President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday said lack of employment opportunities in most rural communities is the major cause of insecurity in the country.
President Buhari disclosed this in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina while receiving members of the Fertilizer Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The statement was titled “New 41.3bn fertilizer plant ready in months, President Buhari says.”
He said, “In the last four years, we have worked hard to bridge some of these economic imbalances through our various agricultural and financial policies to attract employment opportunities to rural areas.
“As we continue to expand our security operations to bring an end to these challenges, it is important to note that peace and prosperity can only be sustained if we collectively and actively support investments that take opportunities to our rural citizens.
“I therefore urge our governors, bankers, investors and entrepreneurs to look beyond our cities when it comes to investments.
“As we have seen from Nigeria’s five-year fertiliser revolution, if investors are willing to endure the short term ‘start-up’ pains, they will surely benefit from long term sustainable and substantial gains.”
The President announced that a new basic chemicals platform worth $1.3bn that will produce ammonia and fertilizers in Nigeria will be ready for inauguration in the coming months.
He added, “His Majesty, the King of Morocco and I, have agreed to extend the current Phosphate supply agreement between the Kingdom of Morocco and Nigeria.
“We both believe that to consolidate and expand on the successes recorded thus far, we must secure raw material supplies to our blenders.
“Furthermore, to improve the balance of trade between Nigeria and Morocco, the two countries have signed an agreement to develop a $1.3 billion Basic Chemicals Platform in Nigeria that will produce Ammonia, Phosphoric Acid, Sulphuric Acid and various Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium and Diammonium Phosphate fertilisers using Nigeria’s gas reserves.”
According to the President, the new plant when completed would complement the existing Dangote and Indorama Chemicals facilities which produce urea, ammonia and other industrial raw materials.
He added that “When we combine these projects with the existing 44 blending plants, Nigeria will indeed become a regional and global fertiliser power house.”