Ban On Palm Oil Importation Excites POMAN Boss

The chairman of the Palm
Oil Millers Association, of Nigeria, (POMAN), Ahoada East Chapter, Mr Nwaneri Okirigwe has thrown his weight behind plans by the Federal Government to ban palm oil importation into the country.
Okirigwe spoke to our correspondent in Port Harcourt yesterday in response to recent indications that the government may take such actions following the reduction in crude oil  price that was affecting the nation’s economy.
While welcoming the move, he however, called on the government to put measures in place in ensuring accelerated growth of the oil palm industry with a view to increasing local production.
According to Okirigwe, since Nigeria was a leading palm oil producer in the world, the focus should now be on how the country could produce for local consumption as well as export.
He explained that making policies and implementing them has been the bane of the nation even as he said that the ban on importation of palm oil into the country could be a blessing in disguise for Nigeria to take back its place as the leading producer of the multipurpose product.
He further called on the government to re-activate the produce boards in the southern part of the country to enable the sub sector strive to meet the expected challenges that would arise if the ban was implemented.
According to the POMAN boss, the produce boards apart from giving a sense of belonging to palm oil producers, it would also create employment for the people of the region and encourage more people to venture into the palm oil business.
Also renewing his call for the resuscitation of the various oil mills across Rivers State that have been abandoned for decades, he said such enterprises could turn out to be money spinners for the rural people it reactivated with modern equipment.
He enumerated such abandoned mills to include those at Ikata, Emesu and Aba Road in Ahoada East, Abua/Odual and Obio/Akpor local government areas of the state, respectively.
It could be recalled that recently, Guranty Trust Bank Plc (GT Bank) in its 2015 macro-economic outlook that was made  available to Journalists in Lagos revealed in its paper that as the price of oil is expected to fall till mid 2015, it expected forex supply to suffer a significant decline that will include some of the agricultural items like palm oil, rubber and groundnut amongst others.

Vice President Namadi Sambo demonstrating with a hoe at the inauguration of Abuja land swap project at Waru District in Abuja last Thursday