FRIDAY. OCTOBER 14. 2Qll
Woolworths seal joint partnership deal in Nigeria Page 26
D ECENT pomons by agncuitural and
I?)(porl e:<peTts thi I Ihe luooarnenl<"ll naw in Nigeria's palm oil procluo:e I~ l:-aceable to the colonial days. According 10 them. DnUsh Ir.xle necessilles dtct., tecl econo nl1c policy politics o f Oil ptlm produce. as planned {')(pansion of the oil .,.11m plilnl<'l11015 was slow in com ing through because of i~ prima,.y e:<JYlrl onentation altha! li me Thetefore. its future CQmpetl tlVenes' was compromised As it result. e:-.:pe,.ts S.1y the bulk of Nigerian palm oil comes frt)m d iSpersed and sem i·wild groves. and II was processed Ihre ugh the u!e of high~' outdated manu",l processing teo::l" niques. Of course. 5eveHiI al1e mpls 10 establish la rge-scale plimla!lon5 sinte the 19605. Including the Cross Rive r State Oil Pillm Plan and the Oil Palm Bell Ru ral Developme nt PIDgIC.'Imme. erded in miserable fail ure. lhe seclor OpeTalol'! argue. N(>Verthe l~ . it must be noled that the steady growth 111 the economic importa nce of palm oil. especially in vie".! o f its h igh \ ,jeld. had led European coloni<llists to ! Iart plantations in t Ie early 1960s. Two decades later. as palm
r ~ "M~ it
oil found. wit er use in food prc-ces!ing and indu!lries global demand 101 the commodity .;urged. such that byear y 1980s pillm all e:tpo ~ had grown to a ~tzgget ing 2.4 million metric tannes per mnum, with Niuerill dh!ctively sharing in the \ rinJfa li ACCOllll tS ~ll")w that for lIlost o f I h i~ period, Nigeria hekllh 'cen1re ~tage a~ olle C'f Ihe I",gest prod'1c'I-'; and E':,porle '~ of p ·Im oil. ~CCOOllrtng a more Ihan 41' p c' 'enl o f
"The c urre nt illveslment in oil 1]01n1 would become unprofitab l e. 1Jlantatiol1 OLVne,.s will lwld b ac/, o n l]lann-ed e.."'Cpansion ill plan tation and m illing facilities. if c o nsistency in "aliel es d riving tIl e sr.dJ!Yccf.or is not guuI'ant€ed"
Reviving palm oil production through private sector initiatives A new reatvalcening by tile Federal Gove rnme nt to reposition th e cou n try's 1I0noil exports seems to IlOve shifted a tten tiOn to p alin o il. LAYI ADELOYE analyses tile lvorrles about past govern mental involve ments, underscoring t I,e Jle ed for a revolulio n the glolk,1 ou tpu t in the 19505. At the time o f the country's independence from Bri tish colonial ru le in 1960. palm oil. m<'linly fro m tlte eastern part o f the countr y. contributed 82 per cenl o f na tiona l export revenue. The counlry had subscqu enlly lost out Significa ntly 10 the /\sian nations, notably Malaysia and Indon esia, until the recent e llorts. especially backed ~, the WOIld s..nk in its $132m support for Ihe oil palm subsector. This does nol mean th ai Nigeria has totally lost oot o f the oil p<,lm Ir&de, alt hough so much e ffort is needed for the country to regain her place. Close to 1.5 mi llion metric tonnes o f refined oil and olein enter Nigeria unofficially. according to statistics provided by the Nigerian Chamber o f Commm:e, Industry. Mines a nd Agriculture in November 2010 This is rather ironic, especia lly given Ihe fact that direc t import of palm oil a nd other edible oil fo nns are slill officially, al though ostensibly, banned This leaves one \lIOndering where these foreign stock comes from and through wha t rou tes. since di rect imports a re banned 10 prated the local industry. MI'!. Mojisoli'l Oresanya. a food technologist and until recently. a sclliol researcher a t the Federal Institute o f Induslrial Research Oshodi , has a twa\-o:!i been passionate about Nigeria's oil palm seclO!. Tha t paS5ion. e:<pec ted l~'. drnws from her i'l1....are nt!SS of the critical position 01 oil palm both tl;' the well-bei ng 01 the multiplying millions of people In Nigeria . who consume oil-based menus on a daily basis Also. the potential slgnificllllce of the oil palm subseclor 10 the ecollomlc development of the nation. if well groomed. is
another basis for concerned stakeholdeTS' WOrTY aboot the current level of the subsector's perl0!111ance. Today, OJesanya. like many o lher patriots. is saddl::ned by the deplorable stale o f affairs in the secto r. ~ Everybody is interested in money but how man y people are interested in agrkulture? How many people are ac luilily mterested in preserving those producls and are<lS where 51.1ch mo ney comes from?~ she queries. She states, "Government ci'lnnot continue to dole out money wi thout result. We really need people. who are genuinely Inlerested in agricu lture It is palm oil Ihat 11M placed Malaysia in the enviable economic positron. where she is curren tly. ~ Oresanya is not the on~' aile concerned abou t the parlous slate of a ffairs in one of the most potential revenue earning sectors o f the Nigerian economy Ihal has virtually remained dormant The Nigeria Institu te 'o r Oil Palm Research. the body created to drive developments in the subsector. is also d istraugh l about the nalion's pTOgress on the produce Both the imtit ute's Clmirmiln and Director. Prof. Chijioke NvJOsu and Dr Oele Okiy. are respectively not plea~ abou t its ha ndicapped perfo rmance so far. according to a recenl paper made avai lable to our correspondent In lamenting the poor sta te o f affai rs III the sector. the duo warn that until the private !ector 01 the economy (,Ilgages In mi\SS production o f palm oil. Nigeria would continue 10 remain a Ile t imporler of the produce. • Conti'w'!!'d on IJoge 26