By Our Correspondent
The Edo State Government has disclosed that the state has given investors 70,000 hectares of land through the ESOPP Programme, to grow oil palm.
Governor Godwin Obaseki made the disclosure during a courtesy visit of the National President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Otunba Francis Meshioye, with other executives, to the Government House in Benin City, the State Capital.
The governor, who said the survival of Nigeria’s economy depended on the manufacturers association, noted that Edo State was leveraging its unique advantage with the availability of raw materials for production and manufacturing to drive the nation’s economic development.
Noting that Edo State has the largest oil palm development programme in Africa, the governor said: ”The State through the ESOPP Programme gave seven investors 70,000 hectares of land to grow oil palm.”
Meanwhile, Governor Obaseki noted that the Federal Government can tackle the current foreign exchange crisis by advancing fiscal policies to encourage manufacturers to boost local production and access necessarycrdit to boost exports of Nigeri made products noting that oil palm revolution has positioned Edo State to lead Nigeria’s export.
He said: ”Nigeria in the last 40 years has continued to rely on imported goods and services that they don’t produce. We have got to a point where we must produce and consume what we produce and manufacture in this nation because we don’t have foreign exchange. We don’t export any manufactured goods as a nation and MAN has a role to help by redirecting the country towards manufacturing.”
Earlier, the National President of MAN, commended the governor’s strides in Edo’s economy, making the state a leading destination for private sectors investment.