Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was fanatical about maximising the gains of agriculture in Bayelsa State. On Friday, 15 December 2000, the Alamieyeseigha administration launched the Bayelsa Oil Palm Company at Elebele, one of the pet agricultural projects of his government.
All over the world, agriculture had been identified as the bedrock of economic development. Indeed from the days of independence, agriculture has been the cornerstone of the nations developmental agenda.
Even before the oil boom era, Nigeria was an agrarian economy entirely dependent on the export of cash crops. Those glorious days seemed to be over. Today, only a mono-product economy obtains which dangerously relies on the push and pull of the global oil market.
Successive administrations in the country tried to ensure a policy focus, which espouses agriculture as the basis for development. This was the reason behind the introduction of the Operation Feed the Nation programme of the Federal Government in 1976.
That programme was replaced by the Green Revolution in the Second Republic. But the Green Revolution became a Yellow Revolution because it created only a marginal multiplier effect on agricultural yields. In the end, it was aborted by lack of commitment and mismanagement.
In spite of previous failed attempts, however, many agricultural programmes continued to be initiated to boost agricultural productivity. The Agricultural Development Programme (ADP), and the School-to-Land programme are cases in point.
The Alamieyeseigha government gave premium to agricultural development with good reason, having been engaged in a comprehensive rehabilitation of agricultural infrastructure and the development of new ones to strengthen extension services.
To start with, six demonstration farms were renovated in the state. These include the farms in Abobiri, Ofoni, Yenagoa, Sabagreia and Oporoma. Two fishponds were also constructed in Swali. In addition, the School-to-Land programme trained 250 young secondary school leavers of the state origin who passed out that very day. These young men and women were trained in modern techniques of cultivating crops, livestock and fish farming.
The event of that day was the culmination of an aggressive drive for agricultural regeneration in the state. To achieve the goal of optimum palm oil production, Alamieyeseigha thought it fit and proper to establish the Bayelsa Oil Palm Company in Elebele. As one of the most remarkable agricultural initiatives in its first year in office, government placed great store in this project, and made sure that extensive fabrication work was well underway.
An efficient management committee was put in place to ensure the judicious use of available resources to maximise productivity. The big vision for the Bayelsa Oil Palm project was to equip the company to produce palm oil in commercial quantity, both for domestic consumption and for export. It was the considered opinion of government to continue to pay priority attention to this vital sector in the years ahead. To further strengthen governments resolve in this direction, the sum of N620 million was earmarked for the agricultural sector in the 2001 budget.
The ultimate target was to ensure that all Bayelsans stand a good chance to make a living from cultivating the agricultural resources in their back yard. The hope was that, in the years to come, efforts will specifically be directed at improving the technical know-how, occupational practices, and the organisational skills of local farmers and fishermen through extension services offered by the Ministry of Agriculture, the Agricultural Development Programme and the School-to-Land programme.
Government would also venture into direct agricultural production based on the condition that there would be reputable, active and competent partners, and the hope was to encourage commercial farming and deep-sea fishing. Plans were also in top gear to establish a fertilizer company in the state.
The popular sentiment at the time was that Malaysia had taken palm seedlings from Nigeria and made capital out of them, becoming perhaps the worlds most assured economy for palm produce, so much so that Nigeria, the primary benefactor, became Malaysia’s prime customer for palm produce.
Alamieyeseigha was desperate to change this narrative. He called on the multi-national companies operating in the state’s territory to promote agriculture as part of their community development obligations to host communities.
It was gratifying enough that the Nigeria Agip Oil Company had already taken the bold step to replicate the Green River Project in the state, which was inaugurated in Brass on 29 November 2000. Workers of Bayelsa Oil Palm Company whose salaries were in arears received assurance that plans had reached an advanced stage to integrate them into the mainstream of the civil service.
Alamieyeseigha urged all workers to be dedicated to duty. It was the burden of the management team to ensure accountability and commitment in their daily conduct. He saw it as the collective responsibility of one and all to ensure that Bayelsa Oil Palm Company succeeded. With great optimism, therefore, he formally launched the Bayelsa Oil Palm Company.
Many years later, the government of Henry Seriake Dickson was to hand over the same parcel of land, with all the natural resources on it intact, to the Hausa community in Yenagoa in a bid to settle their growing population in the state capital.
