Yobe, Qatar investors mull cement, meat coys
The Yobe State Government and some Qatari investors from the office of Sheikh Saoud Bin Nasser Bin Khalid al-Thani are exploring an investing partnership to set up a cement company and meat processing factory in Yobe State.
This was part of the discussion between Governor Mai Mala Buni and a representative of Sheikh Saoud Bin Nasser al-Thani, Sheikh Bader Al-Hajeri in Abuja yesterday.
Buni briefed al-Hajeri about the investment opportunities in Yobe State, including the gypsum and limestone deposits and other resources that could support setting up a cement company as well as the mass availability of small ruminant animals that could support a meat processing factory.
“With a new cargo airport about to be completed, we can harness the vast livestock
Tresources in Yobe State to export processed meat directly to Qatar and the rest of the Middle East”, the governor said.
The governor also harped on the need to set up a cement factory in his state, saying there is increasing demand for cement in the North East which is not met by the only cement factory in the region, Ashaka Cement.
Governor Buni added that the partnership would be a win-win for both sides and would enable his administration to provide more jobs for the people of the state.
Sheikh al-Hajeri, who extended an invitation for the governor to visit Qatar so that they could sign an agreement on the proposed partnership, said his investment group is willing and ready to work with Yobe State in the two key areas. “We are looking to host you in Qatar. We are also going to visit your state so that we can reach a point of agreement about our partnership”, he said. he Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), who represents Ekiti South Federal Constituency II, Hon Femi Bamisile, has disagreed with the Minister of Works, Mr. Babatunde Fashola’s assertion that the state of the country’s roads was exaggerated.
The lawmaker who spoke in Erio-Ekiti yesterday while inspecting a collapsed bridge along the Aramoko-Erio-Efon highway, urged Fashola to get a full grasp of the state of Nigerian roads, rather than saying complaints over their deplorable situation was a mere media hype.
He said the comment showed that the minister had not been plying major roads in Nigeria to be able to have firsthand information on them.
He then appealed to the federal government to release N12 billion to FERMA to enable it put the roads back in shape during the festive season.
He expressed displeasure with the state of the Aramoko-Erio-Efon highway, saying the federal government must do something urgent to avert carnage in the area.
Bamisile, who commended Governor Kayode Fayemi for releasing N19m to a contractor to carry out work on the collapsed portion of the road, however added that temporary measures can’t work.
“We need to divert the road and do a thorough job here, because this road was built on an old small culvert. Government must direct Dangote Company to remove all damaged trucks inside ditches along the road, they are constituting serious problems on our highways.