, however, urged the governor to use his influence and connection with the Presidency to ensure that the Kabba-Ilorin road was rehabilitated for the benefit of the people and the mill.

Earlier, the State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Kehinde Oloruntoba, commended the governor for the gesture, saying the people of Kogi West would be eternally grateful to him.

Oloruntoba said the rice mill was just the phase one of the project, assuring that the second phase would be provided to have seed production company so that the state would have a uniform rice facility.