*commissions FaLGates Rice Mill
By; FUNMI ADERINTO, Kaduna
Governor Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai of Kaduna State has pointed out that the future of Nigeria is in the hands of young people and entrepreneurs, so they must acquire skills for the task ahead.
The governor who was accompanied the Deputy Governor, Dr Hadiza Balarabe and senior government officials to commission FaLGates Rice Mill on Friday, praised the proprietor, 32 year old Sadiq Falalu, for investing in Kaduna State.
el-Rufai pointed out that the rice mill is not just the largest in Kaduna State, but the whole of Nigeria, adding that, ‘’what the young entrepreneur did is an evidence of what the young people are doing to take over the future.‘’
The commissioning of FaLGates, which is a N2.5billion agric and agro-allied company located at Sobawa, Rigachikun, was part of the events for the 7th edition of Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit (KadInvest 7.0)
Speaking at the event, the proprietor of FaLGates recalled that the journey of setting up the rice mill started in 2016, when he approached the Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency (KADIPA) for land allocation.
He said that afterwards, the company set up the largest Rice Processing Plant in Kaduna State, with processing capacity of about 300 metric tonnes per day, that is over 100.000.metric tonnes per annum.
Sadiq thanked Governor el-Rufai for approving the company’s land application and for providing all the aftercare services rendered by Kaduna State Government through KADIPA, Kaduna Geographic Information Service (KADGIS), Kaduna State Urban Planning and Development Authority (KASUPDA) and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Technology.
According to him, FaLGates employs over 400 people and has created 1,000 indirect jobs, adding that it has built a school for Sobawa community which has over 50 students.
‘’ The Village Head of Sobawa donated a part of his land and we built the Fulani Community school of which today, we have over 50 students because we all know that education is one of the pivots to the growth of any society,’’ he noted.
As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility, Sadiq said that FaLGates has also built a security post with a watch tower, which is a five bedroom bungalow that can accommodate at least four people per room.
According to the proprietor of FaLGates, the bungalow has a kitchen and 24 hours electricity and water supply, hoping that the army will take possession of the house.
