Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom says the state is virgin and suitable for investment, having put in place the necessary measures and provided a conducive environment in the past two years.

The governor stated this while fielding questions from newsmen at the opening of a 300 million litre capacity tank farm in Ibefun, Ogun State, built by Petrolex, an Oil and Gas Company.

The governor said investors were welcome to invest in the state in virgin areas and especially the agro-allied sector.

According to Ortom, “I want to say that my state is virgin and ready for investors to come in, in whichever capacity, the government will give the necessary support for them to thrive.

He said private sector partnership in boosting economic growth and creating jobs is key to the development of any society.

He said: “I want to congratulate Segun for this wonderful idea. I think this is what we need in Nigeria – creating 10,000 direct and indirect jobs is what we need to take our children off the streets, government alone cannot do it, they do not have the capacity.

“Private sector must come in forcefully, the government must provide the necessary environment and conducive atmosphere for business to thrive and I think that Segun has taken the right step.’’

The governor called on Nigerians to take a cue from the ingenuity of the Petrolex management noting that, “globally, it is the private sector that is driving the economy while government regulates, provides policy and then monitors.’’

The Petrolex tank farm has the capacity to store 300 million litres of petroleum products – the largest of its kind in Africa.

It can conveniently hold 4,000 trucks at a time, and a jetty capable of berthing 30 million metric tons of cargo which will substantially improve retail distribution in Nigeria and increase domestic storage capacity for petroleum products.

The facility will decongest the Apapa and Ibafo tanker traffic and facilitate distribution to practically anywhere in the country.