Nasarawa State Government on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Azman Group Nigeria for development of an integrated rice mill and farm project in the state.
Gov. Abdullahi Sule said in Lafia at the signing ceremony that the partnership was in fulfillment of his promise of opening the state to investors, creating wealth and job opportunities.
“Nasarawa is predominantly an agrarian state. We support local farmers with fertilisers and other inputs and bring major commercial farmers that will create more opportunity in the agricultural sector,” Sule said.
The governor said that the project would cover 12,400 hectares of land located at Umaisha, Toto Local Government Area of the state.
He said that Azman group, a private firm had agreed to pay N372 million at N30, 000 per hectare as compensation to land owners for the 45 years lease period.
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Sule said that to pay compensation, the government was currently working on identifying the genuine land owners in the local communities to avoid paying compensation to the wrong people.
“We want to also ensure that compensation is paid fully before the commencement of the project,’’ he said.
The governor said that the project was expected to create jobs for about 8,000 youths, who would be trained among other benefits and increase revenue for all state levels.
He said that there would be an out grower scheme by the company that would involve local farmers from the community and available mill for their paddy rice.
Alhaji Umar Abdulmunaf, the Group Managing Director of the company expressed satisfaction with the government and people of the state for the partnership.
Abdulmunaf said that the decision to invest in the state was borne out of disposition of the governor to create enabling environment for investment and zeal to provide jobs for youths.
He assured that his company would bring modern technology in rice production, milling and exploration of its value chain to the state.
Ibrahim Abdullahi Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Investment and Economic Planning said that the agreement was in keeping with the administration’s policy of industrialisation and wealth creation.
Abdullahi said that the administration would continue to facilitate investment into the state by removing some bureaucratic bottlenecks to encourage investors.
