A’Ibom govt to plant 2 million coconut seedlings

Ini Billie Uyo

The Akwa Ibom State government to plant two million coconut seedlings to provide raw materials for its coconut refinery.

Governor Udom Emmanuel stated this in Mkpat Enin on Saturday during the inauguration of the refinery. Emmanuel added that one million hybrid seedlings have already been planted.

According to him, the coconut plantation which will feed the refinery across four local government areas of the state noted that one stand of the hybrid coconut has the capacity to sprout five or six stands that will produce, at least, 49 coconuts each.

Explaining that the plantation has the capacity to provide enough raw materials for the refinery, the Governor revealed that the refinery can also produce virgin crude palm kernel oil.

He said: “Today, I think we have gone beyond one million, and one stand of hybrid coconut sprouts into 5 or 6, and each bundle is expected to yield between 49 and 57 nuts at ago.

“So, if it sprouts into 5 or 6, even if 1 million stands yield at the same time and we harvest, it means that for 250 days, we can be processing one set of harvest.

“The refinery, the first of its kind, nowhere in Africa that you can find a factory like this that is refining virgin coconut oil in Africa with a capacity to process one million nuts a day in three shifts.

“I want to announce, that wherever you have coconut, we will turn it into money for you. That is what is called the creation of wealth. It takes a leader who knows what to do that can actually turn what was for domestic consumption, what people did not consider anything useful of it into something of value, into something of money.”

Emmanuel who is also a Presidential aspirant under the PDP stated that within a few weeks, the government will draw up an agreement for a training exercise that would incorporate indigenes of four local government areas where the coconut plantation is located.

He said, “The technology you are seeing here is a combination of Asian and European technologies in other to transfer skills and develop our people.

“Let me also allay the fears of the community. This week we are entering, and we are going to draw an agreement for training and taking cognizance of all the three LGAs including Okobo that have given us land for the plantation. Our integration strategy is to plant two million seedlings before I leave office”.