The Ebonyi State Government has concluded arrangements to establish a new cement factory at Nkalagu, in the Ishielu Local Government Area of the state.
A statement issued by the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Dr Monday Uzor, and made available to reporters in Abakaliki revealed that Governor Nwifuru dropped the hint while conducting Chinese contractors round the moribund Nigeria Cement Factory (NIGERCEM), Nkalagu.
The statement quotes the governor as saying that the bottlenecks surrounding the reactivation of the old factory informed the decision of the state government to establish a new one.
Governor Nwifuru noted that preliminary findings proved that the area has large deposits of limestone that will sustain the new company for more than thirty years, when established.
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According to him, “We have 50 million tonnes of limestone in Nkalagu and 23 million tonnes at Effium, and if put together, they will sustain the factory for a minimum of 30 years.
“The company will be fully functional, creating jobs and crashing the costs of building materials for not only Ebonyi State and the Southeast but Nigeria in general.
“As a responsive government which is alive to its social contracts, the establishment of the new factory was not politically motivated, nor was it driven by opaque interests, but because it formed the industrialisation components of the People’s Charter of Needs Agenda.”
Nwifuru further said, “This project is one of the projects we believe we must execute. We came with manufacturers, designers, builders and contractors. They will inspect the limestone deposits. Upon completion, no one, including my humble self, will buy shares here.”
The Governor disclosed that the expatriates have assured him of timely completion of the project to drive the industrialisation vision of his administration.
Governor Nwifuru also lauded the support of some stakeholders and leaders of the southeast zone and commended his Anambra State counterpart, Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo, for continuing to indicate interest in the reactivation of the old NIGERCEM.
Recall that the Ebonyi State Government had earlier appropriated a staggering sum of 150 Billion Naira in the 2026 budget for the establishment of a new cement factory.
