Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday in Auchi, Etsako-West Local Government Area, Edo State inaugurated the Edo Fertilizer Plant and Chemical Company Limited. Mr. Osinbajo was accompanied to the ceremony in the state by the Ministers of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, and Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah.
Osinbajo said the Federal Government is committed to creating an enabling environment for private investors to do business in the country. He further added that the fertilizer blending plant will go a long way to boost agricultural productivity in the state and indeed the entire southern region of the country.
“The clear objective of establishing this plant is to boost farming activities and the agriculture value chain Nationwide, this investment, is a direct response to the Federal Government’s strategy of growing the Nigerian Economy on a zero oil economy,” he said.
He said the importance of access to input by farmers cannot be over emphasized as it helps maximize the impact of Agriculture in the society.
“On the average, a Nigerian farmer uses 13kg per hectare of fertilizer compared with world average of 100kg per hectare. This explains why Mr. President negotiated the December 2016 Fertilizer initiative, working with the Moroccan King, aimed at achieving local production of 1 million metric tons of NPK fertilizer for 2017 wet season farming. Reducing costs and delivering finished products at N5000-5500 per bag (formerly between N8-9,000 sometimes N13,000,” he said.
Prof. Osinbajo commended the Edo state Government for supporting President Muhammadu Buhari’s job creation and food security initiative.
In his remarks, Edo state Governor Mr. Godwin Obaseki said his government decided to key into this administration’s Fertilizer plan – “The Presidential Fertilizer initiative” by reviving the Edo Fertilizer Plant thereby contributing their quota towards attaining self-sufficiency in food production.
“We invited WACOT limited, to come and invest in this plant and bring it back to life so that we can be part of the Federal Government’s Fertilizer Initiative.”
He said farmers in the state will no longer have to search for quality fertilizer as the plant will cater for their need which will, in turn, have a positive impact on farm yields in the state.
Governor Obaseki further called on the indigenes of the area to help support the efforts of the Government by safe guarding and protecting the facility in their locality.
The Edo fertilizer blending plant is a partnership between the state government and Wacot Agro-Allied Company and it is part of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative aimed at easing farmer’s access to fertilizer and boosting Agriculture productivity.
This fertilizer blending company will bring the total number of fertilizer blending plants in Nigeria to twelve.
