Lokoja — The Kogi State government said yesterday that it will set up 16 cassava processing centres in 16 local government areas of the state to help create job, promote entrepreneurial skills and accelerate industrialization.

The state governor, Idris Wada, who was represented by his deputy, Yomi Awoniyi, stated this when he received a World Bank delegation, which was in the state to assess the agric intervention efforts of the government.

The governor disclosed that 2,500 youths have already been recruited in five local government areas of the state for cassava processing. He said the state has already keyed fully into the agricultural transformation agenda of the Federal Government, with the aim of engaging its youths for commercial enterprise, wealth creation and meeting the needs of the rural people.

"With 500 hectares of land already cleared by the state government and 250 hectares each by every local government in the state for agricultural purposes, the state will have 5,750 hectares of rice and cassava farms to meet its value chain programme and dry season rice farming," he said.

Earlier, leader of the World Bank delegation, John Lekworth, said they were in the state to develop a policy framework that will enable it key into the agricultural transformation agenda of the Federal Government.