The Akwa Ibom Government has restated its commitment to plant two million coconut seedlings to generate raw materials for the St. Gabriel’s Coconut Oil Factory in the state.Gov. Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom made this known on Tuesday at the inaugural planting of 300, 000 coconut seedlings in Mkpu, Itu Mbonuso in Ini Local Government Area of the state.
He said that the coconut planting exercise was the hallmark of activities held to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the state.
Emmanuel said the state would become an economic hub with the availability of raw materials to boost production at
“In all the activities to mark the 35th State Anniversary, this is one of the most remarkable, today we want to commission the first phase in this Local Government Area.
“Based on the survey that we have carried out, Ini LGA will give us a very high yield with hybrid coconut.
“As announced all over the 31 Local Government Areas we are planting 300, 000 coconut seedlings across the state.
“Our target is before I handover the baton to the incoming governor, we will plant two million coconut seedlings and before December, we will meet that target,” Emmanuel said.
He urged the community to protect the project, saying that the coconut plantation will generate income to the state.
According to the governor, virgin coconut oil sells higher than crude oil at the international market.
Earlier in her remarks, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Offiong Offor, thanked the governor for facilitating the project to ensure raw materials for the coconut factory.
Offor said as the state marks coconut day with the planting of seedlings, many job opportunities would be created for the youths and income would be generated through the production of the coconut oil.
Also speaking, the Paramount Ruler of Ini, Edidem Etim Umoette, commended the governor for the various development projects put in place across the state.
Umoette added that the huge investments in agriculture across the 31 local government areas remains a panacea for food sufficiency.
