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Cocoa, once bedrock of nation's economy with the main object.i\-e of promoting cocoa production. In alphabeUcal order, the NCOC lisled the 14 cocoa producing states as follows:
W AlE F OLARIN OSOGBO
ocoa is martl things to most people. 'Ib the f.armf:!; It is an lmportant tree cup which ! eomltes lncome. To the goVl!r1lJlleJlts of lCIany deYeloplng countries. roooa Is a valunbie cash crop whose export prmirles n lufh-needed foreign exchange. To tile CO»a merebants. It is an article c# tIa!1e "tte golden goose thatlaY5 the gold,," L'@gs" 1'0 cocoa processors, it Is the raw maldlal Nh.lch produces ntunel"ous consu.rr.er PfllXucts. To the conswner; it is a food t.aJ(£tl for pleasure. but which has a hJgh nutrition v lIue making it a supple. ment to a bahn~ diet.. Bet\l\o'een 1888 ;urn L899 the Royal Niger CompUly established plantations a1 Asaba and 0 -her I'lwrside locations in the vlclnity of Onitsha. N~ government distributed cocoa ;eedllng§ for planting at the old I30tmlcal Garden at Ebute-Meta In 188'7. 1'he em (jest( ornmerelal planting was made near lbadaJL Introduction of oocoo seeds buo I1l8dan was from two dUIerent sources. Orll was by He\( Illt. Oyebode in 1890. The .)t her Introduction was by Mr: Ogunwole ct Nlbakin vtllage at ldiape near AgbooJl. Ibaf.an. Also. Me. AJexander Adebari Okenla of Okell!a vll1age near lbogun in Ute Iro Dlstrlct was responsible for Introdccmg ClOCOil seeds into Abeokuta province. Vlhllethe late Reol S.C. Phillips In· troducal Oll-oa t:ulUvation to I1esa. At that dme, cncoa culttvatlon. proooss. ing arnI IJlIrrkI'tl ~ provide emplo}'11lent opponunl,y for several farml.ng and. DOnfarming houselu lds. II was a source of inoome and ilvrllhood to the growers, pro. cessor.; and tradE rs who e~ed in cocoa mru1<etl .... After 1I1I year . harvesting cocoa in Nlgeriatre lrst cJCOapnxtucts~puton commel''CllI baslt· by the launching of COCOA·BREAD in Uovember 1965 by Mr. J.Q OsWllwya Tbe bread was aa1almed to be good. the d!!partlnent of chemical pathology; llniwl''Sity '::OUege Hospital. Ibadan then camll out to encourage the oonswnpHon of Olt:OB Bread saying that It gives more nuirlents than on:Unary bread -19"more prot!ln fo r 9'tIwth 10'- more calories fur etlerg): 26% 11Ol'e caJdum for stronger bones and 10'* IT ore iron fur blood. Cocoa dlctatej the pace of ecollOllllc activity ill the Ii Inner Western state now Ogun, Oyo Osun, Ekiti and Ondo stales which is Il'fenl!(t to as "Cocoa Belt" of NI· geria. It lv.lS thf main source of revenue and the pillar of the eoonomy in the western Nlge 1 a. Th rough the income generaled front OOCOI by the late sage, Chief Obafern1 .o\wolo'l"o, the Western pru1 of the oountry '" itnes;ed rapid transformation and soc1o·eccmomic ~wpmenL It was at that thne Uw A'YOlowo usedrevellue from cocoa to buUd Ib ! popular Cocoa House. the then LibI"t1,y SillJlum now Obafeml Awok). wo stadilun and the University of Ire, now Obafeml Awolowo Unl...ersit~ De-lfe, whUe many roans Well! constructed and schools built £roo the pltx:eed cocoa. Up till ~ UTe area produces95"- of the country's cocoa The production Involved about 33JQ) pusant farmers and about
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Abia, Adamawa, Akwa 100m. Cross River. Delta. Edo. Ekiti, Kogi, Kwara. Ogun. Ondo, OsWl, ()yo and Taroba. or all the men-
Uoned stales, Ondo remained the 1argest producer of cocoa in Nigeria. dosely fol lowro by Cross River and Osun Stale second and third l1!Spectively: Oyo State came fourth whUe Ogun was fifth. A presidential sub-commluee on In· creased local consumption of cocoa wider the leadership of the present Minister of Stale for Defense. Ere1u Olusola Obada.
was set Ull National Cocoa Daysymposium was also organised, allln a bid to boost co-
by encouraging cocoa farmers through the
provisjonof improved cocoa seedlings, pesticides and farm Implements. much is still beIng expected if the labour our heroes past will rot be in \'aln. Accordlng to Pa Ahmed Rail, a cocoa fanlll~r at tfetedo, in Ife South Local Gov· ernment Area Osun Slate, It is time thai g'O\l!rnment at all ~ wake up from their slumber and declare an 6nergency in the area of cocoa productIon. Raji who saJd that he has been a cocoa fanner ever since chlldhood, said that he always feel sad when he remembered the glorious days of cocoa farming and the unfortun.1te decllne the venture has witnessed. Also another cocoa fanner. A1h8j1 Ra heem Bello lamented lhe dwindled fortWle of cocoa in Nigeria and called on govern ment al various levels to intensify efforts at boosting cocoa fanning and production in the count.l'y: For him, the counuy has a lot to gain from the exportatJon 0( cocoa, while it would also provide employment to many unemplO}1!d youths in the roun1r)\ Bello admonished government a1 various levels to go intocoooa farming and processin& as "'l!U as encourage cocoa farmel'!l through provision of interest free loans and needed farm implements. It Is indubitable that It was high time that the COWltry returned to the good old days or cocoa In the west, groundnUI In the North and coal In the East If the gov_ ernment Is serious with Its transformation agenda. Go\-ernment should Slop [gnoring lhe call ror the wversillcatlon of the oountnt'S economy and a focus on agricu1ture. It's high time that the naUon come to grips with the realisation that ror the foreseeable fUllIn! agricultural produce of whIch cocoa Is a key ractor. shall continue to be the only reliable bedrock of thecountry's econom}l
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coaproduction and consumption. HO"tIt'1!\'er. the efforts put up by ObasaI\iO through his cocoa re-blrth project seem to have frz:zled out with the expiraHon of his tenure. Until 1973, Nigeria was the 'w orld's sec· ond largest producer (after Ghana), but It has now fallen to the fourth place in the table or worid cocoa producers with lhe foremost three being Coted'oore, Ghana. and Brazil in that orne!: Now with the dwi ndling revenue from ou. people are strongly calling for a qu.ick n!tW'Il to the glorious days of cocoa in NIgeria Although some slate governments ha\.-e already taking steps In this direcUon
Uberty Stadium,
Cocoa House, Ibadan 480,(0) hectares.
Cocoa was a nmJor source of government revenue lhrough various fonns l1kedirect taxes, e;I(port duty; port handling rees.
THE GLORIO US DAY OF COCOA AS ONE OF THE MAINSTAY OF THE NATION'S ECONOMY HAS BECOME HISTORY. W ITH THE ADVENT OF OIL COCOA FARMING HAS GONE UND ER '
produce sales tax. devclnpmenl levies and grading fees to many states. In Ondo. for example, before the creation of Ekiti State: the then GcM!mor. Navy Commodore EkWldayo Opaleye flIlllOWlCI!d in the 1911)s
fronted with the realIty of the fact that the oU boom which has turned tooU doom may
thai over NIO),OO) was realised every ....."t!ek in registration and produce grading fees. At a time, as an export produce, cocoa tremendously enhanced foreign exchange eamlngs thereby making invaluable rontrlbuUons to lhe buIlding. sustenance and developmental efforts of the nation in gooernl. Cocoa was untU 1m. one of the major sources of the federal revenue. Of the N254mllllon earned on all agricultural ex· ports inl!l69, NIOGm.lllion or 40" accrued from cocoa export alone. Unfortunate~ the glorious day of C(). coo as one of the mainstaY of the natIon's economy has become histont With the ad· \'ent of oIl, cocoa farmIng has gone tmdeI; with government paying Up service 10 C(). COlI. production In the oounb):: Perhaps con-
soon flzzle out. government began to lake measures that \\'Ould encourage the growth and production of cocoa in the coun~ Yet such mea5W1!S have been found to be Inad· equate, although, recenUy the country has accounted for nearly one-fifth or the ",'Odd supply: In May 2006, the African cocoa producIng coWluies summit was held in Abuja to deliberate on ways of boosting proch» lion and oommandlng of equitable prices for cocoa products. Notable oountrles that participated includes:- Nigeria. Ghana. Cote D'h~ Gabon, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda. Cameroon and producing states by National Cocoa DeI.'elopmenl Conunit· tee (NCDC) that was sel up by PresIdent Olusegun Obasal'Uo on December 2.. 1999