Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki has revealed that his administration would massively invest in the Oil Palm sector in its quest to diversify the state economy beyond crude oil.
The governor announced this yesterday at the Edo State Government House in Benin when a 14-member committee set up to develop an oil palm plan for the state presented its report to him.
He said: “Oil Palm is our new crude oil; it will be the key driver of our development. The state still has one of the largest estates of oil palm, which have the highest yield in the country. We want to leverage on our high-yielding varieties and long tradition of oil palm production to acquire about 100, 000 hectares of land for the development of oil palm estates. The production will be of global standards and yield”.
Continuing, the governor commended the committee members for their efforts towards gathering the report assuring them that the government would acquire the necessary resources to execute the project.
‘’We will, within the next two weeks, create a smaller team to come up with a work plan on how to execute the feasibility plan, work out the image capturing of the land to be used, and get the involvement of the host community for the project.
Meanwhile, the committee Chairman, Toni Ogunbor, explaining the report, revealed that the committee recommended four key issues in the report that need to be addressed to bring the project to fruition.
These were land development, provision of security, infrastructure and the need to have data on soil and weather conditions.
Obaseki eyes economic diversification in entertainment
Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has eyed the entertainment industry, particularly movie production, as a viable area to diversify the economy and provide employment for the teeming youths in the state.
He revealed this as the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), Benin Zonal Network, unveiled a new television series titled 100 ways to win a husband in Benin City where his deputy’s wife, Mrs Maryann Shaibu, represented him.
He also promised to provide an enabling environment for the television series to succeed and gain acceptance, adding that he would collaborate with NTA to develop talent and raise movie stars in the state.
He said: “You are aware of my promise to create 200,000 jobs. Many youths have already registered under the Edo Jobs Initiative. This production is not a mistake. My government is in support. We will collaborate with you to grow and develop future movie stars in this state. This is one opportunities for the youths to key into job creation.”
Meanwhile, NTA revealed that the television series would be styled like the famous “Hotel D Jordan”.
Zonal Director, Mrs. Pullen Igbanor, said the television series, produced in collaboration with a private consortium, would address issues of marital breakup, promote moral values and help youths discover their talents.
Igbanor said artistes in the series were drawn from youths in the state seeking to make it big in Nollywood.
“Nigeria has become the cradle of entertainment in Africa. We have to provide a platform for young talented people to grow. We want to provide opportunities for our youths to carve a niche in the film industry. We felt that if the state government looked into the entertainment industry, it would help employ people and achieve the 200,000 promised jobs,” she said.
