The Kaduna State Government, led by Mukhtar Yero, on Wednesday, re-opened the moribund Ikara Food Processing Company which has been abandoned for over two decades.
The company was leased to an Indian company through a Public Private Partnership arrangement by the Government to re-industrialise the state.
During the reopening ceremony held at the company premises in Ikara Local Government Area of the State, the Governor said that the move was part of his administration’s resolve to actualise all projects initiated by past regimes in the state.
Speaking further, he noted that his administration was also in talks with foreign investors that have indicated interest in taking over other food processing companies owned by the state.
Governor Yero, also called on the operators of the Ikara Food Company, Springfield Agro Limited to revamp the company as contained in the agreement it entered with the State Government.
According to the State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Joshua Skekarau Uchissa, the leasing of the company was a step in the right direction, saying it was expected to generate employment, create business activities and boost farming.
The Ikara Tomato Company was established in 1981 by the Balarabe Musa administration. The company has an installed capacity for processing 16,950 tons of tomato, 5,760 tons of Mangoes, 5,120 tons of Oranges and 780 tons of Pineapple per Annum which are to be sourced locally. The factory also has 700 hectares of land purposely for tomato farming.
Apart from tomato, Kaduna State is blessed with other important crops, such as maize, cassava, ginger, groundnut, and mineral resources, whose value-chain development could be a source of employment for the teeming unemployed youths, create wealth and reduce poverty.
Many companies in Kaduna such as Kaduna Textiles Limited, Arewa Textiles, Kachia Ginger Company and a host of others were shut down for many years, rendering many people jobless and cutting down the revenue base of the state. The re-opening of this food processing company is therefore expected to reduce the level of unemployment and poverty in the state.
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