United States Consul-General to Nigeria, Mr. Jeffry Hawkins
* Hails Oshiomhole’s devt drive
In order to boost the economic potential of Nigeria and Edo State in particular, the United States Consul-General to Nigeria, Mr. Jeffry Hawkins, has disclosed plans by his country’s government to establish a $250 million fertilizer plant in the state.
Hawkins, who made the disclosure during a courtesy call and inspection of projects in the state Tuesday in Benin-City, described the state Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, as one of the most effective governors in Nigeria.
The Consul-General said the $250 million fertilizer plant was being planned by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) of the US government.
According to him, “We are here because we are proud that the OPIC is involved with the Green Petrochemical Company which is making on a $250 million investment, and we are happy that this important fertilizer plant will have the support of the US government. It will create about one thousand five hundred jobs. That is something we are hoping to take a look at when we are here.”
Hawkins noted that the US was motivated by the long relationship with Oshiomhole way back before he joined politics coupled with his activities as one of Nigeria’s premier labour leaders to continue with that relationship.
“We are happy that people of your state obviously think highly of you and your re-election is what we in US call landslide. You are someone many people point to when answering the question who is the most effective governor in Nigeria? Often the answer is Adams Oshiomhole,” he added.
Responding, Oshiomhole thanked the US government for the planned investment in the state emphasising that: “We trust we can count on your support.
“I am happy for the good news that a US agency is supporting a fertilizer plant here and this shows the confidence, and we are happy about that.
“We are also able to attract one of Nigeria’s foremost investors, Dangote group, and they are constructing a factory somewhere in the Edo North behind the bank of the River Niger. That is the largest fertilizer plant in this part of Africa.
“In addition, we also believe that we can easily be a hub for generation, supply and distribution of power if the federal government gets its policies right. Strategically located we have gas which is the resource for power generation. We realise that building institutions rather than strong men, we are already looking at Edo State after my tenure.”
The governor maintained that regardless of the character of the persons, he thinks his administration have been able to strengthen institutions by making investment in Information Communication Technology (ICT), in order to deepen transparency and avoid waste in the system.
“For too long, the Nigerian electorate has been taken for granted. This is the only country a leader is elected and has not finished a four-year term in office he is already predicting to win the second term as if his performance is irrelevant. When you have a system like that in a democracy, you can’t be sure of the future,” he said.
The Consul-General later joined the governor on a tour of some of the projects in Benin metropolis.
Speaking in an interview with journalists after the tour of project sites, Hawkins said: “I specially want to thank the governor for his kind heart. We have seen a number of things that he is doing ranging from roads, health, education and drainage. He has worked hard to develop the infrastructure of the state.”
“In a city like Benin, it makes all the difference. The state government has paid a lot of attention to it and it’s working very hard to address the issue of flooding.”
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