Orumba South Community Leader Advises Soludo on Oil Palm Revolution Programme

By Michael Nnebife

A former President General, Amagu Development Union, Ajali, in Orumba South Local Government Area, Anambra State, Chief Stephen Anekwe, has advised the State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, to use Anambra’s citizens that have acquired land spaces to drive his oil and cocoanut palm revolution project so as to achieve the objective of the programme.

Chief Anekwe, who gave the advice while speaking with the press recently in Awka, faulted the current implementation strategy of the programme, saying it might mar the economic objective of the policy.

The community leader who however commended Governor Soludo for the programme, said the governor should select and establish farmers.

‘Let them show the government their lands where they can plant the palm seedlings. Thereafter, an economically reasonable number of the seedlings should be given to them based on the size of their individual land presented,’ he said.

He emphasized the need for the government to employ Agriculture graduates as field workers to supervise and help the benefiting farmers to ensure that established guidelines were followed.

Anekwe, who maintained that every facet of oil palm tree was economically significant, also urged the government to set up oil mills and storage facilities for easy processing and safe keeping of the oil and cocoanut produce for maximum utilization.

For Anambra to get the programme right, Anekwe said, the standards of the Michael Okpala Oil Palm Project in the Old Eastern Region should be followed.

He appealed to the Federal and the State Governments to take Agriculture seriously by subsidizing every agricultural input and involve themselves in buying the produce with justifiable regulated prices.