Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo, on Monday said the state government had concluded plans to open up about 100, 000 hectares of new land for oil palm investors in the state.

Obaseki made this known during the 2019 Alaghodaro Youth Summit held in Benin to mark his third year in office.

He said: “From next month, we will make available 100,000 hectares of new land for oil palm production to investors.

“Indonesia earns more from oil palm production than crude oil. We are going to make Edo the palm oil hub of Nigeria.

“If we are to be able to cultivate 100,000 hectares of oil palm, we will need a minimum of two or three people to cultivate one hectare of oil palm.

“We will have created about 300,000 jobs from oil palm production alone,” Obaseki said.

The governor said that his administration was mapping out the state’s economy and looking at the future through its 30-year development plan to know what to spend money on.

“Our Ossiomo independent power supply would soon be available in the state.

“I cannot guarantee that you will have it in your homes, but I can assure you that you will have it to power the street lights, production centres, offices and business centres in the state,” he said.

Obaseki disclosed that he had created 157,000 jobs in the last three years.

According to him, 45,000 jobs were created through job tracking for organisations, 23,000 through Edo Innovation Programme, 1,300 through food and agriculture, and 16,000 through Edo Production Centre.

The governor added that 12,000 other jobs were created through the National Social Investment Programme, 10,000 through the ministry of wealth creation, and 32,000 from indirect jobs. (NAN)