UNLESS there is divine intervention, no fewer than 10,000 direct and indirect jobs will be erased in Ogun State before the end of this month.


This, Governor Ibikunle Amosun will do through a company, Zambeef Products Plc, which he has ordered out of the state immediately.


This is after the company had paid $1 million to the state government, having acquired a 25-year lease on a farm in Ikenne in the Gateway State.


Zambeef has also invested $2 million in the country and plans to invest another $8 million over the next eight years to hire more workers, open more Master Meat shops and use the Ikenne farm as a hub to supply the neighbouring countries.


The state would also lose over N60 billion investment to Ghana, where the company has obtained a licence to do a similar business that Ogun has rejected.


Already, the premises of the company were taken over by the police on Wednesday. The farm has several hundreds herd  of cattle, as well as several thousands of pigs and chickens.

Zambeef also grows corn, soyabeans and pineapple and employs thousands of local residents.


Zambeef is a Zambia-based company that, along with its subsidiaries, is active in cropping operations, as well as the production, processing and retailing of beef, chicken, pork, eggs, milk, dairy, wheat and leather products as well as edible oils throughout Zambia and the West African sub-region.


The company and its subsidiaries are also involved in feedlot, slaughter, and processing and retail of meat products, as well as leather tannery, shoe plant, edible oil plant and bakery operations.
The company has 67 per cent in Master Meat and Agro Production Company of Nigeria.


According to a source in the company, it started making inroad to Nigeria in 2009 after Shoprite Holdings Limited had expanded into the country from the supermarket chain’s base in South Africa
In Nigeria, Zambeef records about $90,000 in sales a week to restaurants, hotels, Shoprite stores and its own outlets.


The firm predicts revenue will more than double by year-end.
The source said: “To secure its land in Ikenne, Zambeef entered a 25-year lease with Ogun State. The company surveyed the old dairy farm and saw milk-processing equipment buried under bushes and trees.


“The more bush we cleared, the more buildings we discovered, peering into an abandoned room stacked floor to ceiling with never-used milk cartons bearing the Ogun State Dairy logo. The farm was established during the Second Republic when the Chief Bisi Onabanjo was the governor.


“By the time they (Zambeef) came on board, the farm was virtually dead. So, it’s good that this company is doing this and bringing it back to life. Already, it has embarked on the rehabilitation of the dilapidated abattoir.”


This notwithstanding, sources said the state government was determined to sent the firm packing, adding that this has created jitters among other foreign investors in the state.


Meanwhile, a source said the Zambian High Commissioner to Nigeria has been briefed on the issue, making him to send a delegation to the Nigerian Ambassador over it.


“It has now become an international issue, which is embarrassing to Ogun State,” added the source.

Ibime:

Perhaps Zambeef got away with paying $1m for something worth $50m. More info needed.

High_Chief:

^^^I have told you before that am not a journalist. Na me be the media wey publish the story in the first place?

Negro_Ntns:

I'm suspecting that Zambeef was using the cpompany as front for some other shady deals that violate terms of contract.

To the person asking if Governor has right to kick a company out of state.

In some situations, yes, the executive office of the state government is responsible for total safety and protection of public interests.

On land matters in the West, the state has 100% uncontested right to oversee land use. Land belong to the people but state is the overseer.