Managerial Crisis, Power Tussle Hindering Optimal Palm Oil Production At NIFOR, Edo Group Laments

A socio-cultural organisation, the Benin National Congress (BNC), on Wednesday, decried how a managerial crisis and power tussle rocking the Nigerian Institute For Oil Palm Research (NIFOR) has hampered the nation’s yearly production of 2.5 million tons of palm oil and palm kernel oil.

The revelation was contained in a statement titled, “Open Letter to the Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Food Security on the seeming gross mismanagement of affairs at the Nigerian Institute For Oil Palm Research and attempt to breach the peace at the Institute and host communities”, signed by its president, Aiyamenkhue Edokpolo, a copy of which was made available to journalists in Benin City, Edo State.

The group said it was quite unfortunate that an institution established 84 years ago cannot compete with the Malaysians, who came to collect seedlings from them, stressing that the twist of event was so disappointing.

“We are particularly disappointed at the administrative events stifling the performance and progress of some research Institutes in Nigeria.

“Research Institutes were established as research and innovation arm of the Federal Government, to carry out research in their mandate crops for genetic improvement,
post-harvest loss mitigation, extension of developed technologies and monitoring of feedback from technology beneficiaries.

“If these activities were faithfully implemented, Nigeria would have recorded high food sufficiency if other factors remained constant.

“If we take the Nigerian Institute For Oil Palm Research as a case in point, our investigation showed that the Institute is about 84 years old.

“The Malaysians visited Nigeria for oil Palm seeds when NIFOR was about 30years old and collected our materials to improve what they had.

“Shortly after that, the Malaysians became the largest exporter of Palm oil in the world market. They continued until the Indonesians copied them and displaced them from the first position because Indonesia has more land and an adapted technology. Today Indonesia produces more than 34million tons of Palm oil and Malaysia produces about 19million tons of palm oil while Nigeria produces about 1.3million tons per year. Our total requirement of Palm oil and Palm kernel oil is about 2.5million tons per year,” Edokpolo stated.

Edokpolo attributed the root cause of the problem to the leadership tussle in the Institute.

“Since the year 1994, the Institute has been overtaken by crisis fomented by alleged gross mismanagement at the Institute level and supervisory oversight.

“In 1994, industrial action by the junior staff led to seed contamination which could not be resolved until 2015 (21 years later) during which time many Nigerians planted contaminated and underperforming seeds from NIFOR which further exacerbated the palm oil and palm kernel oil supply deficit in Nigeria,” the group added.