Broke Osun Returns to Cocoa for Revenue
Revenues from cocoa
and other prominent farm produce in which Osun has comparative
advantage have great capacities to turn around the economy and fortunes
of the state if pursued with renewed vigour.
The agreement
according to Mr. Aregbesola involved releasing of 204.39 hectares of
land in Ago Owu Farm Settlement to IITA for the purpose of conducting
research and setting up demonstration farms for best farming practices.
IITA will also
carry out cassava, plantain and other crops multiplication including
cocoa as well as train the youth in the state in modern, commercial and
profitable farming. Mr. Aregbesola emphasised that in her bid to
increase Internally Generated Revenue in Osun, government will establish
commodity board that will be supervised directly by the office of the
governor to ensure that Osun ranks among the best cocoa producers in
Nigeria within the next two years.
He told the produce
merchants that the economic situation of the state has been badly
affected with the pillaging of the national treasury by the previous
administration.
Mr. Aregbesola
added that the situation with the drop in oil prices and the sharp
reduction in the Federation Accounts from N1.2 trillion in 2012 to N369
billion in November allocations shared in December 2015 has reduced the
running of government to little or nothing hence the need to look inward
in increasing IGR.
The governor noted
that the state will soon bounce back with the identification of sixty
million cocoa trees presently in the state, adding that government
henceforth will criminalise any action of farmers and merchants that
runs foul of government laws on cocoa.
He pointed out that
government will soon be registering all farmers in the state for easy
implementation of government policies on agriculture thus giving
adequate room for monitoring and giving the necessary support for
farmers.
According to him,
"to show the people of the state that we are ready to face agriculture
squarely in Osun, I am establishing a commodity board that will be
supervised directly from the office of the governor.
"Our bags of cocoa
in Osun will be branded with this; government will be able to ensure
that the quality of cocoa coming out of the state meets international
quality. When there was free money coming from oil, no government was
looking at what cocoa could bring to the economy; we are back to the
days where cocoa will be the main stay of our economy in Osun," the
governor emphasised.r. Aregbesola
hinted that produce tribunals will be set up across the state and that
special colour will be given to vehicles that will be transporting cocoa
within the state.
The governor added
that the State Executive Council meetings will be held in rural areas
where cocoa farming is thriving in the state for about six months to one
year after the formation of his cabinet.
Earlier, the
Chairman of All farmers Association of Osun, Raheem Adeniji, stated that
the association is ready to partner and cooperate with government in
her bid to revamp the cocoa farming in the state.
He lamented the
poor economic state the country has found it with the neglect of cocoa
which he said was the back bone of the economy in the 60s, identifying
the cancellation of cocoa and marketing board by the then military
government as a setback for the industry in Nigeria.
Mr. Adeniji
commended government for introducing E-payment, adding that government
should ensure and maintain that Osun cocoa should not go out of the
state.
The Governor of
Osun, Rauf Aregbesola, who stated this assured that his administration
will leave no stone unturned to make the state great again, hence the
recent investment and research into cocoa production and the focus on
other areas of agriculture.
The governor stated
that for the state to start on a good footing at producing 'Cocoa
Omoluabi', the state has enumerated and identified 60 million active
cocoa trees in the state.
Mr. Aregbesola,
while meeting with cocoa produce merchants in the state at the
Government House Banquet Hall in Osogbo, stated that with new cocoa
development initiatives in the state, there will be a new cash inflow
making the economy of the state prosperous. He stated that the state
has also gone further in her bid to boost cocoa production and
agriculture with the signing of Memorandum of Understanding with the
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IITA, on the
development of agriculture and production of massive food production as
alternative to reliance on oil.
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