Ogun State and Land Allocation for Investment: Matters Arising

Our attention has been drawn to issue of land allocation for Investment purpose in Ogun State presently trending on the popular  social media platform known as X, particularly the one involving a  Dried Fruits Processing Company,  Bounty Health Products Limited,  popularly called ReelFruit.

As a responsive government with penchant for transparency and openness in all our dealings and activities,  we consider it practically imperative to clarify the issue and set the record straight without bias and sentiment.

It is no more a news that the administration of Prince Dapo Abiodun,  upon his assumption of office had prioritized policies that have engendered the best  ease of doing business index  in Nigeria, which has made Ogun State the first choice of investment destination in Nigeria. 

As it stands, Ogun State accommodates over 6000 manufacturing firms operating in different clusters across the State and making waves without any hindrance due to favourable policies of the government that make the business environment very motivating and encouraging for investors.

Meanwhile, Ogun State Government has achieved this feat in Industrialization without compromising neither the superior interests of its people nor their inherent custom and tradition within the ambit of the Nigerian extant law.

It is this consciousness that played out in the course of land allocation to ReelFruit, superintended by Affiong Wiliams, which already has an existing agro based factory in the state,  after a thorough and stringent evaluation,  in which the company passed convincingly.

The company, alongside credible foreign partners, in the first instance invested 2.5 million dollars in this investment, and they are sourcing fruits from farmers in 6 different states in Nigeria.

It was on the strength of this huge investment that they  applied  for 400 hectares of land in which only 20 hectares were granted to them  on LEASE AGREEMENT with ultimatum of 6 months to develop the land as proposed. 

Obviously,  the pattern of the agreement was far from any sentiments as being orchestrated on the social media platform but a clear reflection of our stringent process to ensure real investment opportunities and to guide against unscrupulous elements with speculative tendency from grabbing our land for other purposes different from industrialization.

True to their promise and proposal, the factory was commissioned in February 2024 with the Commissioner for Industry, Trade and Investment, as well as the Commissioner for  Agriculture and Food Security in attendance, where the germane  conversation on the need for backward integration began. They have since begun the  exportation of processed  fruits from  Ogun State to several countries across the world, with attendant steady revenue to Ogun State coffers.

While we do not support any individual or group denigrating any tribe within the geographical location of Nigeria, we want to clearly state that we are specifically dealing with ReelFruit as a corporate entity for the ultimate aim of strengthening our microeconomic base through industrialization as well as to provide job opportunities for our teeming youths.

We, therefore,  urge Nigerians of different languages and tribes to emulate the development ideology of Ogun State without sentiment of any form and create an enabling environment for investment. 

Hon. Kayode Akinmade 

Special Adviser to Ogun State Governor on Media and Strategy.