Ogun to sign MoU with OPS on Olokola deep sea port

The Ogun Government and Organised Private Sector (OPS) plan to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the construction of the Olokola deep sea port.

Mr. Lekan Adeniran, the Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, Dapo Abiodun, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.

He said Abiodun made this known during a meeting with the Chief Executive Officers of OPS in Abeokuta on Wednesday.

Supreme News reports that the sea port is located in the Ogun Waterside Local Government Area of the state.

“The construction of the Olokola sea port will provide another opportunity for companies in the state to move their goods and equipment freely.

“It will be an addition to the Gateway Agro-Cargo International Airport, which is almost at its completion stage.

“I want to share with you the fact that while we are talking about our road, rail, and air transport, we will be signing very soon an MoU with the private sector players for the construction of our sea port in Olokola.

“This is another giant step to ensure that we enable businesses to continue to thrive in our state,” Adeniran quoted Abiodun as saying.

He added that the governor said his administration was working towards putting an end to the multiplicity of taxes in the state.

“The reforms already put in place by the State Inland Revenue Service will definitely put an end to the issue,” the governor said.

“On the harmonisation of taxes, we have put in a lot of reforms in our Inland Revenue Service.

“Be rest assured. Be patient with me. Slowly and surely, we will remove all these multiplicities of taxes.”

Abiodun was also quoted as urging business concerns to patronise the government whenever they were in need of land, saying that all land belonged to the government.

“We are also concerned about our physical planning as well.

“The Department of Lands and Physical Planning is now working collaboratively to ensure that all the problems we have had in the past are resolved,” he said.

Abiodun then urged the OPS in the state to give back to their various host communities.

”This is by either taking advantage of the state government’s offer to adopt a school or primary health care centre project.”

Earlier, the State Chairman of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mr. George Onafowokan, acknowledged the position of the state as the best place for industries to thrive.

He, however, called on the state government to continue to work towards ensuring that the enablers for businesses to thrive were readily made available in the state.

Speaking on behalf of the Agbara Cluster, the Director of African Industry Group, Mr. Sohan Baghla, disclosed that they had been able to provide over 10,000 jobs for the people of the state.

He said a greater percentage of their investments were in steel production and processing, aluminium production and processing, glass, chemicals, and steel rolling mills, all situated in the Agbara business cluster.