Borno Builds Industrial Hub

From Uche Okolie, Maiduguri
The Borno State government has commenced the construction of a new industrial hub in Maiduguri, the state capital as part of its post-insurgency plan to address the high unemployment problem in the state.
Gov Kashim Shettima who visited the new industrial layout at Njimtilo along Maiduguri-Kano highway, said the Borno Plastic Company will be moved from its old site along Baga road to the new area.
He said government has already ordered for equipment and materials for the plastic company worth about N2 billion, adding that the newly purchased machine for the company would complement the existing one.
“The company will be producing plastic chairs, water tanks, nylon and other household utensils for the use of the people here,” Shettima said while inspecting the level of construction at the site yesterday.
He said the industrial hub would also have a Solar Panel Plant to generate about 40 megawatts of electricity for use of the factories while another factory – a furniture- making firm – would also be sited at the layout.
While receiving briefings from the contractors and site engineers, the governor disclosed that government equally planned a Corn Chip Plantation at the layout.
Shettima said all the efforts were geared toward addressing the unemployment challenges in the state, maintaining that Boko Haram and other criminality or violent tendencies were products of joblessness which can substantially be tackled with availability of job opportunities.