Nation
LASG Charges FG To Evolve National Policy On Coconut
The Lagos State Coconut Development Authority wants the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) to develop a national policy on coconut value chain.
Its General Manager, Dr Dapo Olakulehin, expressed the desire in Benin yesterday at a one-day stakeholders meeting on coconut value chain.
The meeting was organised by FMARD in collaboration with the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR).
Olakulehin said such policy could make the crop the mainstay of the nation’s agriculture economy.
In his paper entitled: “The Coconut Tree: Economic Benefits for Nigeria’’, Olakulehin said coconut was a major non-oil export foreign exchange earner for the country and provided livelihoods for millions of Nigerians.
He said that only proactive interventions such as the development of a national policy and a regulatory agency could reposition the agriculture sector for employment generation along the value chain.
He added that Lagos State had dedicated about 1,000 hectares of land for commercial coconut plantation to be blocked into 100 plots apiece.
Olakulehin said also that Lagos State accounts for about 70 per cent of Nigeria’s coconut production and is committed to the production of more than 200 million seedlings in the next five years.
In his remarks, President, National Coconut Producers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (NACOPPMAN), Mma Okoroji, supported Lagos State’s call for a national policy on coconut.
Okoroji said Nigeria was lagging behind other countries in coconut production and that there was the need to re-evaluate production among stakeholders to identify the current constraints responsible for the decline in the sector.
He said that NACOPPMAN was committed to planting about 10,000 coconut trees in each of the coconut viable states annually.
“Nigeria can make more than N300 trillion from coconut without value addition. So, if you now add value, Nigeria can earn more,’’ she said.
Earlier, a Deputy Director at FMARD, Chukwuemeka Ukattah, said Nigeria was expected to generate about 250 million dollars from coconut and its derivatives by the year 2022.
“Nigeria is ranked 19th among world’s coconut producers. It is a prominent crop cultivated in 22 out of the 36 states of the federation.
“Nigeria’s coconut national production is about 229,578 tonnes. The area under cultivation is estimated at 30,420 hectares.
The national demand is estimated to be one million tonnes per annum, leaving a deficit of 716,000 tonnes.
“There is the need for stakeholders to cash in on this deficit and see it as an opportunity to increase production through replanting of aged plantation and value addition,’’ Ukattah said.
He said the meeting was for stakeholders to discuss critical issues affecting coconut value chain and evolve strategies that would help to address inherent challenges.
Dr Celestine Ikuenobe, Executive Director of NIFOR, also noted that Nigeria’s coconut production was far below the demand.
In his paper entitled: “Overview of Production and Challenges of Coconut in Nigeria’’, Ikuenobe said it was regrettable that Nigeria is an importer of coconut and its products.
He said that NIFOR was strengthening its capacity to meet the sudden upsurge in the demand for coconut seedlings.
“We are working to invigorate our coconut gardens in addition to other identified trees seeds.
“We are confident that the coconut sector will sooner than expected, be repositioned as a very significant sector of the economy providing employment and income,’’ he said.
Among those present at the meeting were CBN officials, those of the Bank of Agriculture and Edo Investment Promotion Office.
The Chairman of Malumfashi Local Government Council of Katsina State, Maharazu Dayi, has been impeached.
Maharazu Dayi was impeached yesterday by 11 out of 12 councillors, barely two days before the local government elections in the State.
The councillors reportedly took action following allegations of misconduct and poor governance against the chairman after a dispute over the distribution of the council’s Paris Club funds.
The development has sent shock waves across the local government area, especially as the impeached chairman is among those who failed to secure the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to contest in the forthcoming election.
The Rumuwoji Ultra Modern Market Traders Association, Mile 1, Port Harcourt, has urged the state government to utilise the available spaces within the area to build phase 3 of the Rumuwoji Market in order to solve the ever increasing needs of traders.
The association, which said this at a media briefing in Port Harcourt, also described as a welcomed development the decision by the state Governor to open the phase 2 of the market for business.
According to the association, “We consider it as an answer to the various cries of the people, because he is a man on a mission who is out to place the interest of Rivers people first. It is a dream come true for the first time for the market to be dully allocated and open for business”
Chairman of the association, Hon Godspower Wobo, who briefed the press shortly after a meeting of the association in Port Harcourt, also urged the public to disregard the activities of some persons whose stock in trade is to cause disaffection in the market.
He said the attention of the association was drawn to the activities of some strange fellows who went about misforming the people about situation in the market, stressing that apart from his association, no other group exists in the market except subdiary unions.
Wobo also tasked the reallocation committee to tread with caution so as to avoid being deceived by any group.
According to him, time has come for the state government to engage in robust discussion with aggrieved shop owners who went to court and those who paid monies to the state coffers and issued with allocation certificates for the overall interest of peace.
He also advised the public to deal directly with his association, stressing that the meeting was to review activities for the last year as well as unveil their new Constitution.
Also speaking, former Chairman of the association, Deacon Kenneth Eze urged the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara to open the phase 2 of the market, as it is long overdue.
Eze who is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the association also urged the public to do business with only the Rumuwoji Ultra Modern Market Traders Association as it is the only union recognised by the traders.
The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwunmi Adesina, has debunked reports linking him with the race for Nigeria’s presidency in 2027.
Reacting to the report on his X handle yesterday, following a recent interview with Arise TV, the AfDB boss said his quotes were misrepresented and misinterpreted in several Nigerian media reports.
However, the AfDB president denied the media reports, stating that he never said that he wanted to contest for President.
“A segment of my recent interview on @Arise TV has been both misinterpreted and misrepresented in several Nigerian media outlets. What I said was, “I will be available to serve in any capacity, globally, in Africa, anywhere, including my own country.”
“A listen to the substantive and robust interview, which is available online, will show this to be the case. For clarity and for the record, I did not say that I am running for the office of President of Nigeria,” Adesina said.
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