34
THISDAY -THURSDAY, NOVEMBER IS. 2012
BUSINESSWORLD
DEVELOPMENT
More hardship on Nigerians as fuelscardty persists
AKltlWUr~MI
IBRAHIM
FG to Partner States on Oil Palm Cultivation ...,..,. """""...-ol Agricullwt>. DI: Akinwunmi
a worthw~ venture for both Luge and .smaJJ scak5 im"CSD!<,. and appealed 10 busines5 men 10 inwst t.>avily in agn:uItu~ Acrording 10 him. in the oil palm \'ilIue main many thingo; WUl' wzmg !hat reOOed the enabling environment of gm'8T1mEllllo ~ and Ihe
Adesina, 'has J't!\'ealed.
<0 Lill dine" rJ !he
JudeOkw"
inCalabaf The F£deraI GO\'e'1'lIl'leIlI is set 10 partner stales 10 revi...~ the
"""""'" oi _
.....
'""'-"'Y;rd
make it med k " ft!\'Inle
Adesi.na disdo&ed government's plan allhe inauguratlm of the CaJaro, Ibiae and Biil5e Oil Palm plant'l1Dls that were harded 0'0'0 by !he Cross River State Govenunenl to Wilmar Inlem.100na1 lJd and PZ ClJ:'RI\S urdB' it!; privalisatDt
programme. The minish!r said such a partnership would make stales trnditionallv known for oil palm rultivauOO to revi1;e the sector while at the same time cI\a.lIenging other stales blessed with arotble Lmd 10 lake to 1argl> scale cu1tiVllltion 01 palm plantations. . He I'l\ainIaftd 1h.1I th! HteaI gtn'emment was concerned about changing the fortw'le5 of agriculture and making it
pm'*!I'da"
operatOfS 10 correct; henre the
Cross Rhwexample ....'itS a step in the right dircdion.
w"""' """'
n..dthe gool " country, ... ch."tin he added, was to increase oil production to satisfy IocaJ demand and eveJltuafiy export as well as IJ'ICIl!iISe the producti\'ity of i3nneB and omlI! e:npbynBll Special Adviser to the Cras5 Rh'er Stale Government on Investment Promotion. Mr. Gerald Adah. had earlier informed the gathl!ring that a aInbined im1!Stment portilIiD d varicus ~q:eating In the stall> in the last fl\'e}6US was row In ecte5 d 52 biIIkn Hedes::Jiul:!he ~ of ~te oil. palm p~~~. ~ a 1l\aJ(W
milestone u\ u"" VISIOn
of attracting foreign din."d investment 10 tlte stille and muntry ~ that in the past two ~rs, the stlk"s engagements with Wllnw ha5 been in the ~ of acquisition of at Jeast SO,(XX) hectares of agricultural land for primruy production rJ oil pabn as \\OeD as the establishment of an Oil
enh;un its producfim of oil palm. Ihus making the stall! the largest prcdUll'l' 01 oil palm in
the countf)'.
""-
been much maligned O\"('J" the plagul'd with a klI 01
",..'"
He said while tlte proposed im:stroo1t is ,'illued at S100 millia"\ tlte direct t:encfits accruing
tlte capacity of fill'Tnf!JS and in I't'C'Ognltion of the N'E'Ci 10 refocus the sector in the stilte md 10 irlamo>e productivity had 10 shift atlention 10 identifying and attracting meaningful and constructf\.oe investmmt 10 the
.,thest:alf!in:hde:~
"",OC
I'iIIm ~RL'f1l1ir@: Facility at an estimated project cost of $400 million.
of DVl'J" 2O,(XX) persons on an a\"t!riIge payml.l of r-D2 biDim annually; outogrowe-s support scheme for another 2{I,(XX) hiI \e1."f!mging on the 1Mxid Bank support.. Coq.xr.tte Social RespotlSIbmty (CSR) in terms of stmdiud s:hools and hospitals
.
--
.....
host."".".... (IJOUIlunilieL ~"emor Uyellmoke said !he mupaoon rJ \-Wmar \'\is Africa in the stilte would not only lnulsfoon the economy of host communities but abo
Min recent )"NI"S. we have ~.,
,,- . --
Jmoke said the agricultwaJ
Sl'Ctor in the country today has )'mI'S and
industry. witreJ;ed signifont
"\fW:o in the state belie\oe this
af¥Oi'Ch is aitXalto the rmfist. tal 01 our strategy as the top
agrnrm ean:my ... Ire aulify
as weD ensuring the cmlinued viability and sustainability of goo.~ and pm.'ille estalf5 in the stale. Our intention is creale a duster of agrirultwal prod""'." ............ by "'Y other stilte in Nigeria. The partnership between Cross Ri\'er- State and WIlmar is the rnapo ft5U!t c:l1his stJaltogic realignment if our agrirullural
rust
........ -
.. wfOlm.
This singular commodity has a myriad c:ll&5aOO ~ b- both <bne:stic and rdustri.ll consumption and it accounts for a substantial proportim of the country's agriculture production. tlms leading the cha.Jse in the growth of the Idu<itry II NigeiaH,lrroke said.
~
in C'Iui6 RIver State., Mr.:}amIs Aniyom. said Ute stilE gmremment had made it clear that govenunent woukl no IongI!r t-eim.~ in the~ 01 agR:ulturnl enlt'l"pl"ise!5 but to rnlher produce the I1I!CC'&If)' amlJd"f! mvinrunent fer the private sector 10 thrive in the slalt'.
He said thegovmunent has resolved 10 fmer partnerships with the privale SIi"Ckr in oo:Ier b the pm"illeliOD" b rot my tab> m 'l'J" gm'emment estates but to ensure the continuous sustainability of the estates,
"""",>,_.;00."'"
communities. '"We are encouraging the pm.'iI~ seeD" Io!l!l up pro:e:55ing plans In the stale. TIT sta~ wed! ~ sudl ....."e5Ds in the acquisitic:rI 0( land and wcwd providt' tax holidays to those inveskn. Cross River Sbte has vast arable land and we have not rulUvated up to 40 per rent," he said. Q\ainnan c:l Wibnar Intenatimal Mr. Kuok. Slid the prqro is part of a joint ven~ with PZ CUS&lI'\S to revive the oil palm industry in Nigt'riol, by in\'E'Sting in the mtin! palm oil value chain, Including plantation. po!lm oil miJ~ refinery,
........
""""' "Such a pn;ect wuuId bring
benefit ., the co.rttJy by aeating employment and saving tremendous fcreign exchange. So far v.-.! hiI\-"t' acquired 35,IXXJ hectares or land and we will complete the development in about four years. We are willing to develop as much land as the government can give us", he , .. led. 81ClI1TO.IS
Niger Delta Forum Focuses on Poverty Reduction A two-day forum on poverty reduction is&ues and partrlef>. ship towards addre;sing them ill lICheduled for November 21 and 22 in Port Harrourt, Rivers Slate. The forum titled: 'Suppor1mg PO\.vty RLoductioo through Partner.>hip', being atgani.sed by the Foundation for pr;u1ner'" shi p InitiativC'5 in the Niger
Delta (pIND) is intended to serve as a platform to irnproo,"t' understanding and generate interest in the approaches, stra tegies, and partnerships that can en;tble systemic changes f« poverty redudim and equitabie 00lIUT\ic gwwth in the Niger Delta. Coordinator oIlhe de\-ek:Jp-ment forum, Micah Mendie,
said "The over.udting aim of the forum will be to demonslrate how strategies which integrate research, advocacy, «momic de\-eIopmmt. capacUy buildlrf< ..... P"'" buildlrf< programmes can be systemic enabler.f of eronomic growth. I-Ie added that Hgood case study f!ICiIffiJ>Ie'i 01 row mart.et sysrems ilII! \\uking in N"!f!1!ria
and II.round the world will be presented 10 infonn and innuence the way that loal institutions think about and approach eronomk development In the Niger Delta region." The sub- themes of the forum will focus m l"CCI1OO\ic de\'elopment. npacity l'iuUdIng and peace building with
target audie~ drawn from three broad categories. One audience will be development practitioners who wuf want to learn new Ide.1.S about their work from other f!lW.mples. Another audience wUl be stakeholders who want to contribute towards poverty 'reduction in the Niger Delta, but don' t have the experi-
ence or understanding of the models and approaches needed 10 promote equililblb economic growth. The other audiena! will be frcrn Go-.'em!ment Ministries, Deprutment$ and Agencies (MOAs) are interested in establishin an enabling environmenl f emnomic growth and fXJ\my reduction.
w;j