President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday inaugurated the new three million metric tonnes capacity per annum state-of-the-art Dangote Fertiliser Urea Plant, stating that it “will greatly create wealth, drastically reduce poverty and secure the future of our nation”.
The $2.5 billion plant, which he commissioned in the presence of some 18 governors, ministers, captains of industries as well as prominent traditional rulers, is located at Ibeju Lekki, Lagos Free Trade Zone within the periphery of the Dangote refinery.
“In the agricultural sector, another focal point of our economic policy, we expect a boom as fertiliser is now readily available,” said Buhari.
“Many Nigerians who hitherto practiced subsistence farming because of non-availability of necessary inputs can now take up agriculture as a business. We expect a rise of new breed of agropreneurs who will add value to farming and make the nation self-sufficient in food production.”
According to him, the Federal Government is now determined more than ever before to provide enabling environment for private sector investors to thrive.
In an earlier welcome address, president of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, described the new plant as a game-changer, as it has the capacity to make Nigeria become self-sufficient in fertiliser production, with spare capacity to export to other markets in Africa and the rest of the world. He added that already, Dangote fertiliser has reached the markets in the USA, Brazil and Mexico.
Also present at the inauguration was the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, who said Nigeria is indebted to Dangote for his giant strides to add value to Nigeria’s economy.
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu stated that Nigeria would quickly forget its many economic problems if another entrepreneur like Dangote could be replicated in other regions of Nigeria.
