Nigerian state offers Malaysians free land for growing oil palmKuala Lumpur (The Star) Thursday, June 14, 2001 - NIGERIA'S Cross RiverState has designated 100,000ha of land suitable for oil palm cultivationto be given free to Malaysian investors interested in embarking on theproduction of palm oil there, its governor Donald Duke said.The free land would serve as an incentive for Malaysian investors to helprevive the sector in Nigeria, which was neglected after the country'sincreased involvement in the oil and gas industry, he said."In the 60s, Nigeria was one of the world leaders in the production andexport of palm oil, but we have now become a net importer," Duke said,adding that the commodity was sourced mainly from Malaysia, Indonesia andneighbouring Cameroon, Ghana and the Ivory Coast.The free land, he said, had been appraised by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board(MPOB) and was found to be suitable for oil palm cultivation. It will comewith a 99-year tenure because of the long gestation period foragricultural crops.Duke was speaking at the Cross River Investment Forum organised by theMalaysian Palm Oil Promotion Council in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.According to Duke, the state government has endeavoured to make theapplication process as simple as possible for interested investors, withthe whole process expected to take only six months."Those interested would have to state their interest by writing a letterto the state government or to the Nigerian embassy for the necessary landtitles to be issued," he said, adding that MPOB had a list of thedesignated areas.The state also was prepared to organise forums between Malaysian andsuitable Nigerian investors if there were parties keen to strike uppartnerships or joint ventures, Duke said.He said the country now imported more than 100,000 tonnes of crude palmoil from Malaysia alone.