,~~j~~~~••"··~W~I~"~'~h,~r Another round of verbal confrontation is in the offingbetweentheKwara State Government and the opposition over a N70bn rice project,writes SUCCESS NWOGU
T
he signing of II Ml!morandufTl
of Understanding betwet':n th e Io.:wal'1l State Government and Vasola r Consortililll, a Spanish finn , for II N70bn (C2Som) nee deal has heroine a subject of con troversy Kwan says the project is a worthwlule one, whICh will no! only cre<lle jobs for abou t 12,000 people, but ",11 significantly reduce
the cou ntry's Importation of rice, as well as boosllhe I'COno lllYof the state.
Ilowen!f, the chalnnan of the major ollpo$llion party III the slate, the ActIon Congress of Nigen •• Mr. Kayode Olawepo, acolSed the Slale ,o\~mmenl of engaging III II venlure th aI would not be beneficial to the
people of Kwara. TIle SpanISh conglomerate IS upected to N70bn within foof years and provlde the techmcal ~rtise . while the slate gO\'emmenllS 10 proV\de 20,000 hectares of l;md ts,ooo hec1ares an nuall y) for the four ill\~1
}'ean;.
Also, the stale government is expected conlnbute about C7n1 within four years as a mark of secunty and to further exhibit senousness and commitment to the project, which IS under public-private partnership Acoordin, to the ,overnor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, the co nglomer.!te will own 70 per cen t equity share, while the stale govemmenl holds 30 per cent. Presen t at the sigmng of !.he MuU at the Govern ment !-louse, 1I0nn, were offiClals of the VasoIarConsortium, led by the Managi ng DIrector, Mr. Rueben Patl!:jo. The Managing Dlredor, Guara nty Trust Bank, Mr. Scgun Agbaje was al50 prese.nt, wh ile Ahmed, his deputy, lofr Pett'( Kinsa, members of the state Executive Council, Speaker of the lIouse of Assembly, Mr. Rasaq Atunwa, and fron tl ine monarchs, which Ulc:\Uded !.he Emir of lIorin. Dr. Ibrahim Zulu-Gambari, were the hosts ' >areJO said the company would remain co mmUted to Ihe terms of the MoU, addmg that Nigena was blessed with good climate, arable land and human resources to tnmsform agncuiture. 10
in Spain or a nywhere in the ..... orld. Assummg wi thout co ncedh" tha t sllch a company exists in Spain, how collie it is not listed or registered with the Spanish's equh... lell t of our own Corpol"llte Affairs CommISSion? n oes tha t Ilot raise the question of credibility which is a sme quo nOli in any business deal? W ",am, Since th e whole project is taued a N70bn venture and the 'Vasolar Consortium' IS to pro\'ide th is fun d o\'er a period of four years, why must Kwara C'O mm it another C7m of taxpayers' fund to the same \'en ture it is certam to convert 10 a private venture? If, as itlS clear from the above, tha t Vasolar COllsonltlm IS a nonexlStent company, why r;ive ou t 20,000 hectares of fertile land belongmg to our pe<lIJle? Ihis bud' m lUl not stand, We ul1te the people of Kwa1'3 State to resist by all means Iq.i1 thlS tra udul elll amngenlent under the guise of commercial fam,ing. Enough is eoough." Bul the Senior Special Assistan t to thestate GO\ .... nmr 011 Media I nd COlTllTlunicalHlll.!i, Dr MU)'ldeen Akorede. said the N70bn
He stated Ihal Nigeria's reliancr on oil as a major source of foreign exchange ea rn ings should be imp roved upon wi th the diversifica tion of the economy Accordi ng to him, agricu lt ure is a potent sedor that is capable of tl"llllSfornling the KOnOnly. l ie IdvtSed that It is not ,ood for Iny COlillt ry 10 depe nd on the import allo n for its food needs, addmg th lt Nigenl needed to adopt In ImIJro\-ed lind modem a,ncultural system. "Modem ar;ncult ure IS not all about money btl! to create good mfrastructllre. We nt'fll the Fe to C'Ol\aborate with the state go"'enllllenl. We need the Federal Go\ocrnment to d~oclop agrn:ultul"lll mfrastnlCl ure m Nigena. Banks ~houkl also SUPl)Ort Igricultura l prOJects. "e Ire conllmued to Im plementinZ vigorously and according 10 International best practices, our own pdn of the MoU: Parejo 5.1id. Slid the development of agncuhure would greally transfonn the economy, He plalged the com mitment of
A&wre
the bank 10 assist the .state the Implementation of the project. He said, "Agricultu re probably IS the only way forwaN for I co.mlry like Ni,ena, It is a hlZ step for cmploymenL II is a big step for self food production and import substitution. On our OVoTi part as a bank, we "ill do all we can to ISSlstth is y-eat stale in the performllnce of this ,real illltiath'e." The OIJpo!iltlOn, throu&h Olawepo, however, alleged tha t Vasolar was oot an exISting company. To
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The rice project would generate 12,000 jobs over the valne chain, stimulate economic development f th e state as we U as 0 ensure the de1l2lopment of agriculture in the state throngh transfer of technology and training of f
I11....
iiiariimieiiliis• • • •
nce ven ture Wll$ the product of extelllil\'e netOliatlollli, due dili,ence and had tiM! Corporate _oVt'alrs Co m m iss ion ' s approval. Akorede gid Ahmed recel\-ed a leiter of inten t from the Sp:m is h investors in Octobet20 11, seeking to partner With the state gO\'emment to set up I rice cultivation, processing and packagmg pro}f!ct m the Slate following a
bu ttress his stand, he alleged that the consorti um was not listed or registered with the Spanish equiva1ent of Nizeria 's own Corporate Affairs Co mm ission, l ie kkked
recommenda tion by the Spanish Embassy in Nigeria.. Acooruing to him, considering that the company is said to be undertaking Similar
He alleged th ai !.he project was a conjecture or contraption to diYUt public funds in to personal co ncern. Acco rding 10 him, Ihe residents of the stale should not allow the all~ed arra ngement 10 stand. Ola .....clKl said, Win line with our . commitment to ensure that it is no lon,er business as usual in Kwara, we are a,ai n raisi ngth ealannoverwh atisclearlYlnother attempt to commit public fund and IJroperty to a questionable project, "We deem t he whole arra ngement I monu meilial fraud. For one, ou r research since the e\'enl revea ls tha t no company exISts under the name Vasolar Consort iu m,
,o\'ernment's policy of encoura,ing foreign di r«1 investment, Kwara officials were subsequently dispatched to Spain to open dist.1I.ssions with the company. lie added tIla t lhedelegation was directed to conduct \igorous checks o n Vasolar's legal status IS well as IS!IeSS its ~padty to invest the needed funds in tIle project. He stated that the cht(!ks included origlll1l1 copies of Vasolar's certificate of incorporation, thearticlesandnlemol"llndulIl
:~i;S~,:::~r;=~~':ai:;:;:~7:;~~~ ;:~res.J~;t~~ ~:: i~f I~n~~t~n~~;
of assocUttiOll, wh ich ~re sigh ted and dnly ootarised copies obtained for the stllte gO\'ernment's record. Akorede stated that the IJrol1Oied JOIIII Venture Company, Vasolar- KW1I ra Company
Ltd, had been appro\ I!d and reserved by the CAe. I-Ie said th lS rou ld only have been achie...ed based (,n tht" presentatloll of all r~lev:ant dOC\l II"--'IIIS concernmg Vasolar Consultoria 2006 SL to the CAe. lie said that ur. der the I f>nns of thl!: MoU, the government's C"7nl Im·estillent, which IS IU per cenl of Va.iOlilr':. IImlual in \'est ment, hat! been held in an 6Clowaccount asa shaY. of its commitment to tile project and which ~n eit her be withdra\\11 or reinvested in the project at the end of the four-year deal. lie emp hasISed that the nce project would generate 12,000 Jab:. o-.'er the \'lIlue chain, sti mulate economic d~'i!lopmcnt 0' the state as well as ensure the de",e)opnlen\ of azricullure in the stale through transfer of lechnolOK.)' a nd tra mlllZ of famlers. He said the S(',lle of the project and the value of VlisoIa r'!- im'e5tment indicated its confidencr 1\1 KWllra State's gl'O\\1ng reputation as prime im'est ment destination. In spite of the critirisms of the project by the ACN, Ahrcell Slid the project would drasl ka lly red.u« tl~ rice ImlKl rtalion bill of Nigeria as the count ry spends about $2.6bn a nnually 011 ri~ importa tion. lie said the importLtion trend mllst not be Illowed ( 0 conllllUC more so, when Ihe country has fertile land fOf" nee and olher c:rops' producllo n I I ~ urged Ihe Fe to ISSlSt the state (0 imprn'e its irrigation systelD to boost agriculhlre and elUure national food security. Ahmed said, "l'Iigo:rh.. is a new haven for inn's lmen t in Africa. We Wlnt 10 IInpro\'e a,ricu lture from subsistence level 10 commercial scale. Apa n frum wealth and job creation, it will also support our youths. There is a ready nlalkeL We Ire I)lrtnering With the company IS Iht.')' have lhe expertise and we ha\'e the market .Meanwhile, a fuctioll of the Alliance for Democracy in the stl te has cautioned Ahmed againsl relying on focetgn m\'l:Stors and experts in III effo rt to commercillise a,ncultu re and dtvelop the mile. In a s tatement by its chllmlan, Mr. Biliaminu Al iu, I nd secretary, Mr. Michael Ologunde, the party Slid the state III particular I nd tile country at large had enough and competenl agricul tural experts, who could aid t he commercialisation of Iznculture in the state. Aliu urged JJ IIl Ied. to consul t (he indllenous agncu lturists and a&IU' eoonomists in the stOlte and stop co-opting American farmers if he "'"1$ serious about tmprovlllg Igriculture and modernlSlng fannin! in the state "By the way, what IS "'TOng with the South Afncan fanners ill Shonga Farms? Why IS the ,(!Vernor runlling 10 American farmers ifthey are useful?W Analysts. hO""e\1':r, beheve Ihal Ihe much talked aooll l moderni.s.lt;on of agriculture III K""lra ...'ould (onl )' be IIlcanin,ful it the plans are translale..1 mto real ity and 001 mere rhetoric.
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