The Kogi State Governor, Ahmed Usman Ododo has set in motion, machinery for the establishment of a special economic zone with the status of a free trade zone in the Ajaokuta economic development corridor of the state.
The Governor was in Abuja today, November 6, with top government functionaries to solicit the support of the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) Dr. Olufemi Ogunyemi in that direction. He said that the proposed NEPZA for the state has been on the drawing board for over ten years.
Governor Ododo said that the establishment of a special economic zone in the state would create opportunity to harness the abundant natural resources and to maximize the economic potential of the state.
He stressed the strategic location of the state as a connecting point between the northern and the southern parts of the country.
According to him, the state is endowed with numerous solid mineral resources in commercial quantities, arable land for agricultural production and top quality human resources that are waiting to be tapped with the establishment of a special economic zone.
The governor stressed that the proposed special economic zone will transform the state into a major hub for economic activities in the country as well as creating thousands of job opportunities for Nigerians.
He gave assurance that the state government would put all the necessary requirements in place as soon as possible to ensure the realisation of the project.
This was even as the Managing Director of NEPZA, Dr. Olufemi Ogunyemi said that the authority would support the Kogi state government by activating processes that would lead to the timely approval, licensing and other assistance for the state.
Dr. Ogunyemi commended Governor Ododo for his handling of infrastructural development, welfare of workers and security of lives and property in the state.
In line with procedures for the establishment of the proposed special economic zone, the Kogi state government had earlier allocated three thousand hectares of land in the Ajaokuta economic development corridor for the project, to be funded by a Public Private Partnership arrangement.
