09 September 2013, Akure – Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, has said his government’s efforts towards the establishment of a $9 billion refinery, petrochemical and fertilizer plants in the state is a catalyst that will bring unprecedented industrial explosion in the state.
Mimiko had last week signed a $3.3billion commercial tranche between Dangote Group and a consortium of banks for the establishment of the refinery, petrochemical and fertilizer plants in the state.
Commenting on the development at the weekend, Mimiko said the project would bring about rapid increase in the number of industries in the state.
He said many other industries will begin to spring up in the state to render several supplementary services, adding that the proposed OK Free Trade Zone would be the largest and best industrial complex in the country and even in the African continent.
“The establishment of a refinery, petrochemical and fertilizer plant in the state will serve as catalyst to other industries to spring up.
“And again, with the construction of a power plant in Ore, which will soon be completed, it will complement all these and we can expect what will virtually lead to an explosion in the state industrial sector,” he stated.
Mimiko said the OK Free Trade Zone industrial complex will create lots of jobs for the people of the state, maintaining that the state being the co-host of the projects, would be a major beneficiary going by the level of manpower it can boast of.
Insisting that the state will benefit immensely from the projects in terms of economic development, Mimiko said: “Citing of industries at OK Free Trade Zone in this state will create thousands of jobs, jobless people will be employed in the state and apart from creating jobs for the people, it has various economic benefits for the state.”
The President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, had revealed, while putting pen to paper for the projects that about 8,000 workers would be needed for the smooth take off of the nine-billion-dollar Dangote Refinery-Fertilizer plant in the state.
Dangote said at completion, the project will provide direct and indirect jobs for 85,000 Nigerians.
He said the project had effectively taken off, with the award of the Engineering, Procurement and Construction, EPC, contract to Saipem of Italy for the fertilizer plant, noting that the basic engineering design and optimisation for the refinery had also been awarded.
At the commencement of operation, Dangote said the fertilizer plant would produce 2.75 metric tons per annum of Urea and Ammonia; while the refinery would process 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
He said the refinery would produce a higher grade of petrol, compared to imported ones, saying “in addition to high grade petrol, the refinery will produce: diesel, aviation fuel, household kerosene, slurry as raw material for carbon black, as well as 650,000 metric tons of polypropylene per annum. Our mission is to through industrialization, reverse the historical trend of the export of foreign exchange and jobs and replace it with foreign exchange conservation and job creation.”
Dangote added that the recent discovery and development of the shale oil and gas in “our traditional markets has further stressed the urgent need for us to diversify our economy on a fast track to avoid a reversal of the current steady improvement in all indices of economic performance.”
– This Day
