The Aheri Development Council in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State has justified its choice to embrace the Olókòlá Free Trade Zone, OKFTZ, while rejecting the proposed Dangote Industrial City in Ilaje-Aheri kingdom.
This was disclosed by the Secretary to the Council, Ayeoba Ige Asemudara in a statement published today after a meeting organised by the Maporure of Aheriland, Oba Ilesanmi Raphael Ikuemonisan-Mafo at Zion-Pepe, Ilaje.
The meeting had in attendance representatives of Ondo State Government, ODSG and Dangote Industries Limited on the anticipated investment in OKFTZ and the putative Dangote Industrial City inside the area, Vanguard reported.
Asemudara said the Aheri kingdom welcomes the return of Dangote and ties it with the industrial development objective of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa inside OKFTZ along the Atlantic coast. Hire a Grant Writer
But the council said it was concerned about what it characterised as the exclusion of host communities from Technical Committee established by ODSG to compile documents and liaise with Dangote and other enterprises in OKFTZ.
“It is unacceptable that our land and forests are being invaded by strangers on the pretext of crops enumeration, data collection and environmental impact assessment of undisclosed projects based on a proposed government acquisition of land with no clear location, dimension, ”the statement said.
“As Dangote vacated the 10,000 hectares allocated to it in OKFTZ for Lekki, Lagos State only got 2,635 hectares of low-lying, swampy, reclaimed land for Dangote Refinery,” Asemudara said.
He said the 10,000 hectares of OKFTZ is significantly bigger than other free trade zones in the Niger Delta and Lagos, noting that Lekki FTZ is 3,000 hectares, Eko Atlantic is 1,107 hectares and Alaro City 1,000 hectares among others.
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