The Oyo State government is set to restore the glory of cocoa production as one of the state’s major economic pillars, through the approval of ₦3,030,292,472 for the establishment of the Cocoa Rejuvenation Project.
This was conveyed in a statement on Wednesday, signed by the Commissioner for Information, Dotun Oyelade, made available to PUNCH in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The commissioner said, “The State Executive Council approved the sum of ₦3,030,292,472 for the establishment of the Cocoa Rejuvenation Project.”
The project, which would be driven through a Public-Private Partnership, according to the Commissioner, would be coordinated by the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture.
The state government is taking this initiative because Oyo State ranks fourth in cocoa production among the 18 cocoa-producing states in Nigeria,” Oyelade explained in the statement. The state is also being proactive by seizing the opportunity created by disruptions in cocoa production in major producing countries like Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
“It is the intention of Oyo State to fill the supply void as a result of the production problems facing the West African countries. The Cocoa Rejuvenation Project, which costs two million, seventy-five thousand, five hundred and forty-seven dollars ($2,075,547), will be funded in three tranches over the next three years,” the commissioner added.
According to the commissioner, the council also backs the call by South-West Governors for State Police, and observed that, “the lack of enthusiasm by our youths to join the military makes the domestication of local policing more urgent.”
