Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule has disclosed that with the proposed Dangote Sugar, the state will produce 450, 000 metric tons of sugar yearly, as well as 90 megawatts of power yearly when completed.
According to him, the plant which is situated in Tunga, Awe local government area of the state, will not require more than 45 megawatts to operate.
Mr Sule added that the remaining 45 megawatts would be channelled to power Lafia, the state capital, Obi, Keana and Awe local government areas.
“The masterplan for Tunga sugar plantation started 7 years ago, but we have not gone more than 7 percent.
“We are supposed to be at 70 percent by now. And the reason is simple. The challenges are enormous, we are used to refineries in Nigeria.
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“But with the refineries, you lose all the opportunities of the value chain. You lose the opportunity of the greatest of all, employment opportunities,” he said.
The Governor equally spoke on the challenges posed by the land tenure system, which he said, is making it difficult for investors to acquire land.
“Sugar industry has an excellent formula of what we call out grower.
“They can take land from a farmer, and give it back to the farmer and also guarantee buying of this product so that at the end of the day, it’s the same sugar industry that is growing,” Mr Sule said.
The governor added that sugar has gone beyond politics and economics but that it’s actually about the society and global changes, which emphasizes on the control of pollution in terms of the use of ethanol derived from sugar rather than energy from oil.
