The Executive Secretary of the National Sugar Development Council, Mr Zacch Adedeji, has said the Federal Government is leveraging on the sugar master plan to reduce poverty and unempproductiveloyment in the country.
Adedeji spoke during the ground breaking of N300 billion Brent Sugar Plantation and Mill, on Tuesday, in Iseyin, Oyo State, where he disclosed that 6,000 hectares of land would be irrigated from a canal to be fed by water Ikere Gorge Dam established by the Federal Government in 1983.
The Brent Sugar Plantation and Mill is sited on 11,000 hectares of land along Iseyin-Ogbomoso road.
Adedeji notes that the investment by Brent Sugar was a demonstration by the federal government toward building a productive country.
Adding that the government must do everything to get the private sector to venture into projects that will lift Nigerians, particularly the youths, out of poverty.
He said, “One of the major tools that we have and which can help us take the youths out of poverty is the sugarcane-based industries.
“We must commend Brent Sugar Limited for deeming it fit to establish this kind of project in this environment. This is not only for Oyo State but for Nigeria.
“The mantra of President Muhammadu Buhari is that we must eat what we grow and grow what we eat. This is one practical,” he said.
Speaking also at the event, Akinwunmi Adesina, the president, African Development Bank (AfDB), said industrialisation was the pillar for economic prosperity.
Adesina who was represented by his senior special assistant on industrialisation, Oyebanji Oyelahan (professor), said the establishment of Brent Sugar was a path to industrialisation and economic prosperity.
He urged the people to cooperate with the company, saying there was a lot to benefit as a community and nation.
The Chief Executive Officer, Brent Sugar Limited, Mr Martins Akinola, said the total investment that would be committed to the project was about N300bn over a period of five years.
“For the sugarcane plantation, the company is investing nothing less than N120bn for the 11, 000 hectares that we are going to plant. We are going to phase it on a yearly basis.”
