Bauchi State Government in partnership with Resident Cement Factory Limited, has commenced the construction of a 10 million metric ton capacity Cement company located in Diji Village in Gwana District in Alkaleri Local Government Area of the State worth $1.5 billion.
Speaking at the flag-off of the project on Tuesday, Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, said he contacted Bua and Dangote Cement Companies to partner with the State to construct the factory but they were unwilling.
“I feel highly fulfilled as a person and as a leader because today is the climax of what we set to do from 2019 as a movement under the Peoples Democratic Party, the PDP. We are here to open up new frontiers, to bring up some leadership reengineering, to do everything that will make people actualise their aspirations, and most importantly our aspiration.
“When I came on board, I inherited a feasibility study with Americans, with MoU signed by my predecessor for the development of this same industry, but nothing happen, the time line for the execution laps. I contacted Dangote Group personally to do this, and I sent message to my brother Alh. (Abdulsamad) Rabi’u to come and do it, they never show interest.
“Then you came from nowhere and said you are ready to deploy $1.5 billion to do this project, and you have already secured everything. The day you told me this, I didn’t sleep. I was highly fascinated and I believe wealth and prosperity come from God.
“Ours is to make sure we do things differently and attract investors including you it is because we are doing things differently. We are not going to impute our own personal interest, even before we did that, you made a very succulent offer to us that Bauchi state is going to own 10 percent of this project, this is the first time that this is happening. To all the business community, for your information, he has set aside 10% of this equity for you to take.
“And as a good gesture, he reduce the price per share by half so that he can bring acquisition to a level of affordability. Nobody will do that for you except your son, somebody who loves you. And as a government, we are taking this share on your behalf to warehouse it, so that anytime you need, you will come and take it,” he said.
The Governor added that: “This is not the groundbreaking ceremony, this is just a campaign for the drilling to ascertain the depth and volume of availability which has already been known through geophysical data. But what we are here to do is to show you that at this level that you have gone, a timeline that would have taken a novice, a doubting Thomas there years, you have done it in less than one year, in 11 months.
“We thank Mr. President, he is your friend and your partner, I know that, he has helped you a lot. And through you, I have been made to keep quiet on certain things, you know it, but I thank him for what he has done to you and to us through various investments. Some few days ago, we were in Katagum, the investment he brought will bring about N250 billion and I said that on behalf of the people of Bauchi, we are grateful.
“We thank security agencies for ensuring and fostering security. This place was a no-go area, we’re just some few kilometers to Taraba (State), but this is a different place from the other side. We thank all of you for what everyone is doing to ensure that Bauchi is safe even to places that are far away from the seat of power, Gwana which is about five hours drive away. We assure the Chinese that by the grace of Allah, their safety is granted,” he added.
Speaking earlier, the Group Chairman of Resident Cement Factory Ltd, Abbas Junaid said that they have deployed all manners of geological investigations which have proven that the deposit in Gwana is sustainable and enough to establish a cement plant.
Junaid disclosed that the proposed project would attract thousands of people, and called on the people to invest in the provision of infrastructure that would accommodate people, revealing further that the company would at the start bring 1000 trucks with an employment of 3, OOO drivers.
He said: “Why we are here today is to prove what geophysicists has discovered and found huge deposit of limestone, and for us to be able to prove that is sustainable enough for the quantity of 10 million tons capacity for the next one hundred years is why we are here today.
“We will build an air strip. The first project we are going to do here is that we will land our jet here, and we are going to come with a helicopter. We promise you that the next three months is a different ball game, this area will change to become an industrial zone.
“We are here to flag-off just a single rig for the purpose of this occasion, and after this, we will deploy about four rigs to make sure that we complete the drilling project within a period of two months, and we will meet here again in three months time for the proper construction of the cement plant itself.
“What I want assure Bauchi people is that we came ready, we have all necessary funding for this project, and from the day that we started in the last eight months to date, we have not stop for one day, to prove that the limestone deposit in Bauchi, Gwana and Alkaleri LGA is good enough to establish a cement plant.
“We promise you that the next three months will be a different game out of this place. This area will change to a proper industrial zone”.
