President Bola Tinubu is expected to inaugurate an agricultural processing zone with equipment and the remodelled Minna International Airport on Monday.
Governor Mohammed Umaru-Bago of Niger State, who said this while inspecting the projects on Saturday, said about 2,000 hectares would be utilised for the agro-processing zone project.
Also on the inspection team was the President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Chris Isiguzo.
Bago said about 1,000 hectares would be utilised for drip irrigation and greenhouses while an additional 1,000 hectares was specifically for processing dairy products.
He added that the remodelling of the International Airport in Minna had reached 99 per cent completion.
“Niger State sells an average of half a million cattle to Nigerians and people outside Nigeria daily.
“We don’t need to transport these cattle by road at all, you can take the meat that is frozen from the airport to anywhere and it will create employment, enhance the value chain,” the governor added.
On the agro zone, the governor, who said the project would be executed with foreign partners, said water would be piped from Shiroro Dam for use by farmers at the site.
“We are constructing about 140 kilometres of water irrigation channels to this place from Shiroro dam,” he said.
The NUJ president commended the governor for the initiative, adding that the airport would compete with others in Africa.
“Coming here today to see the massive transformation that is ongoing in this place speaks volumes about the commitment of the present administration in the state,” he said. (NAN)