Governor Abdullahi A. Sule of Nasarawa state has been commended for pursuing policies aimed at turning Toto local government area into an industrial hub.
Reacting to last week’s signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the host community and Flour Mills Company in Abuja, in a statement issued by chairman, TPL Musa Usman, the Synergy and Alliance of Unions in Toto LGA for Development (SYAUTD), urged the state government to take a second look at the document to address what it described as “some gaffs.”
Usman is a Prince of Opanda Kingdom where the company is to be cited and is also the CEO Maijigida Youth Development Foundation (MYDF).
The group congratulated the good people of Umaisha and the entire Toto LGA on the development, saying it was particularly “pleased with the development, given the bright promises the epoch-making event holds for the area and its people.”
It said the area is blessed with many high valued natural resources and it “only requires serious investors to step in and take advantage of them for mutual benefit.”
Assuring the company of enabling environment for operations, it said “being naturally welcoming and industrious people, the company would not only find a hospitable people that would guarantee its unhindered operations but a ready qualified manpower to feed its workforce.”
The statement reads in part: “The coalition further appreciates the deliberate policy of Governor Abdullahi A. Sule led government in turning the area into an agro allied hub of the state.
“It thanks the administration for finding the area suitable for such developmental stride. The policy would further etch and endear the people centered state government in the minds of the people.
“It says the development, no doubt, will help in no small measure to curb the pervasive unemployment and its attendant scorching poverty in the area even as it will halt rural – urban drift for search of illusive white collar jobs.
“It further says the development is capable of addressing insecurity bisecting the area.”
The group expressed its displeasure at the proposed 30 percent of the total hectares set aside for the farming natives which is to be equipped with modern farming implements to engender favourable competition with the company, describing it as too little.
It appealed for the reconsideration of that aspect of the MoU for fairer deal.
It also advocated that in keeping with the global best practices, the community should have been allocated certain percentage of the shares, saying the failure to do this was “unhelpful and at best a recipe for mistrust and lack of sense of ownership by the locals.”
