By; Niyi Ogungbola, Abeokuta.
Ogun State Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an indigenous natural fibre company; Arewa Cotton Limited, on the production, processing and marketing of cotton in the state.
The partnership, which is expected to address increased cotton and lint demands from local textile industries as well as exports, would also lead to the establishment of an ultra-modern ginnery in the state.
According to the State Commissioner for Agriculture, Ronke Sokefun, the agreement is targeted at the cultivation of 10, 000 hectares of cotton farmland to be provided by the state government.
Sokefun further said that the programme would kick-start by clearing a thousand hectare of land, stressing that “at the maximum capacity, we’ll be producing 25, 000 metric tones at 2.5 metric tones per hectare”.
The State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, and the chairman of Arewa Cotton, Professor Michael Olayiwole, signed the MoU at the Governor’s Office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
The event was attended by officials of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Bank of Industry (BOI) and National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN), among other stakeholders.
Amosun, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Taiwo Adeoluwa explained that the collaboration would boost productivity and foreign exchange for the local farmers.
“We have always not been in doubt that the only way to put more money in the pockets of our people and to tackle the restive and large youth unemployment is to develop agriculture. It would help us to keep our communities calm and ultimately it will improve our security initiatives.”
Commending the state government, the chairman of Arewa Cotton, Professor Olayiwole declared that the collaboration would empower 5, 000 indigenes who are cotton farmers and their dependants.
He added that the partnership with the state would create multiple investment opportunities estimated at billions of naira.
