Kogi State Government has completed plans to launch a rice mill factory worth N4 billion. The factory is expected to produce 50 tonnes of rice per day.
This was made public by the Governor of the State, Yahaya Bello, during an inspection tour of the facility situated in Omi Dam in Ejiba, Yagba West LGA of Kogi.
The details: The Governor, during a visit to the factory, said the establishment of the factory was a fulfilment of a promise he made to his people. He said the factory was built through the assistance of the Minister for Water Resources who granted them the use of the Dam for the factory’s construction.
“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 brown new rice factory that is second to none as far as northern Nigeria is concerned.”
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5000 jobs to be created: The factory has the capability to produce over 1000 bags of 50 kg high-quality rice every day. This translates into employment for more than 5000 people in direct jobs, as well as indirect employment opportunities. Bello said that Kogi’s State IGR would witness a monthly boost up to N120 million in revenue following the establishment of the factory, which he hoped would inject N300 million into the economy of Kogi State also on a monthly basis.
The rice mill is expected to also bring about an increase in the production of fish and poultry meals based on the proximity of the factory to the source of water in the dam.
“The rice mill will also be producing fish and poultry meals because we are presently having over 500 fish ponds in this Omi Dam. We have the capacity to produce cassava and all agro-allied products in this particular location,” the Governor hinted.
He added that the factory had an independent power generation plant, powered through biomass gasification technology.
The capacity of the plant: The plant capacity stands at 500 kWh and the rice milling plant capacity at every processing line (shift) is 200kwh. The remaining excess of 300kwh which would be used to power strategic locations in neighbouring communities.
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The Governor, however, solicited the help of the Federal Government to help in expanding the factory. He also stated that the factory would pull several people out of poverty. The factory is to be commissioned by the President before the November 16th Governorship Election.
