Lagos food hub to stabilise prices – Sanwo-Olu

The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said the, Food Security Systems and Central Logistics Hub, and the Psychiatric Wellness and Rehabilitation Institute, both at the Ketu Ejirin axis in the Epe area of the state, would be ready next year.

He said the food hub when ready would stabilise prices of agricultural products in the markets.

According to the governor, Phase One of the 220-hectare food hub will be ready in the second quarter of 2025, while the first phase of the psychiatric hospital will be delivered in the last quarter of next year.

Sanwo-Olu disclosed the dates for the completion of the two projects during a working visit with members of the State Executive Council, and government officials to the food hub and the clinic in the Keju-Ejirin, Ketu area of Lagos State.

He said the Lagos State Food Security Systems and Central Logistics Hub, which is the largest in the Sub-Sahara of Africa, would ensure food sufficiency for Lagosians and stabilise market prices when completed.

The governor, who expressed satisfaction at the pace of the project at the Central Food Hub, which will have large cold and dry chain storage, assured residents that when completed, food prices would be reduced by a significant amount in Lagos markets as the state government was committed to food sustainability and food security.

He also assured residents that the ongoing Middle-Level Market being constructed in the Ajah, FESTAC and Oregun areas would soon be completed, and they are expected to get feed from the food hub.

The governor said, “We are on track. Phase one of the project should be ready by the second quarter of next year. It will be fully equipped with electricity and a road network to make it operational.

“What we are doing is writing our destiny gradually with our hands. We want Lagosians, citizens of Lagos, to have the ability to have what we call food sufficiency and food adequacy, and what it will do for us is that it will help us to stabilise prices so that prices will not skyrocket unnecessarily.”

Speaking earlier, the Managing Director of Origin Technology Group, who is partnering with the Lagos State Government to build the food logistic hub, Prince Joseph Samuel, expressed confidence that the project would transform the entire Ketu-Ejinrin and its environment and have a positive effect on the economy of Lagos, particularly the agricultural sector.