Committed to creating a renewed hope for the youths through
agricultural revolution which is very significant in his 11-point agenda, the
Ooni of IFE, His Imperial Majesty Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi (Ojaja II) has
unveiled a nursery plant of one million cocoa pots and trees in the Farmland of
Ile-Ife which is just the first phase of the targeted 10 millions first of its
kind in Nigeria with a view to creating jobs for the shortlisted 100,000 youths
and the thousands of widows who are victims of the settled communal war between
Ife and Modakeke some years ago.
Saddened by the unwarranted economically suicidal neglect of
cocoa farming which was once a major foreign earning in Nigeria especially in
the Southwest, the Arole Oodua who is the Grand Patron of the Graduate Farmers
Association of Nigeria has imperatively chosen agriculture, cocoa to
specific which now sells for about
$3,000 dollars per tonne as a perfect alternative to the dwindling crude oil now
selling below $40 dollars per barrel if we must survive the economic quagmire
informed by over-reliance on the crude oil lucidly losing its value by the day.
Known for giant strides in the business arena and being
passionate about agriculture as a veritable tool for living standard
amelioration and wealth creations for the youths, H.I.M. leaves no stone
unturned in his embarked scheme of the largest cocoa plantation nursery in
Nigeria targeting 10 million trees rolling in one million phases with the youths
to get 2000 plants each from the nursery stage.
If we have stronger partnerships/alliances with Government
for it is a very capital intensive venture, it is not impossible to expand the
cocoa plantation nursery to well over 100m trees to be spread across the entire
country just to bring back cocoa days to this country again.
It is pertinent to say that we are not alone in this masses-
oriented scheme as we are already into
very assuring collaborations. The Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf
Aregbesola has thrown the weight of the state government behind the project
that will surely improve the IGR of governments at all levels. The Federal
Government through Minister of Agriculture Chief Audu Ogbe has given a nod of
cooperation for our GREENFIELD to enjoy mechanization to till the land for us to
be able to plant the cash crop, the hybrids and the improved seedlings that
will bring out 2000kg to be harvested all year round. We have Dynamic Green
Concept Ltd, a USA based company from Dallas for soil improvement. We are in a
strategic partnership with the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN).
Kabiyesi will also in June visit Hersey Chocolate factory in Philadelphia which
is the American biggest Chocolate factory for the supply of our cocoa beans and
for further value addition to cocoa processing right here in Nigeria before
exportation, which will provide further employment to the youths in Nigeria.
Having done our homework to satisfaction, and with some
studies on countries like Ghana, Ivory Coast and Indonesia a country earlier
with Zero cocoa production but today is the world's second largest exporter of
cocoa that have consistently in the last five decades based their economic
sustainability on agriculture, the major way of taking the youths off the
streets is to encourage them to go into
lucrative farming, and since Cocoa is undoubtedly a cash crop with potentials
for foreign exchange earnings, we have thus decided to break the jinx as we
already have plantation Brownfield that has existed for about 100 years on
which several farmers have been producing between 300 and 350 kilograms per
hectare. And of course because those aged cocoa trees have spent about
100years, they are obviously too weak for expected productivity.
According to release from the palace through director of
media and publicity, Com. Moses Olafare, reads, “We therefore must start a new
Greenfield of cocoa plantation with a pilot scheme at Ile-Ife and subsequently
replicated across the country as we already have very good understanding of
alliance with the North sequel to a meeting Kabiyesi Ooni'risa recently held in
Sokoto with Sultan Sa'ad Abubakar and 6 Emirs on possible agricultural exchange
of expertise.
It will be very great If only Government can support this
laudable initiative and we can subsidize farmers from cocoa nursery trees. It will further encourage hundreds of
thousands of youths to come into agriculture. From our effort, a lot of youths
are already off the street and it has drastically reduced crime rate in Ife
currently as confirmed by all the security agencies within our domain. This can be extended largely to every part of
the country going forward.
“as the plan to spread to other cash crops and food crops
most especially massive rice production in Nigeria and we are in close contacts
with all the relevant associations to achieve self sufficiency in food
production in Nigeria. The objective of his imperial majesty is Youth economic
emancipation aspect of the entire programme”.
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