BMO hails Buhari’s directive to CBN on palm oil production

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has commended President Muhammadu Buhari on his Presidential directive to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to work towards expanding production of palm oil in the country.

The group gave the commendation in a statement signed by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary, Cassidy Madueke, on Friday in Abuja.

It also congratulated local producers of palm oil for working to attract the release of N30 billion to them to expand local production.

According to BMO, the Presidential directive to CBN is to expand production of palm oil with the purpose of regaining the lost market share Nigeria had in the 1960s.

“The directive is to ensure that individuals and firms caught using FOREX to smuggle palm oil into the country are blacklisted.

“It is also a welcome development as it gives the impetus for local production to spring up.

“It is also to provide support to firms and individuals willing to expand production in rice, maize, palm oil, cocoa, cotton, tomatoes, livestock, and cassava cultivation in line with the diversification agenda of the administration.

“Buhari is trying to reverse the negative trend by taking Nigeria away from a net importer to a net exporter of palm oil, giving Nigeria its rightful place in the global market,’’ the group added.

BMO said that the demand for palm oil in Nigeria is primarily driven by household consumption for preparation of food which would continue to go up so long as the population continues to grow.

“So there is no sense in importing what can be produced locally.

“The price of a barrel of palm oil is quite higher than that of crude oil so there’s a window of opportunity for the country if the local production capacity is expanded,” it said.

BMO also commended the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele for his role in macro-economic stabilisation which was aided by the protection and eventual liberalisation of the foreign exchange window.