Ogun’s noble strides

The creation of Ogun State which is also known as the Gateway State on February 3rd, 1976 is a blessing to Nigeria as a whole. Ogun has made outstanding records which to a large extent has earned the country international recognition, thereby helping to develop this nation.

Ogun State continues to provide enabling environment, security, power and road network which made the state to take over 70 per cent of investments in Nigeria as confirmed by Manufacturer Association of Nigeria (MAN) report, 2015.

According to the MAN, the Ogun State’s industrial zone ranked first in 2014, while new investment in the state in 2014 was valued at N514.87 billion, an increase from the 2013 investment profile of N376.57 billion and total Investment stood at N691.77 billion (74%) by the end of 2014. In its latest economic review (2015), MAN said the production value recorded by the Ogun Industrial Zone accounted for 69 percent of total production for all zones, thus re-confirming Ogun as the industrial hub of Nigeria.

Meanwhile, out of the N180.12 billion invested in the whole manufacturing and agro-allied industries in Nigeria in the first six months of 2015, N128.3 billion went to Ogun, representing 71.23 per cent.  Also in term of finance, the National Bureau of Statistic, 2015 report, stated that Ogun is one of the states with the highest Internally Generated Revenue with (49.42%). However, Ogun has added another feather to its cap by leading other states in solid mineral production, according to the 2016 Nigeria Bureau of Statistic (NBS) repor. The NBS listed limestone, laterite and granite as the nation’s leading types of solid mineral.

It added that Nigeria produced 43,495,423.12 tonnes of solid mineral last year, and Ogun produced the highest tonnes among the 36 states, including FCT with 16,376,547.50 tonnes of solid minerals representing 37.65 per cent of the total tonnes of solid minerals produced in 2016. There is no gainsaying the fact that Ogun has contributed immensely to the development of the country in all ramifications, thus becoming a leading example to other states.

Taylor Temitayo: 08060631214.