By Kevin Okunzuwa, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
In the face of unpredictable foreign exchange earnings from oil, the Federal Government has made conscious efforts to widen the dragnet for foreign receipts.
Before the discovery of crude in Oloibiri, in present day Bayelsa, Nigeria had relied on agriculture produce for foreign exchange earnings. Alongside cocoa and groundnut, palm oil and kernel featured prominently.
Without a doubt, Okomu Oil Palm Plc, located near Iguobazuwa, the administrative Headquarters of Ovia South-West Local Government Area of Edo remains one of the most successful multi-billion naira red oil investments in the country.
While most of its palm oil is consumed locally, its rubber output is exported thereby earning the country some foreign exchange.
The company was established, initially in 1976 in Edo by the Federal Government of Nigeria before becoming a Plc. in 1990.
Currently, Okomu Oil Palm Plc is one of Nigeria’s leading oil palm companies listed on the Nigeria Exchange.
It has a plantation that covers an area of 33,112 hectares, of which 18,879 hectares is currently planted to oil palm whilst 7,335 hectares has rubber trees on it.
Records show that the company presently has over 7,000 workers in its employment.
The Edo-based agro-allied giant, had a good showing in 2023, as increased production bolstered by favourable prices domestically boosted its top and bottom lines.
Experts say Nigeria’s economy will not find its footing unless it diversified its export products and reduce import dependence.
“The import dependence is compounded by a monocultural hydrocarbon dominated forex import earner that accounts for 79 per cent in crude oil and 10 per cent in natural gas’’, according to Prof. Ken Ife.
Ife, a development consultant & lead consultant, Industry & Private Sector Development, ECOWAS Commission spoke at a one day seminar for finance journalists organised by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
However Dr. Biodun Adedipe, of B. Adedipe Associates Limited, further stressed the need for urgent action to be taken to ensure that the country is transformed from a mono product economy to a multi-product economy.
“If Nigeria sincerely wants to get out dependence on crude oil dependence and the woes this has brought since the petrodollar began flowing in 1974, some courageous steps must be taken’’, Adedipe said.
One major obstacle facing businesses in Nigeria today is insecurity. It cuts across different parts of the country. While bandits and herdsmen terrorise farmers in the north, militants harass both big and small businesses in the south.
These security threats not only undermine national stability and the rule of law but also have adverse effects on the economy.
“It affects prices, output, employment, trade balance, poverty, inequality, defense expenditure, government budget patterns, socio-political environment, and several others’’, says Mr Ibukunolu James.
Okomu oil is one of the victims of the crime wave in the country, having suffered several bouts of raid and bandit attacks on its workers and facilities.
The company’s Managing Director, Dr Graham Hefer, confirmed losing close to 15 workers to bandit attacks in the last five years.
“In the last five years we have lost more than 10 workers due to acts of robbery and assault to the point where I have to have deploy security 24/7 to protect my people and products.
“So it is seriously a major problem for us, because these people are there just to do bad things
“The latest such attack was the Monday early morning attack and assassination in cold blood of three of the company’s workers inside the plantation.
The female worker, who was held hostage but managed to escape unhurt said the six armed gunmen came in through the Okomu riverside and also escaped through the same route in their motorboat, thereafter.
“ Last week, armed gunmen ambushed the company’s patrol vehicle which they riddled with bullets and a day after the murders of the workers they attacked our workers’ estate injuring 3 people and damaging property”, he said.
According to Hefer, while the management of the company was doing its best the challenges is beyond the firm.
“Government has to come and take absolute control of the area which is supposed to be a forest reserve and a national park, but has effectively been overrun by gangs and hoodlums.
“Government is supposed to be the custodian of this land, as well as the landlord and should therefore protect tenants like us as we have absolutely no control over the situation, whatsoever.
“We are left to our faith. There are no police personnel or soldiers and not a single police post at all in the south of the Okomu River and within the whole Okomu Forest Reserve area,” Hefer said.
Even the host community is not spared. A day after the Okomu incidents, the attackers, who identified themselves as the Okomu Kingdom Ijaw Freedom Fighters, invaded one of Okomu’s host communities, Marioghinoba.
In the process, the gang members killed an Okomu worker, destroying several houses and burning 8 vehicles.
The group also left a note behind making demands from Edo State Government and the company.
Some of the demands included guaranteed directorship position on the company’s board and 25 per cent of the company’s shares.
Interestingly, Hefer said the company had these past years enjoyed a good understanding and relationship with their host communities and with the discharge of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects to them.
“When I go down to visit communities where we do a lot of corporate social responsibility work, we see projects that our company has spent more than N250 million on in communities within our footprint.
“Projects such as the building of schools ,housing, foodstuffs, nursing and teachers quarters, boreholes and town halls are but a few of the projects within these communities built by the company for these communities.
“We also help smallholder farmers with the likes of fertilisers, wheelbarrows and other equipment as well and work together with the communities and their representatives to ensure their development, together”, he said.
According to Fidelis Olise, the Communication Officer of Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc, there are currently 6 Ijaw communities covered by the company’s CSR projects.
They are Okomu, Safarogbo Gbelebu, Inikorogha, Ofunama and Gbole-Uba. Olise said: “the company has over the past 10 years handed out 157 bursaries to Ijaw Indigenes, in addition to executing 77 CSR projects in these communities.
“These projects are exclusive of the annual road grading for those communities concerned. The combined value of the CSR projects in these communities amounts to more than N100 million over this period,” he said.
Hefer, however, feared that if these unwarranted attacks were not effectively tackled by the government and relevant security agencies, the casualty spillover would affect members of the host communities as well.
The Edo chairman of Ijaw National Congress (INC) Mr Bibowei J.Braie, blamed the state government and the company for what he called breach of channels of communication.
“What do you expect when both the state government and Okomu company decide to neglect the appropriate channels of communication and prefer to patronise political cronies?
“We are not called to meetings at the local government Council to enable us express the people’s sufferings and challenges.
“Not until the issue of the communication breakdown is appropriately addressed and the leadership of the Ijaws are invited for dialogue, the agitation will not stop any time soon,” Braie said.
But the company denied any wrong doing. Hefer said the company worked through all the democratically elected structures at grassroots level within all of the communities in their area.
“However, frequent differences in opinion and wrangling over who should be in control of these various committees have created situations where they had been effectively hijacked by criminals for their own selfish aims’’, he said.
Security authorities in the area say they are not ignorant of the dangers posed by the militants to not only the company but also the nation’s economy.
The Commissioner of Police (CP) in the state, Funsho Adegboye, has assured that more men had been deployed by the state command to the areas to forestall a repeat of the attack.
“More men have been deployed to the area to forestall a repeat, while the police in conjunction with Okomu is working to ensure that the culprits are arrested. We will not allow such an occurrence to happen in the state again,” the CP said.
Similarly, the Public Relations Officer of the 4 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Capt. Chinonso Oteh, who confirmed knowledge of the incidents, said: ”the Brigade has concluded plans on how to work with Okomu management on safety and security of the area and its operations.
“The Brigade commander has visited Okomu management since assumption of office a few times already.
“He has sent out strong warnings to those criminals to either stay clear of the locality or be ready to face the wrath of the law since this dastardly act,” he said.
Observers hope that concerned stakeholders, including aggrieved communities to drop their guns and embrace dialogue to allow private sector enterprises such as Okomu oil to contribute their quota towards realising the diversification of the nation’s economy. (NAN )
