I thought we once had a structured and active palm produce industry located in the South South and South Eastern zones of the country, though they are now on the verge of collapse because they are being run by civil servants.

Considering the long gestation period it takes to grow and begin to harvest palm kernels, does it not make better sense to first locate such production outfits for palm kernel to ethanol around those places where the trees already are in existence?

Another thing that is baffling to me is, every Nigerian government thinks erroneously that enterprises such as this should be established by government alone, instead of encouraging the private sector of the economy to pioneer the industry by providing the necessary environment that could encourage that sector to invest in the industry. This attitude is one of the reasons behind the recurring incidents of corruption in the public sector we fight against today.
When we allow government to set up an enterprise with public funds and then appoint civil servants to run it who, by default are less inclined to perform as “government money is nobody’s money”, and without a private sector-like board to breathe down their necks, we are providing the grounds for corruption to breed. As usual, should such an enterprise totter, the general accepted custom would be for government to move on and invest yet again in another enterprise. At best, government is forced to contemplate selling off the failed enterprise cheaply by privatising it. Does that not prove those people right who make a case for the need for government to leave business to business men?