As the country marks her 61st independence anniversary, Kebbi state governor and Chairman, Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) Atiku Abubakar Bagudu, has called on all states of the federation to complement each other instead of competing against each other.
Bagudu also expressed satisfaction over the progress the country has made so far, especially under the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Speaking Thursday in Abuja after a meeting of the NNPC, Renewable Energy Division, Contec Global Energy Limited and the Kebbi state government, where the official announcement of partnership was made, governor Bagudu confirmed that the partnership has taken off.
On the country’s 61st independence anniversary, Bagudu said: “
A few years ago we import most things that we use but now we are becoming self-sufficient in a number of areas. The border closure which was extended over a year was the best message by our President that why we respect our neighbours but we will take any step to protect our economy. So my message on this 61 anniversary is that states in Nigeria should not be competing but rather we should complement each other to produce more so that we can compete globally.
“The NNPC Renewable Energy Division as part of the vision of Mr. President has been trying to diversify actively so that the bulk of NNPC revenue will one day comes from biofuel and needs to mobilise all states of Nigeria because NNPC has been entering into agreements which is a very laudable development to our country.
“We believe that if states embraced biofuels as a number of us are doing, we will diversify our revenue, mobilise more domestic production and generate more income both for our people, state and country.
“What we are having today is a strategic investor that will bring technology and take it to the next level where the fuel would be produced.”
Also speaking, the Group General Manager, Renewable Energy Division of NNPC, Hussaini Tahir, said his organisation has two programmes in Kebbi state, “one is Cassava Biofuel Ethanol and the other one is the Sugarcane Biofuel Ethanol Plant. Currently, the one that we just had an agreement now to develop in Kebbi state is the one for the Cassava Biofuel Ethanol.”
He revealed that all pre-development issues have been done; “The plant is going to be an integrated plant whereby we produce pure ethanol. We also have a co-generation plant whereby we produce power for the plant and if we have excess we can export it to the grid. We will be able to produce animals feeds also and at the same time produce starch.”
For him, the Managing Director of Contec Global Energy Limited, Dr. Adedeji Ashiru, said the investment will create about one million jobs.
“We have entered partnership with Kebbi State Government and also with NNPC. We are not just bringing investment to Kebbi state, we are bringing econmic empowerment as well because this investment will probably yield almost one million employment. It’s not just for Kebbi but the nation at all.”
