Anambra State government, through the State Commissioner for Agriculture, Professor Forster Ihejiofor, has indicated that the Professor Chukwuma Soludo-led administration is favourably inclined towards investing in the sector for optimal returns.

To date, the commissioner stated that the Anambra State government has distributed 220 million palm seedlings to more than 180,000 households in the State over the last two years, in pursuit of Prof Soludo’s bold vision for the sector.

He also expressed the government’s desire to collaborate with the National Palm Produce Association of Nigeria (NPPAN) and Alpha Palm City Estate Development Limited in actualising the “One Family, 20 Palms” programme in Anambra State.

This was revealed during the unveiling of the project initiated by Alpha City Estate Development Limited and the inauguration of the Anambra State Chapter of NPPAN.

Alpha Palm City Estate Development Limited is a private-sector-driven agro-real estate development company that acquires estates, plants, and nurtures fast-growing, high-yielding palm nurseries/seedlings for sale to agricultural investors.

Declaring the event open, Ihejiofor lamented a situation where Nigeria, which gave palm nuts to Malaysia a few years ago, now imports palm oil worth five hundred million dollars ($500m) from the same nation annually.

Ihejiofor recalled that during his visit to Malaysia in 2022, he discovered that palm trees have officially been classified as a national economic plant, such that one risks prosecution for touching them without government approval.

According to him, palm oil in Malaysia has value addition in such a way that none of its by-products are allowed to go to waste.

He discussed the replication of such policies in the state or country, especially considering the bold initiatives of NPPAN/Alpha Palm City. He noted that palm plantations have become the backbone of the Malaysian economy, hoping to replicate this success in the Nigerian and Anambra economies, as Gov Soludo has shown strong support for backing serious investors to standardise processes and acquire processing machines if they form cooperatives, thereby maximising the high returns from the investment.

He contended that more than 80% of products on the shelves of any typical Nigerian supermarket contain by-products of palm oil and kernel.

In her speech, the Vice Chairman of Alpha Palm City Estate Development Limited, Mrs. Gloria Aniemeka, stated that the company initiated the project and found NPPAN to be an invaluable organisation to realise the dream, with the hopeful provision of an enabling environment by the State government.

Aniemeka noted that the aim of the initiative was to plant no fewer than twenty million palm trees soon in the state. She called on individuals and groups to feel free to invest in the agro estate development, assuring that land is available for palm oil investment.

Aniemeka stated that the agro realtor has already planted quality, fast-yielding nursery palm species which can be tended for investors for a period before they take over.

She therefore urged both local and international investors to seize this opportunity to approach them, especially with the popular “one family, twenty palms” ongoing promotion. The payments, she pointed out, are structured in phases and installments.

In his speech, the National Vice President (South East) of NPPAN, Dr Lynda Onubogu, while inaugurating the newly elected Anambra State executive led by Mrs Ifeyinwa Onweluzo, noted that palm produce forms the main base and trademark of the Eastern Nigerian economy, until it was unfortunately neglected.

Onubogu stated that the inauguration was a call to action towards restoring the lost glory of the palm produce industry in the South-East zone, beginning with Anambra State.

Earlier, the National Secretary of ANPPAN, Kayode Olatola, hinted that the association has been in existence since 1995 and that palm trees are found in commercial quantities in 29 states of the federation. He pointed out that Anambra State is well-positioned to maximise the One Family, 20 Palms initiative, given the shortage of land in the South-East zone.