Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar on Friday announced that he would establish an animal feeds factory in Abuja as part of his contribution towards boosting employment in the country.
In a statement released to newsmen in Abuja by his Head of Media, Mr Paul Ibe, Atiku said that arrangement for the take-off of the factory was at advanced stage.
It said that the factory would complement Federal Government’s efforts at creating more jobs.
According to the statement, the factory called Rico Gardo, when operational, will produce animal feeds of various types, including for cattle, small ruminants, horse and poultry.
It said that Rico Gardo was already existing in Adamawa state and would ”provide thousands of direct and indirect jobs’’.
”It will also conserve scarce foreign exchange for the country by providing high quality made-in-Nigeria animal feed for the nation’s livestock sector.
”Based on the success and impact of the Numan factory, the Abuja factory when operational, will play a significant role in providing feed for millions of cattle that presently roam the country in search of pasture,” it said.
It stated that the company was jointly owned by Atiku and Rico Gardo, and was specialised in livestock feeds production and distribution throughout Europe and the Middle-East.
The statement said that presently, the factory catered for the need for animal food supplement in Adamawa, the North-East and beyond.
According to it, when produced in abundance, the supplement will aid the plan of Federal Government to limit and control the movement of cattle through the provision of ranches in selected locations across the country.