MEMBERS of the National Palm Produce Association of Nigeria (NPPAN), on Thursday, declared they were ready to substantiate the assertion of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr Godwin Emefiele with “incontrovertible evidence” that the price of palm oil was higher than crude oil in the global market.
They were reacting to the claim by Dr Emefiele, when he appeared before Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions for screening for his second term nomination by President Muhammadu Buhari where he said the “price of a tonne of palm oil is more than the price of a barrel of crude oil.”
In a statement issued by a member of the executive of NPPAN Chief Dele Olanusi, they declared their intention to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari; Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo; CBN governor, Dr. Godwin Emefiele, Minister of Commerce and Industry and the National Assembly to provide “incontrovertible statistics and documents on the comparative advantage palm oil has over crude oil as a foreign earner.”
According to them, some unscrupulous Nigerians, in collaboration with a handful of manufacturers are sabotaging the Nigerian economy and indeed the industry through illegal importation of the commodity with a motive to kill the local production and render investors bankrupt.
They agreed with Emefiele that the palm oil industry had the capacity to display crude oil as the mainstay of the nation’s economy because of the higher price index of the commodity in the international market, coupled with the ecosystem that favours the cultivation of oil palm.
THE NPPAN leaders said there were huge opportunities for value addition that would make palm oil from Nigeria more competitive in the global market thereby boosting Nigeria’s foreign earnings.
The NPPAN statement signed by Engineer Dele Olanusi on behalf of the major stakeholders read: “We are glad about the confidence he has expressed in the industry and its stakeholders, who have taken the risk to inject their entire life savings after retiring as professionals in the industry with or no official assistance.
“We salute the CBN governor, Dr Emefiele for again, reminding the Nigerian governments-federal, state and local- on the huge potential of palm oil. He said: “The price of a ton of palm oil is more than the price of a barrel of crude oil.”
“We have consistently stressed the strategic importance of the oil palm industry to the economy as potential mainstay and huge revenue earner. Unfortunately, the Federal Government and its agencies have been paying lip service to our outcry. They have incredibly looked the other way, while the economy bleeds in the face of more than $10 billion foreign exchange loss.
While we salute Emefiele’s his courage and doggedness in advising the president, the Senate, House of Representatives, state governors, especially from the southern part of the country and indeed the nation on the critical need to make agriculture and specifically a major commodity like palm oil the mainstay of the economy, we are, however, awed and appalled by the obvious lethargy and inertia of the authorities to walk the talk on the issue of diversification of the overall national economy.
“We are concerned that rather than ban the importation of palm oil into the country; ensure strict compliance and enforcement at the borders, the authorities preoccupies itself with sticking to one commodity-crude oil that is shipped abroad to be refined and imported into Nigeria as finished good at criminal costs and processes fraught with gross abuse, fraud and other forms of sharp practices. This process smacks of lack of seriousness and any form of economic sense and wisdom, especially when Nigeria has got a huge comparative advantage over others on the commodity.
“At the moment, there is no financial credit, technological support and other assistance from the Government and its agencies for our members that have injected billions of United States dollars into the industry. Whereas the cost of establishing a petroleum refinery is estimated at US$500 billion, a mere N50 million can be used to set up a palm oil refinery that can be replicated across the oil palm belt of Nigeria.
“Unlike the price of crude oil which is subject to the vagaries of foreign political powers, forces and cartel, that of palm oil is subject to domestic control mechanism because of the potential of local refining, value addition and packaging before export/ shipment. Price fluctuation in global crude oil market constantly threatens and actually imperils the Nigerian economy and subject the lives of Nigerians to serious hardship, huge job losses and factory shutdown with severe social unrests and other dire consequences. Malaysia has a commodity board that ensues standard practice and protect its interest in the global market of palm oil. Why can’t Nigeria set its own?
“We demand again that government check the activities of the unscrupulous sabotaging its efforts at the land borders with neighbouring countries and apply the law against firms and manufacturing shortchanging the nation in that regard. It must create the enabling environment via provision of amenities and infrastructure that will guarantee the ease of doing business in the oil palm belt and march itsword with pragmatism and action on assistance to the investors in a similar manner already extended to and provided for rice farmers.
| “We can provide statistics on the price of the commodities over the years. For example, while the price of crude oil per barrels hovered between $40 and $60 from December 2018 to February this year, at the close of 2018, palm oil was $623 per tonne. | – |
“We have investors more than N500 billion into palm oil plantations across the middle belt producing states. We have, on our own, provided the critical infrastructure and amenities in the areas of our operation. We have also employed hundreds of thousands of Nigerians of varying professional backgrounds, expertise and skill in a deliberate valued addition arrangement, as well as attracted huge foreign investment into the economy.
“Finally, we are more than ready and determined to appear before President Muhammadu Buhari; the Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo and the CBN governor, Dr Godwin Emefiele to substantiate our claims based on incontrovertible evidence, facts and figures, as well as other relevant statistics on the situation in the industry.”