John Shiklam in Kaduna
Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, disclosed wednesday that the raw gold deposits in one local government of the state is larger than the entire mineral deposits in the Republic of South Africa.
The governor said this at the opening of the Kaduna economic and investment forum at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Indoor Sports Hall, Murtala Square, Kaduna.
According to him, “We have just confirmed that Kaduna State, indeed Birnin Gwari Local Government Area alone, has more gold than South Africa. This is proven, this is verifiable; we have all the data and we are collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals.”
The governor said solid minerals alone would attract about N40 billion investment to the state, and urged investors to explore the opportunities in the state.
He said the new vision of his administration is to make Kaduna a state programmed for abundant investments, economic opportunities and prosperity.
The governor said further that his government had put all mechanism in place to ensure peace and security, good governance, improved quality of lives, and social inclusion for the people and investors coming to do business.
He said discussions were ongoing with a large international mining company to come and explore gold reserves in state.
“We are focusing on mining and agriculture in creating jobs in this state. The mining company we are discussing with is going to take our local miners, train them and group them into cooperatives so that they would be like sub contractors to them and be able to work with them.
“We are working with the federal government very closely to ensure that this happens” he said.
The governor said the government was also taking advantage of its abundant agricultural resources to woe investors, adding that Kaduna has the best ginger in the world and that N5 billion would be spent on ginger production in the state.
He expressed the determination of his government to tackle the daunting development challenges that are facing the state.
