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Dayo Johnson Akure

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has expressed its readiness to partner with the Ondo State Government in the area of industrial development, saying that the state has a lot of potential to be a leader in the nation’s industrial sector.

It commended the state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu for his initiatives in creating enabling environment to attract and support investors that are willing to do business in the state.

The Association Chairman in Oyo, Osun, Ekiti and Ondo States, Mr. Lanre Popoola said this in Akure, Ondo state capital during the visit of members of the association to the state governor.

Popoola said that “the steps taken by the present administration in the state attracted the association, hence their visit to the governor, in order to synergise and partner with the state government in driving a road map for continued industrialization of the state.

“The state has potential to be an industrial hub as it is the gateway to the West, North and even to the East in Nigeria, so we want to explore all these potentials and see how we can key in into the vision of Mr Governor in industrialising this state

” We are here on a visit to our members to carry out some findings and assess our relationship with the state and we can promise you that with this visit we are going to raise the membership base within the next one year because there are a lot of opportunities here.

“We are ready to key into your policies and bring in more investors into the state. We have seen that the state is open to investors and we want to be part of it.

“We want you to put us as members in some of your technical boards, committees and agencies so that we can partake in driving the industrial growth of this state

“This state has a lot of potentials, we have the seaports with the longest coastline in Nigeria and we want to actually explore all these facilities that are on the ground.

“We also look at the Ore Industrial hub, we see that we could do a lot of things. Investors are coming.

” We also have a lot of potentials for agro-allied industry here, for cocoa, for the food industry and these are areas that we are going to work on in bringing in investors”

Responding Governor Akeredolu said that there was a need for serious collaboration between government and experts in solving basic economic challenges with the available natural resources in the state.

Akeredolu, therefore, expressed his readiness to partner with the association adding that the partnership would help his administration’s vision in industrializing the state.

The governor also expressed optimism that “Port Ondo’s vision would soon become a reality to provide job not only for the people of the state but also to ease the burden of other ports in the country.”

He called on the association “to contribute positively to the development of the state and assured them that the state government would be ready to join hands with it in putting the state on the global map in the area of industrial development.