Niger state is to benefit from a USD$3.2 billion investment by the Buckstalker Engineering to establish tricycle producing plants across the country.
The Executive Chairman (EC), Buckstalker Engineering, Manasseh Joshua, stated this when he led some team of investors to Government House Minna, to intimate the Governor on their plans.
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Mr Joshua who explained that the tricycles which would be produced in partnership with a South Korean Company and in two types; trucks and passengers.
The EC said the tricycles which are specifically designed for Nigerian roads, are to help farmers to convey goods and services from hinterlands to urban centers, said it would also boost agriculture in the state.
He said 12 states were selected across the country based on their comparative advantages of Agricultural potentials adding that they have already inspected the site in Minna and would soon kick start.
The EC, further explained that the plant would create direct and indirect job opportunities for about 5,000 people in the state and that the company will bring in 266 expatriates.
“The employment is endless, indigenes will be employed, it’s a long chain of advantages. This is just a tip of an iceberg.
“We have already procured the land and we are set to go. It is not the project that is starting now, we are 95% done to start the project all over the country. The project is private sector driven”, he said.
Responding, Governor Abubakar Sani Bello applauded the effort of the Company maintaining that they are in the right place considering the highest landmass of the state in Nigeria and the large farming population in the state.
Governor Sani Bello said though the state is faced with insecurity which has reduced farming activities in the state, he expressed optimism that it would soon be a thing of the past as significant success is being recorded in the fight against terrorism.
He assured them of Government support to ensure the desired result is achieved.
“The governor said with the right intervention and political will,Niger state can be the food basket of not only Nigeria but west Africa as a whole”, he said.
The Governor informed the investors of a designated place in Dikko that the state intends to make it an Industrial Estate for big factories to be established.
He asked the company to apply for a land at the Industrial Estate to site a factory, assuring them of Government’s efforts to take advantage of the presence of the four hydroelectricity dams in the state to ensure steady power supply at the Industrial Estate.
The Governor however said that the land has to be put to use within 2years or else it will be revoked.
