A wind of industrial revolution is blowing across Ondo State with the springing up of four major industries namely; Ondo-Linyi Textile, a Cassava Ethanol Factory, Trucks and Tricycles Assemblage Plant and a Paper Mill which will soon commence operations.

The factories situated at the Ore Industrial Park were the dividends of the many MoUs signed by the state government with the Linyi Municipal Republic of China.

The State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu on inspection visit to the Ore Industrial Park said his government had entered into strategic partnerships with Chinese companies when he travelled to China in 2018 in furtherance of his vision to industrialise the state.

His words: “They said they could bring in industries here. We signed several Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) there and decided to come back to establish the park, and as you can see, it’s now a marvel.

“I was here a few months ago, not much of this was up. Now it’s almost set for commissioning of the projects.

“We believe that soon, all of us in Ondo State will laugh. So many people will be employed here. The textile industry is yet to start to its full capacity and a lot of ladies are already employed.

“The Paper Mill is coming up and almost completed. The Paper Mill also uses sawdust, so it cannot be wasted. Load it and bring it to be bought because it is needed here,” urges sawmillers in the state.

Another dividend of the Governor’s visit to China was the establishment of the Cassava to Ethanol Plant at the Ondo/ Linyi Industrial hub within the Ore Industrial Park which will soon be ready of operation.

According to the Governor, the Cassava to Ethanol Plant when completed, would require up to 300-400 tonnes of cassava daily and with about one million tonnes of cassava annually.

Already, the Plant has accommodated hundreds of people of the state and would still engage more when completed.

He further said there was the need to encourage indigenes to farm and plant a lot of cassava which could not be wasted because it would be bought by the factory.

According to Akeredolu, the state has been buying a lot of cassava, and “my only worry is that we cannot allow hunger in this state, because the whole cassava in Ondo cannot feed this factory.

“We have another factory coming up here, an agro-chemical factory. The industries we have here, Ondo State has never had it before anywhere. We thank God for everything,” he added.

Earlier, Consultant of the projects, Alex Ajipe, explained that the cassava to Ethanol project is over 80% completed and would be connected to the national grid in the next two months after its completion.

He added that information have been passed to people of the state as regards the establishment of the factory so as to mop-up the cassava we have and encourage them to go into cassava planting.

Business Development Manager of the Company, Jack Sun, thanked the Governor for the opportunity given them to establish the factories in the state.

While assuring that the cassava to Ethanol Factory would be commissioned in few months, he urged people of the state, especially farmers to invest more in cassava plantation which is what the factory needs.

At the Textile section, he explained that currently, over 360 workers are engaged, saying the number would be increased to 2,000 when it is completed.