South-eastern govs are not behaving like their northern counterparts

There is visible anger in the South-East because Ndigbo believe that Buhari is not carrying them along. The people spearheading this debate are not only talking about how government forex policies are crippling Igbo traders, they also claim Buhari has not been carrying them along in appointments, so far. They are not impressed that Buhari gave the Igbos 5 ministerial slots – these debaters believe that it is their constitutional right to get ministers from each State. Interestingly, after a long wait, an ‘Igbo’ man, Ben Ifeanyi Akabueze, was appointed, but these Igbo intellectuals weren’t impressed. They dismissed him as a Yoruba man with an Igbo name. These debaters believe Emefiele and Kachikwu are ‘Ibos’ not ‘Igbos’. I am still struggling to know the difference.

In this article, I will admonish Igbo leaders to take their destiny in their hands. My humble opinion, as a public commentator, is that there are not even enough appointments to go round for the guys who installed the government, not to mention those who have been labelled not to have voted for the present government. This is the presidential system of government for you – winner takes all! The fall in oil price is not helping matters, either. Before we go into the argument, let me highlight some of the enviable strides the northern governors are taking that make me sometimes wonder if the South-Eastern governors are even paying attention.

Northern governors have impressed me a great deal lately. Did you see the Kebbi State government at the Lagos State Government House the other day? They went to sign a deal with Lagos State on food security. This deal will provide a ready market for farmers in Kebbi and encourage capital from Lagos into food processing in Kebbi. Other northern States have seen that they can’t do it alone, and have started inviting the private sector. Most northern States are working with Dangote on various projects. But this cannot be said of the South-Eastern States. In the preceding paragraphs, I will discuss one goldmine that Igbo governors are taking for granted – I wonder why the Igbo governors are not gravitating towards it. If they do, they might not have to depend on the Federal government to solve most of their problems anymore. I really mean what I have just said.

I am going to talk of nothing but palm oil. A lot of people don’t know that palm oil is traded in commodity exchanges the way crude oil is traded. I am sure some people might be amazed to hear that palm oil and palm kernel based products are found in approximately 50% of products in supermarket shelves (even more in the grocery section of stores like Shoprite, Tesco, Walmart, etc.). It is extensively used in the pharmaceutical industry, biofuel and energy industries. The South-East has a comparative advantage in producing palm oil. Sadly, our State governments are not strategizing and forming partnerships to develop this potential ‘crude oil’.

On the economic side, as far back as 2011, palm oil was the fourth highest contributor to the GDP of Malaysia. It contributed 16.8 billion dollars then. Please note that this 2011 palm oil income for Malaysia is more than half of the Federal government’s 2016 budget. The country is aggressively increasing the production of this commodity because there is demand for it. If there is any message I would like to give the South-Eastern governors, it is that palm oil development would bring easier and quicker cash than the mining being talked about by the Federal government.

In the past, we have blamed our inability to produce palm oil on the dearth of improved palm nuts or seedlings, lack of fertilizers and inappropriate government policies. I beg Igbo leaders not to reecho these excuses because companies like Presco Oil Palm Plc and PZ Wilmar Limited have started investing in palm oil farming and are already smiling to the banks. Presco’s investment profile in Nigeria has hit over $ 1 billion dollars. The company has seasoning plants, flourmills, oil refinery, and palm tree plantation in Edo State.

Palm oil business is not a business you should even do a feasibility study before going into in Nigeria. Why have I just spoken like an illiterate? Currently, Nigeria produces about 1.2 million metric tons of palm oil with a local shortage of 700,000 metric tons. We import this deficit into the country.

Note that I have not mentioned that Nigeria was, before 1965, the world’s largest producer of palm oil or that the biggest exporter of palm oil today, Malaysia, got their seedlings from Nigeria. I have been trying to refrain from making these statements because some other African countries still believe Malaysia got their palm seedlings from them. The sad part of the whole story is that palm oil can be grown comfortably in Anambra, Enugu, Imo, Abia, Delta, Rivers, etc. Interestingly, as at today, Edo State is the highest producer in commercial quantities. I hope the South-East is taking note of this.

I hope Igbo leaders have not been defeated by the corruption in the palm oil industry and have decided not to develop their own ‘crude oil’. Reports state that the World Bank had pumped in money into Nigerian palm oil industry between 1975 -2009. Various State governments had hitherto pumped money into the palm oil industry but the money went to individual pockets. I am sure these happened when Nigeria was wallowing in oil money. Now, I can assure you that if South-Easterners put money into it and are really serious about their investment, they will reap the rewards.

I hope you know that in Nigeria no part of the oil palm tree is wasted. The leaves are used in construction and in making brooms. Also, a sap tapped from the flower is processed into palm wine. This is the part that makes me smile. Do you know that Champagne is a name of a place in France where Champagnes are made and planted? Can’t we have a place called Palm Wine in Nigeria and brand the product so that the Walmart and Tesco of this world would be happy to have it on their shelves.

As I earlier mentioned, the South-East has refused to behave like the North. What stops them from inviting their illustrious sons and daughters to invest in this business, in the same way the North, South-West and even the South-South States are running after Dangote. Meanwhile, let me use this opportunity to remind our amiable president that he is the father of Nigeria – both those who voted for him and those who didn’t. I know he cares about Ndigbo.