Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, on Wednesday performed the groundbreaking ceremony for a N30 billion Cassava Industrial City in Kokona Local Government Area, marking a major step in the state’s agro-industrialisation drive.

The project, coming days after the National Economic Council (NEC) conference on the Renewed Hope Ward Development Planning, positions Nasarawa among the first states to translate the Council’s resolutions on grassroots economic development into concrete action.

Addressing traditional rulers, landowners and financial partners at the event, Governor Sule said the initiative aligns with the national objective of promoting domestic processing and value addition to raw materials.

“The whole idea from the NEC conference is about developing the ward. Today, we are not just talking about a ward. We are talking about a village. By the time we have this project—the biggest cassava industrial city in Nigeria—then we have developed this ward in the area of cassava,” he said.

Promoted by Sequoia Farm Limited, the industrial city is designed as a fully integrated value chain operation covering cultivation, processing and the production of ethanol, starch, high-quality cassava flour, animal feed and bio-energy.

Phase one of the five-year investment cycle, projected to run from 2025 to 2030, will cultivate 500 hectares under an outgrower model, with 80 percent of participation reserved for women from the host community.

Governor Sule urged the investors to prioritise community engagement, noting that local support remains the strongest form of security.

“Once the community buys into this project, you are one hundred percent secured,” he said, pledging to monitor the relationship between the company and the host community to ensure fairness.

He also disclosed that a separate team of investors from India was currently exploring 10,000 hectares in Toto, Nasarawa, and the Akwanga–Kokona axis for a cashew value chain project, describing both initiatives as practical responses to NEC’s call for ending the export of unprocessed raw materials.

Sule, who is set to receive an award as Industrial Governor of Northern Nigeria, said his primary motivation was seeing local youths acquire skills to operate and maintain advanced processing equipment.

“I may not be the governor by then. But I will be the happiest person if I am still alive to come back here and witness that development,” he added.

Managing Director and CEO of the Nasarawa State Investment Development Agency (NASIDA), Ibrahim Abdullahi, described the project as a direct outcome of the governor’s economic strategy.

“Development does not happen by accident. His Excellency has matched words with action. Before his coming, raw materials from Nasarawa left without value addition. Today, we are changing that,” he said.

Chief Executive of Sequoia Farm Limited, Cheta Udezue, credited the state government’s infrastructure investment and policy support for making the project viable, recalling that the access road to the site was previously impassable.

President of the National Cassava Growers Association, Dr Mustapha Bakano, described the Kokona initiative as the first 10,000-hectare cassava industrial city in the country and commended the governor’s resilience.

The Abaga Tony of Kokona LGA, HRH Mr Lawrence Ayih JP, also thanked the governor for resolving issues that had delayed the project, saying the intervention restored peace and confidence in the area.

(Arise News)

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