On November 11, 2017,the Vice President, Professor Yemi
Osinbajo laid the foundation for a N200billion Benin Industrial Park. The idea was that of Governor Godwin Obaseki who was marking his first year in office.
The N200 billion Benin Industrial Park is located at Iyanomo in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo State.
At the event, Prof. Osinbajo who was told that the industrial park will create 170, 000 direct and indirect jobs (out of the 200,000 proposed by the governor) heard that it would contribute significantly to the country’s manufacturing sector.
Osinbajo even commended the Governor of Edo State, Mr Godwin Obaseki, for the huge public-private investment initiative and said: “This is what the country has been waiting for to take us to the height that we desire. Several other countries have embarked on this line of industry and succeeded. If we put in the same effort as them, we will also excel.”
The Vice President further said, “This strategy has been adopted in some Asian countries and they have achieved economic growth, diversified their economy, and are now exporters of consumer goods.”
He expressed optimism that the industrial park would not only lead to job creation but bring down the cost of goods and services in the state and country at large, change the face of the Nigerian economy and unleash its industrial potential.
Governor Obaseki at the event said the Benin industrial park at Iyanomo is the FIRST in the series of parks his administration intends to establish in the state to make Edo an Industrial hub.
The governor added that the park, which is a public-private partnership initiative was designed by Mahindra Engineering and would conform to 21st Century standard.
“I promised that if I become the governor of Edo State I will create the enabling environment for businesses to thrive and improve the quality of lives of our people. Our goal to industrialise Edo is already yielding results and our hope is to create employment for thousands of people in the state.”
He said that the gas that will power the industrial park already exists within the park’s location and ASSURED that the PARK would be built within 12 months.
The governor even commended the Federal Government for its relentless commitment to the industrialisation of Edo, saying that the private sector would contribute about 74 percent share of investments to the industrial park.
In November 2019, Governor Godwin Obaseki announced that he has secured a $200m investment for a cotton-weaving and spinning industry at the Benin Industrial Park, two years after it was due for completion.
Governor Obaseki spoke during the maiden convocation ceremony of the Edo University Iyamho, and said a $200 million deal has been struck with a reputable, world-renowned textile company to establish a cotton-weaving and spinning industry at the Benin Industrial Park. The industry’s construction he said was expected to begin in 2020.
Obaseki said the cotton idea then was in line with the CBN’s plans to revamp the textile industry in the country with a view to reducing importation of textile.
But Benin Industrial park is yet to be completed! The 170,000 jobs from the Park are all locked up in the wildlife which the site has become. A park which was to be completed in 2018 has remained on paper as 2022 dawns.
Now move to the Edo Tech Park.
On 17th December 2021, Governor Godwin Obaseki again embarked on another groundbreaking ceremony for another park, this time, an Edo Teck Park.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who came to inaugurate a shared facility for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Edo State, came in handy to lay the foundation for the Edo Tech Park.
Recall that this same Edo Tech Park, an elite software engineering and leadership-training institute, was commissioned by Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, who said it will produce about 15,000 world-class software engineers within the next five years. That is a total of 75,000 Software Engineers by 2026!
And obviously satisfied that he often succeeds in getting Mr Vice President to either do the ground breaking or lay the foundation of many of his dream Parks, the governor at this event was appreciative.
He said, “Let me thank you for bringing to our consciousness the fact that we could be a real digital hub; you did this more than three years ago. You gave us the first innovation hub in the South-South of Nigeria. That mustard seed you sowed is what you saw at the take-off campus of the Edo Tech Park”.
He went on, “That seed is what has brought us here this afternoon and it’s being germinated to reflect where we want to be as a people. It is all about technology, and as government, we want to align the future of our children in Edo with the reality on the ground”.
The Governor then did what he knows how to do best as he solicited support and partnership (thank God not an MOU) with the same federal government, he has lost faith in and condemns at will, saying, “This wouldn’t have happened without your support. We believe in the digital policy of the federal government and whatever assistance that can be rendered to us by the federal government, we will surely appreciate”.
At no time during the commissioning of the Edo Tech park in Okhoromi community, Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State was it said that it was a future university, or a polytechnic, on a temporary site or a takeoff campus.
My Question is how does a well equipped Tech Park, commissioned and functional suddenly become a temporary facility? It can only be in Edo of Obaseki!