Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has flagged off the upgrade of the moribund Eruwa farm settlement.
DAILY POST reports that the farm settlement located in the Ibarapa geopolitical zone of the state has been in bad condition in the last few years.
Makinde on Thursday performed the ground-breaking ceremony for the upgrade of the moribund 3,250-hectare farm settlement to an agribusiness industrial hub.
He said that the project, once completed, would put Ibarapaland on the global agricultural map and create thousands of jobs for youths in the zone and across the state.
The governor, while addressing the gathering, added that his administration would also complete the Ido-Eruwa Road within the next year.
He used the opportunity to charge residents of the zone to make investors feel welcome when the new agribusiness hub is completed.
He said: “About five years ago, we started what I will call the journey to make agribusiness the driver of Oyo State’s economy. Immediately we came into office, we got access to a N7.6 billion loan facility taken by the previous administration and our plan was to use this loan to ensure that two of our moribund farm settlements are converted to agribusiness hubs.
“So, we started a pilot project at the moribund Fasola Farm Settlement, which we picked to serve as a prototype. It was an ambitious project because no state in Nigeria had ever done that.
“At first, we thought it would take like a year to complete the pilot project at Fasola, which is about 1,000 hectares. By calculation, it is bigger than Victoria Island in Lagos. Eruwa Farm Settlement is three times bigger than Fashola and what you see in the new Fasola Agribusiness Hub today is what we are putting up here.
“So, I want to say to the people of Ibarapaland that you should be ready because Ibarapaland is now on the agriculture map. We are quite happy and, as for me, I feel fulfilled that this journey to develop this farm estate is getting done.”