

The Deputy Governor of Kogi, Mr Yomi Awoniyi, said the state government was committed to raising the standard of living of the people through community development.
Awoniyi said this when he received a team from the United Nations Industrial Organisation (UNIDO) in his office in Lokoja on Friday.
He said the UNIDO team was in the state to design a master plan for the Stable Crop Processing Zone in Alape, a rural community in the state.
Awoniyi described the team as unique in view of the importance attached to the project, noting that an interim project implementation committee would be constituted to oversee its administration.
The deputy governor, however, said the project could not be successful without the support of the host community.
He said the state government was engaging the community to put in place a process that would enable the area have a workable master plan.
Awoniyi said that government would tackle the problem of access road, power supply and the need to have a central sewage collection centre in the processing zone.
According to him, the administration will transform the agricultural sector because of the sector’s potential in providing employment for the teeming youth and women in the state.
The deputy governor said the state’s comparative advantage as the highest cassava producing state in Nigeria would encourage the concentration of agro-processing industries.
He said this would help to boost the income of the people, and consequently increase the source of revenue to the state.
Awoniyi noted that the School of Agriculture, Kabba, and the yet to be completed Vocational Centre in Kogi State Polytechnic Lokoja, would serve as a technology centre of excellence for the processing zone.
Earlier, Dr Oyesola Oyebanji, the team leader, said the 250 hectares agriculture investment in Alape was the first of its kind.
Oyebanji said the state was lucky to already have KAGIL, the core investor, driving the project.
He said the team was in the state to prepare a master plan for the processing zone in view of the several expected agro-industry the zone would attract.
Also, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Femi Abolarin, said the need to have a master plan in the zone was because of the investment the area would attract.
Abolarin commended the commitment and passion so far shown by Gov. Idris Wada-led administration on agriculture.