Governor Alex Otti flanked by Barr. Alphonsus Ogar Eba and Mrs Lilian Nkech Dongo of the RRIN during their visit
Abia, RRIN to stimulate rubber production
From Boniface Okoro, Umuahia
Governor Alex Otti flanked by Barr. Alphonsus Ogar Eba and Mrs Lilian Nkech Dongo of the RRIN during their visit
Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti says his administration is poised to partner with the Rubber Research Institute of Nigeria (RRIN) to improve the state economy through harnessing and advancing rubber production in the State.
The Governor stated this on Wednesday, when he received in audience, a delegation of the Rubber Research Institute of Nigeria (RRIN) in his office, assuring that government and RRIN would work out modalities of their partnership for immediate implementation.
Governor Otti noted that partnering the institute would increase rubber productivity of the state which would impact positively on the state’s GDP, while creating jobs for the people.
“There will also be other downstream positives that will come from it: processing of the rubber, packaging and export. So, I want to say that I’m fully aligned.
“So, in the next few days, I think we need to sit down and flesh out all the details of where you want us to come in. We can even set up an SPV, something like that,” Gov. Otti stated.
The Governor said that there is no reason for Nigeria to ignore agro-services and its products. “There is no reason for us to just ignore some of these agro-services and products which were the mainstay of the economy prior to the advent of oil in Nigeria. So, everybody faces one direction and ignores every other direction. Clearly, if not in our generation, maybe in the next generation, oil would have no value,” he said pointing to the success being recorded by the campaign towards a transition from emission to zero-emission.
“And then, when you have zero emission, that means you have no vehicle plying the roads that is powered by fossil fuel. That means the near end of oil,” he stressed.
Earlier, Chairman of the Governing Board, Rubber Research Institute of Nigeria (RRIN), Barr. Alphonsus Ogar Eba, said that they came to seek partnership with Abia State government and as well bring to Abia, the Presidential initiative on the revitalization of rubber production, rubber processing and the advocacy for rubber, which he said would create employment opportunities for the teaming youths.
He noted that Nigeria is placed at a distant 10th position in rubber production in Africa but said that time has come to harness the country’s full potentials in rubber production.
“The time has come for us to see how the industrial needs and the medical needs, and even every other issue that starts to come out of rubber can be properly re-energized.
“Abia stands very tall in terms of industrialization. We have the Akwete station here which is one of the very substations of rubber,” he noted.
Also, the Executive Director, Mrs. Lilian Nkechi Dongo, said that RRIN was the only research institute that has the mandate for research and development of rubber and all lettuce producing plants.
Mrs Dongo said that the partnership would assist in advancing rubber production in Nigeria, and maintained that rubber could take Nigeria out of her economic challenges.
“We are here to see how the state can partner with us and collaborate to advance the rubber industry in Nigeria,” she said.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Cliff Agbaeze, and his Industry and SME counterpart, Mazi Mike Akpara, among other government officials, were present during the visit.
