Dangote partners Northern Governors on agriculture to end poverty

The President Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, on Friday agreed to partner with the Niger State Government and all other northern states in the development of their agricultural sector in order to tackle the prevailing poverty in the region.
Dangote disclosed this while fielding questions from journalists after a closed doors meeting with Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State at his residence in Minna.
He said: “I decided to partner Northern states governors in contributing my quota towards reducing poverty by investing in the region and to reduce poverty to the barest minimum.
“We are looking at how we can empower people to alleviate themselves from poverty and reduce pressure from government.
“In the light of this, we were approached by the state government to invest in the state.
“After careful analysis of the situation, I decided to concentrate on the agricultural sector.”
The President of the Dangote Group pointed out that his desire to invest in the state and the region is borne out of his desire to reduce unemployment in general and not because of the expected return in investment.
He said: “We are requesting for 50,000 hectares of land because Niger State is a place to do rice and sugar cane.”
Dangote said his group will hold 70 per cent equity of the proposed 50,000 hectares commercial farm, while the state government and the host communities will hold 30 per cent, adding: “When I finally made up my mind to come to Niger State two weeks ago, I knew it is in the agricultural sub-sector that we will invest because that is where our people thrive.”
Speaking on the breakthrough recorded by his administration, Governor Aliyu said the state government has set up a technical committee to provide the 50,000 hectares to the renowned industrialist in another two weeks.
According to him: “I am happy that he is finally coming to our state because I have been pursuing him for over 10 years to come and invest in Niger State while I was still a Federal Permanent Secretary.
“This project would create massive employment in the state, especially among the rural people and spread across the whole North.”