Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi
The Chairman of Kebbi State Standing Committee on Biofuel, Professor Muhammed Abubakar Kaoje, has projected that the extraction of ethanol from cassava in Gwazawa town in Dankowasagu Local Government Area of the state would yield about $1 billion in Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) annually for the state.
Kaoje, a former Minister of Science and Technology, disclosed this in Birnin Kebbi on Monday while speaking with newsmen on the development of the project.
The Federal Government through the NNPC had signed an MoU on November 23rd, 2017, an initiative of the Kebbi State Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu and the late Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru at the NNPC Towers, Abuja.
If the project kicks off, about 84 million litres of ethanol per day would be extracted from sugarcane in the state.
About 47,000 hectares of land were allocated for the project, Daily Sun has learnt, with about 32,000 hectares set aside for cassava cultivation alone.
Speaking with newsmen, Kaoje explained: ‘We are not producing biofuel for the sake of producing biofuel, but we had sat and done calculations, and our expectation, if the project is completed and taken off, is that it will supplement the state IGR of $1 billion (388 billion) if we achieve our maximum target annually.
‘It is our estimate and it could be more than that, and I am just talking about the cassava, but the biofuel from sugar is also going to contribute more substantially to the revenue of the state.’
Kaoje further disclosed that the committee has begun the process of installing machinery which has the capacity to generate an alternative source of power to the host community as well serving the production of ethanol instead of relying on hydropower.
He noted that Nigeria has the potential to commence production of ethanol in large quantities for export, particularly from the northern part of the country.
He added that the project is expected to be completed before the end of Governor Bagudu’s second term, stressing that when completed, it would boost the economy of the state and create huge employment opportunities for the people.