The Federal Government has handed over 19 silos located in 18 states and the Federal Capital Territory to six concessionaires across the country.
Chief Audu Ogbeh, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, handing over the silos in Abuja on Tuesday, charged the concessionaires to manage the silos effectively as there were national assets.
Ogbeh advised the concessionaires to spray the silos with afla-safe to avoid aflatoxin infestation and ensure the purchase of grains bagged in only jute bags that would help their grains not to have more than five per cent moisture content before storage.
The minister said that the Federal Government would retain six of the silos for strategic reasons.
“When we came in, this concession process was partially ready but we congratulate ourselves and the ministry for refusing to interfere with it.
“The country has 33 silos but not all are ready, government is keeping six and the rest are going to you for management.
“Look after them well, take care of them manage them well because they are national assets. We need the silos because our population is growing,’’ Ogbeh advised.
Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture, commended the Federal Government for the concession, adding that it was commendable.
“I hope that the idea behind the concession of the silos is to attain the objective for which they are being set up.
“I am aware that ever before I knew I will be a senator that these siloes have been constructed and they have over these years been laying fallow or waste.
“It is my hope that those to whom the trust is placed and who put their monies on the line will put the siloes to good use and for the purpose to which the silos is granted to them.
“I hope they will live up to their financial obligation in the concession,’’ he said.
Mr Chidi Izuwah, the Director-General of the infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), said that the concessionaires paid an upfront fee of N1.3 billion to the government as entry fee for the asset.
Izuwah said that the Federal Government would receive N3.4 billion fixed annual concession fee, and a profit share of N6 billion annually from the concession deal.
He assured citizens of proper execution of the concession arrangement.
“This was an asset that was consuming money from government but the concessionaires will pay an upfront fee to be able to have the asset.
“They are not buying the asset, the asset still belongs to the government,’’ he said.
Speaking on behalf of other concessionaires, Mr Guido Firetti, the Managing Director of Matrixville Ltd., assured that the beneficiaries would impact positively on every aspect of the value chain.
Firetti said the investment would positively impact the farmers, processors and the consumers across the country.
“This occasion brings into culmination a process that started six years ago.
“Private sector investment in agriculture is key to achieving economic diversification, employment generation in rural areas and poverty reduction with government support in providing the enabling environment.’’
The concessionaires are Agro-Universal Consortium, Coscharis Farms Limited, Matrixville Ltd., Flour Mills Ltd., Ebony Agro Industries Ltd., and Neon Farms Africa Consortium.
The states where the silos are located are Kaduna, Kwara, Kebbi, Jigawa, Benue, Gombe, Oyo, Ogun, Bauchi, Cross River, Ekiti, Ondo, Plateau, Sokoto, Kano, Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Anambra and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).==NAN
