FG Moves To Develope Salt Deposit In Ebonyi State

The Federal Government has indicated its interest to develop salt deposits in Ebonyi state by turning the deposits into commercial quantity for the growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and also generate thousands of jobs. Minister of state for Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Uchechukwu Ogah disclosed this during courtesy call on Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi state during an inspection of some salt lakes in the state. He described Ebonyi state as one of the fore -runners in terms of solid minerals with great potentials which the federal government would benefit from to diversify the nation’s economy. Ogah disclosed that there is a federal government project called Presidential Initiative on Development of Salts and that consultants have been brought into Ebonyi state to look at how salt can be developed. He described the initiative as the first in the history of the country driven by Governor Umahi which according to him confirms the love President Muhammadu Buhari has for the south east. “We are here to seek collaboration with the governor in terms of optimization of our revenue, working closely with the state government to see how we can increase the revenue of the federal government through royalty. “Ebonyi state being one of the fore- runners in terms of solid minerals, we believed that there is great potential that abound in this state that we can benefit from in line with the presidential objective of diversifying the economy of the nation and create jobs for teeming Nigerians. “There is a federal government project which is called presidential initiative on development of salt in Ebonyi state which we have brought consultants to look at how they can develop the salt project which is the first in the history of this country coming to the south east and being driven by the Ebonyi state governor. “This shows that Mr. President loves the south east and the project is to ensure that Nigeria is producing salt in large quantity. So, we want to turn salt into a commercial quantity for the interest of Nigeria. “President Muhammadu Buhari has gladly granted opportunity for this project to be established.
 Number two reasons of my visit to the state is to discuss with the governor on how to enhance the revenue from the mining sector for the minerals that are being mined in the state we have been able to share ideas on how to increase revenue in the state for the mining sector which will help to drive the GDP of the nation at large. We have seen the composition of the salts in the state, we have seen the lakes and we believe,” the minister said and commended Umahi for his developmental strides in the state. Receiving the minister, Gov. Umahi applauded President Buhari for the salt development project, describing Ebonyi state as a state with great solid mineral potentials. Special Assistant to the Governor on Solid Minerals, Edwin Onwe said he has taken the minister to all the mineral sites in the state and expressed the hope that in no distant time, the aim of the governor in producing salt in large quantity would be achieved.