Oscarline Onwuemenyi,
with Agency reports
12 May 2017, Sweetcrude, Abuja – Governor of Katsina State, Alhaji Aminu Masari, has urged the Federal Government to accelerate the completion of the 10 Megawatt Windmill Power Project in Rimi Local Government Area of the state.
Masari made the call on Thursday in Katsina at the launching of a Pilot Edition of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Clinic.
He said, “We are calling on the Federal Government to complete the project because it will enhance Small and Medium Enterprises in the state.
“The SMEs if given the necessary support like power supply will assist to reduce rural-to-urban migration. Many of the youth will prefer to conduct their businesses at their various villages instead of migrating to the urban centres.”
The Governor said that the call was imperative because of the project’s importance to boosting socio-economic activities in the state.
He stated that the project had reached 90 per cent completion, adding that completing it would assist to reduce poverty among youths and women in rural areas.
Masari disclosed that his administration had established an agency saddled with the responsibility of fighting poverty among people of the state.
The Minister of State for Industries, Trade and Investment, Hajiya Aisha Abubakar, said that the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, was championing the empowerment of the SMEs.
Abubakar said that the Federal Government was committed to the diversification of the economy by giving maximum support to SMEs.
She also said that the government had established a Development Bank of Nigeria that would come to the aid of SMEs in the country.
She commended the Katsina State Government for giving maximum support to entrepreneurs to enhance the establishment of small businesses in the state.