With 29 governors to be sworn-in on May 29, I look forward to six of them adopting an audacious chocolate production plan

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Nigerians always look towards the federal government for redemption but this is just ignorance. It is the state government that is responsible for 80% of governance responsibilities under our federal structure, so that is where we need to place the emphasis

[2] Nigeria’s constitution allows its governors to come together and collaborate for the common good. Sadly, we see very little of that, so let us hope 2023 heralds a thunderstorm of change

[3] What I want to see is six governors come together to develop a National Chocolate Plan. These six are the governors whose states are the leading producers of chocolate ingredients

[4] To produce chocolate, you need cocoa, milk, sugar and edible nuts like groundnuts, coconuts and cashews. I am thinking of an audacious integration programme involving establishing railway links between their factories and the line ending at a port from where exports will be shipped

[5] Coconuts. About 70% of our 226,000 tonne output comes from Lagos State

[6] Groundnuts. Zamfara State is our major producer with an annual crop or 365,000 tonnes

[7] We are a net milk importer but 24% of our 570,000 tonne local production comes from Kano State

[8] Cocoa is the main ingredient in chocolate. Ondo State produces 80,000 of our 300,000 tonne national crop

[9] Cashews are another major ingredient in chocolate products. Kogi produces 40% of our 120,000 tonne national crop.

[10] I want to see the governors of Lagos, Zamfara, Kano, Ondo and Kogi states form a Chocolate Bank to offer single digit loans to farmers, construct a direct railway link between their states and between them, float a production company which will have at least 25% private sector participation