The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has kicked off the construction of Lagos State Food Security Systems and Central Logistics Hub, in Ketu-Ereyun, Epe area of the state, to boost food security in the state in particular and Nigeria in general.
Sanwo-Olu during the inauguration disclosed that the project will guarantee greater returns for farmers by cutting out several layers of middlemen, improve access to modern processing and packaging services, as well as generate useful data for the use of government agencies, private sector players, and multilateral agencies.
The governor stated that the park would be built on 1.2 million square metres of land, and would have the following components: processing facilities, trailer park, water treatment plant, health center, fuel station/ Fire station, storage facilities, administrative offices, trading/brokering facilities, packaging facilities and abattoir.
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He emphasized that when completed, the hub will create wealth for more than 5 million people, feed more than 10 million Lagosians, guarantee food supplies, provide storage facilities for more than 1,500 trucks per day, and service the needs of thousands of operators per annum.
‘I can boldly say that this is one of the most important agricultural interventions that Nigeria has ever seen. The fact that it is taking place in Lagos, the most populous and fastest growing subnational entity in the country, means that it is bound to have significant national, regional, and continental impact,” Sanwo-olu noted.
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The state Commissioner for Agriculture, Abisola Olusanya, while commenting on the project, said the hub as the largest in Africa will change the economic landscape of the state, and lead to an influx of services in sectors such as: real estate sector, banking, logistics, and hospitality sector among others.
