Paul Ogbebor, an investor in rubber production industry has said that Edo State government loses about $180 million annually for not investing in rubber plantations, which he believes the state has a comparative advantage.
Ogbebor remarked that the State was renowned for rubber plantations and rubber research before the crude oil boom in the 1970s; noting sadly that the State government has sacrificed its agricultural potentials to over- dependence on revenue from crude oil, which is now affecting its micro-economy.
Meanwhile, the state commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Abdul Oroh had in a previous interview disclosed that the current rubber situation in the state was 150,000 hectares, and an expected annual output of 55,000 metric tons per hectare.
Oroh added that the harvest yield per hectare was 1.5 tons, and the State ranks as the second rubber producer in the country.
In an exclusive interview with BusinessDay in Benin-City, Ogbebor, who is also the chief executive officer of Paulosa group of companies, said, if the Edo State government invested in 100,000 hectares of rubber plantations, with the current price of $1,200 per crumb of rubber in the inter- national market, the State has the potential to generate about $180 million annually.
He opined that the 100,000 hectares was capable of gener- ating $15 million monthly to the coffers of the State government.
“You can get 1.5 tons from harvesting one hectare of rubber. Imagine that if Edo State government should invest in about 100,000 hectares of rubber, it would generate 3.0 tons multiplied by 100,000 hectares, which is about 1,500,000 tons a month. When you multiply that by a price of $1,200 per crumb of rubber, it comes to about $15 million monthly that the State government will get from rub- ber. This is sufficient incentives,” Ogbebor stated.
He also posited that the economic multiplier effect of the investment would be marginally manifested in the area of jobs creation; increase the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), among other things.
Ogbebor, a retired Army Col- onel, said he currently manages the Abia State and the Federal Government owned Rubber Research Institute (RRIN) lo- cated at Iyanomo near Benin City; adding that he was yet to get response from the Edo State government on his proposal to also manage its rubber plantation located at Orhonigbe in Orhionmwon Local Govern- ment Area.
While advocating for the establishment of “Rubber Board,” to regulate the rubber production industry, and set benchmark for price, he however called on the Federal Government and the rubber producing state governments to jointly invest massively in rubber plan- tation and production.
“There should be synergy between the state, local and the Federal governments, to do joint investments, and plant rubber massively. Whatever come out from there will generate employment, boost the GDP, generate export products; and the money they will get from there will be outside the crude oil. If the Federal, states and local governments invest in rubber, rubber will soon be the highest foreign exchange earner, followed by cocoa, and then crude oil will only be the third.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria should invest in rubber like what Camerounian government is doing. When you get to Cameroun, Liberia and Malaysia, every land there is rubber or oil palm plantations. The Federal Government should do the same thing. We have so much arable lands fit and good for rubber cultivation, right from Lagos to Cala- bar. Make good of it, and plant massively, and what we would get from that as a proceeds, we will not even remember that we have crude oil,” Ogbebor stated. – Business Day Online