Your Excellency, let me first of all congratulate you and the good people of Ekiti State on the success of the 2nd Ekiti Economic Summit which happened recently and is still the talk of town even till this day.

TSecondly, I congratulate you and the good people of Ekiti State for collaborating with our Company to develop an integrated Biofuels Industry at Ilemeso.

On that note, it is with great pleasure that I welcome you all to the Ground Breaking and Foundation Laying Ceremonies for the establishment of:

• 1) 11,000 Hectares Sweet Sorghum Farm.

• 2) Integrated Ethanol Refinery Complex and.

• 3) Life Camp

This project, which is the second sweet sorghum biofuels project in Nigeria, next to our on-going biofuels project at Arigidi in Ondo State, is expected to produce fuel-grade ethanol that will be utilized to blend fossil-fuel for the purpose of reducing carbon emission into the atmosphere. It will also reduce the depletion of the Ozone layer as well as stem global warming.

This Ceremony is just the second step of an exciting trip that will eventually lead to the establishment of similar farms and refineries in a total of seven (7) states of the Federation. Our plan is to produce approximately 1.5 million litres of fuel ethanol per day.

To actualize the present phase of the project, about 11,000 hectares of land has been acquired in the present location. Work will commence with the initial cultivation of 50 hectares of land which will be upscaled to 300 hectares and gradually increased to 11,000 hectares over a period of 30 months while the construction and installation of the Ethanol Refinery and Life Camp will be done simultaneously. By and large, we expect to commence full scale production on this site once necessary infrastructure and legislative issues are resolved.

On completion of the project, the following benefits will accrue to Ekiti State and Nigeria:

• Create employment for about 58,000 Nigerians in each participating state of the Federation; approximately 8000 of this will be direct employment, while 50,000 will be indirect.

• Reduce the carbon footprint of Nigeria and thereby make our country a responsible member of the committee of nations.

• Earn carbon credit for Nigeria

• Directly reduce the burden of fuel importation as the outputs of our ethanol refineries will be used for blending fossil fuel.

• Enhance the living standards of Nigerians through wealth creation and poverty reduction.

• Reduce the carbon footprint of Nigeria and thereby make our country a responsible member of the committee of nations.

• Assist the country in achieving its E10 requirement of UN Kyoto Agreement by 2010.

In conceptualizing this project, we have painstakingly drawn from an array of first-class expertise available worldwide with whom we have entered into requisite agreements to ensure the success of the project. These partners were earlier introduced to you by our Group MD and CEO.

Most importantly, we have chosen Sweet Sorghum as our choice of feedstock amongst other alternatives such as Sugar Cane and Cassava for the following reasons:

• 1) Our manufacturing process will only utilize the stem of the sweet sorghum plant therefore leaving the grain for human consumption. Therefore, our feedstock will not compete with the food chain.

• 2) Sweet sorghum requires less rain to grow, less irrigation to mature and is therefore less expensive than other types of feedstock.

• 3) The conversion technology is less expensive and simpler to operate.

Concluding, please permit me to appreciate the contributions of the following people and organizations to the success of the project:

• 1) The Governor and the entire Executive Council of Ekiti State. One must note that it is not by accident that Ekiti State is the second state in the whole country where this project is being implemented. This is simply because of the dynamism of the Executive Governor and the fact that the project fits into the strategic industrialization and agricultural focus of the State Government.

• 2) Our exceptional gratitude goes to the Management and Staff of NNPC for the cooperation and guidance we have received from them in performing their oversight and partnership functions. This is duly reflected in their remarkable support at all times.

• 3) The Farmland Owners and Outgrowers Community of Ilemeso Community; including, the Chairman, Oye LG and his Executive Council, the Obas, Chiefs and Religious Leaders and the Youths of Ilemeso as a whole.

• 4) Lastly, I must not forget my colleagues on the Board of the Company including our Management and Staff for all their wonderful inputs so far.

This is no doubt the beginning of a very exciting national project and I do pray that we shall all come back here for a grand Commissioning Ceremony within a foreseeable future.

Thanks and God bless you all.