Yakubu Dogara | File Image
Dogara tasks Tinubu on palm oil production
By Ahmed Ahmed
Nigeria’s former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has said that Nigeria could generate N16.2 trillion yearly from palm oil in just five years from now, and called on President Bola Tinubu to invest in oil palm cultivation.
Dogara explained that the federal government’s large-scale investment in oil palm could uplift a good number of Nigerians from poverty.
He said that research had shown that Nigeria could revive the cultivation of oil palm by engaging 2,500,000 households from states that could plant and grow palm trees and empower them to cultivate just one hectare each.
Also read: Dogara pleads with Nigerians over hardship
Dogara pointed out that each hectare has 150 trees that on the average could generate N5, 000,000 per annum and multiply by 2,500,000 will amount to 375,000,000 trees that can generate up to N16. 2 trillion per annum in just five years from now.
Dogara, who also called for an investigation into the status and administration of oil palm levy set up by former president Olusegun Obasanjo, spoke in Abuja on Wednesday night during a meeting with the National Association of National Palm Producers Association of Nigeria (NPPAN).
The ex-speaker urged President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly to unravel the silence around the palm oil levy which was earmarked for development of the plan in Nigeria.
“The funds are warehoused in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),” he said.
His words: “Throughout my 16 years in the National Assembly, I didn’t have any reason to think about oil palm levy, though I know that it was instituted by Obasanjo’s government in 2001. So that money has been there, accumulating in the CBN; assuming we are believing that CBN still has the money.
“I am happy that members of the National Assembly are here; it is their responsibility to throw open accounts and investigate if this money is there. It must have risen to hundreds of billions by now; so we don’t even have to look for money. I believe the media should amplify this discussion to know if the money is there or not.
“The president should, in the national interest, look into the administration of this funds, the whereabouts. If it is there, there is no issue; we don’t have any problem. But if that money is not there, whoever has taken it should face the music.’’
