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Stakeholders in oil palm sector seek review of RSPO national interpretation

By Michael Egbejule, Benin City
28 September 2020   |   4:02 am
Stakeholders in the oil palm industry, at the weekend, sought a review of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) National Interpretation (NI) to transform the sector.

Palm Oil

•Focus on creating more friendly business environment, Iyayi urges Obaseki
•Governor’s reelection divine, says Kure
•Edo shifts reopening of primary, secondary schools to Oct 6.

Stakeholders in the oil palm industry, at the weekend, sought a review of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) National Interpretation (NI) to transform the sector.

Speaking at the RSPO National Interpretation working group’s meeting in Benin City, facilitator of the Africa Palm Oil Initiative (APOI) platform in Edo State, Churchill Oboh, said its review would serve as a working document to regulate activities of stakeholders in the industry.

Oboh added that it would address sustainable cultivation of oil palm, create employment opportunities and enhance workers’ welfare, as well as preserve the ecosystem in compliance with relevant laws and policies, among others.

“Very soon we will be speaking with relevant stakeholders in Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa, Ondo, Akwa Ibom and Cross Rivers states,” he added.

Chairman of the NI for Nigeria Working Group, Billy Ghansah of Okomu PLC, stated that the NI working group comprised various interest groups including the Nigeria Conservation Foundation & Solidaridad, commercial banks, Presco, Okomu and SNL, as well as Wilmar and Dufil.

BESIDES, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Caesar Engineering and Construction Limited, Dr. Caesar Iyayi, has appealed to Governor Godwin Obaseki to focus on creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive in the state.

Iyayi, who is also Chairman of Iyayi Efianayi Foundation, made the appeal in his congratulatory message to Obaseki and his deputy, Phillip Shaibu on their victory in the September 19, 2020 governorship election.

“It is not sufficient anymore for public officers to build civic centres, renovate schools, build some roads and drainages. Those things are good, but they are not enough.

“We have to move to the next stage and I will suggest that if the governor wants to be positively remembered by posterity, he should focus on some of our challenges by identifying some of the things that we consume and create an enabling environment for local entrepreneurs to produce them,” he stated.

Describing Governor Obaseki’s decision to establish a power plant as visionary and commendable, Iyayi said: “The power plant should be used to generate power that will be used to manufacture goods.”
 
Also, Chairman of the state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop Oriname Oyonnude Kure, described Obaseki and Shaibu’s reelection as divine, adding that God used President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure a peaceful, free, fair and credible election.
 
Kure stated this at the thanksgiving service for the reelection of Governor Obaseki at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City yesterday.
 
MEANWHILE, the state government rescheduled the reopening of primary and secondary schools for the 2020/2021 academic session to Tuesday, October 6, 2020.

In a statement, Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, disclosed that primary and secondary schools would resume academic session on the new date as against Monday, September 28, 2020, as earlier announced.

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