Governor Makinde restates commitment to making Oyo top investment destination

Oyo state Governor, Seyi Makinde has restated the commitment of his administration in improving the business environment of the state and making it more attractive to investors.

The governor, who spoke, on Thursday, through his Chief of Staff, Segun Ogunwuyi, during the diamond jubilee celebration and official commissioning of a new factory line at Fan Milk Plc in Ibadan, the state capital assured that his administration would continue to place high priority on key infrastructure that would make the state more viable for investments.

Makinde said the new production line would increase the company’s production capacity by 52 percent, revealing that the state has been home to Fan Milk Plc for the past six decades, with a recombination-plant at Ibadan and a distribution centre in Lagos.

He said “Fan Milk Plc, which started with less than 30 employees has developed into an international brand, impacting the Nigerian population and other countries on the African continent with its healthy and nutritious milk-based products.”

Makinde disclosed that Oyo State, under his leadership, had witnessed significant improvements in the investment outlook, saying a recent Business Expectation Survey had indicated that businesses in Oyo State had maintained a positive outlook despite the national challenges, with over 70 percent positive outlook and confidence.

The governor pledged that his administration would remain committed to supporting businesses via creating the right business environment as well as the provision of adequate infrastructure and security, noting that the approach of his administration to governance is to wrap infrastructure around the economic empowerment of the people.

He said “Our expanded economic drive sets the pace for our project footprint, towards taking our people from poverty to prosperity. A good example is the Moniya-Iseyin road for the facilitation of produce evacuation from the Oke-Ogun region, the food basket of Oyo State. Our investment at the Fashola Farm Estate is supported by the reconstruction of Oyo-Iseyin road. These among others depict how we utilise the integrated approach to development.”

In his remarks, the Managing Director, Fan Milk Plc, Mr Ferdinand Mouko, expressed appreciation to the people and government of Oyo State for giving the company an enabling environment to operate in the state in the last 60 years, noting that without the support of the people of the state the company would not have stayed that long.

“We are not only in business we are also growing in Oyo State; and today we are employing 800 temporary and permanent people in our organisation. We currently have, through our entrepreneurial unique business model, 18,750 vendors and 1,200 agents serving in our ecosystem, whose sources of livelihood come from the products we produce from this factory which is our own little contribution to the economy of Oyo State.”

He revealed that through the Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme driven with Oyo State, the company had created more than 150 internship opportunities on a yearly basis for a couple of years.

Bilkisu Pai