There are indications that Governor Umar Bago of Niger State is taking some bold steps to revolutionise the economy of the state. His efforts appear geared towards the determination to improve the economy of the state through agriculture and other natural resources that the state is endowed with. Of late the governor has taken steps to bring in tremendous investment into agriculture, which is the backbone of the economy there.
Niger state has 76,363 square kilometres of land, leading other states in the country with Borno coming second with 70, 898 square kilometres and Taraba following with 54,473 square kilometres of landmass. Niger State boasts of agricultural products like rice, soybean, millet, sorghum and yam. Though the state may not be among the top producers of rice yet, it has the potential to compete with states like Kebbi, Kaduna and Ebonyi. The efforts to increase rice production is informed by the increasing market demands from countries like Guinea-Bissau, Benin Republic, Canada, United States and the United Kingdom where Nigeria’s foreign reserve is given a boost from earnings in rice exports. Niger state has an advantage here, because of its huge landmass. That must have been the source of encouragement for the governor.
He , therefore, did two things recently along this line. First, he was in Saudi Arabia holding meetings on how to increase agricultural growth in the state, then the second event was also held in Jeddah, where he had an audience with the Ma’ad Group, which is committed to investing in the state’s Agriculture sector. Reports from those two meetings show that the governor ensured that he brought home some good news for his state, which will attract international partnership for the development of agriculture and natural resources. According to Bago, the meeting with Ma’ad Group was targeted at investment opportunities in Niger State, especially in agriculture and solid mineral development.
While sharing the news that the meeting yielded positive results, the governor disclosed that the essence of the international partnership is to make Niger State a one-stop-investment state that will be in healthy competition with her counterparts globally.
In attendance was the chairman of Ma’ad Dr Ghazi bin Faisal Binzagr, and Imran Binzagr, Usman Bawa, Sammy Adigun and Sheikh Awal Mohammed
Governor Bago had attended the initiatives on Infrastructural development in Saudi Arabia where he succeeded in drawing positive gains to the state. For instance, he got investors to show more than a passing interest in the state. The takeaway includes the support for a number of investment possibilities in agriculture and the dualization of road projects between Minna and Bida in the state.
The summit which was held in Mecca, Saudi Arabia is in advanced negotiations on a multi-billion dollar infrastructure finance facility from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to fund a multi-sectoral portfolio of infrastructure projects at both Federal and Sub-national levels in Nigeria.
During the Saudi-Arab-African Economic Summit,Muhammad Al Jasser, the President of the Islamic Development Bank announced the provision of US$50 billion of new investment for the African continent from the Arab Coordination Group (ACG). Also, Mansur Muhtar, the Islamic Development Bank Vice-President reiterated the Bank’s resolve to support Nigeria’s economic transformation. Nigeria’s delegation to the Saudi-Arab-African Economic Summit was led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
