03/12/2008 (Guardian Newspaper) - THE Plantation Owners Forum of Nigeria (POFON) over the weekend in Benin called on the Federal Government to make a definite pronouncement on the alleged lifting of the ban on the importation of crude vegetable oil and its related products.

The forum in an emergency meeting held at Presco Oil Plc premises near, Benin- city said their call became necessary to enable them know the true position of things, and also to fashion out concrete ways forward for the benefit of all stakeholders in the agricultural sub sector.

Participants in a research programme organised last week by the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR) had cried out that the Federal Government had lifted the ban on the importation of raw materials for vegetable oil which is mostly red oil. They said this development could hamper the oil palm growth in the country.

The Chairman of the forum, Muyi Ladoja, while briefing journalists at the end of the well attended forum said, the Federal Government should make the gazette that lifted the ban on the importation of palm oil available to them.

Ladoja, the managing director/ chief executive officer of Real Plantations Limited, Calabar in Cross River State said the gazette they saw never lifted the ban, noting that it would be appropriate for the Federal Government to make the one that contained the purported lifting of the ban available to them as one of the major stakeholders in the industry.

The chairman, who stated that the investment in the sector was about N6 billion in the last 7-8 years, noted that the gazette would enable them to fashion out ways to protect the industry, adding that in Edo State alone statistics shown that there are over 40,000 small holders of plantation farms.

He also disclosed that there are a great number of small holders in other states of the federation where palm oil is being produced in addition to the medium and large estate owners who need protection.

According to him, "we need to let the people, mostly the Nigerians know if the ban was lifted in error or we haven't put our own position forward. Let them know that so many more jobs are going to be lost. Many people are active in this industry, which provide livelihood to about 1-2 million people. We want to look at the number of people the lift in ban would affect negatively.

He disclosed that the palm oil produced in the country for the past years has been able to meet the needs and demand of the consumers without importing, adding that instead of lifting the ban on importation the Federal Government should find ways to encourage the farmers to meet the needs of the international markets.