WORRIED by the evils of crude oil in the oil-bearing communities of the Niger Delta, Bitumen-bearing communities of Ondo, Ogun, and Edo States of Nigeria, rose from a consultative forum in Benin City, the Edo State capital, on Tuesday, with a strong voice, clamouring for a national conference on the matter.

Bitumen is however, another form of fossil fuel that is more heavier than crude oil. Environmentalists say it possess as much danger as oil.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1111/S00062/bitumen-exploitation-scares-nigerian-communities.htm



The bitumen producing states in the country are Ondo, Ogun and Edo.

Vanguard gathered that the country has the third largest bitumen deposits in the world with Venezuela and Canada, coming first and second, respectively.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/11/bitumen-communities-seek-fgs-protection/

Kobojunkie:

Oil does not contribute 40% of your GDP. It contributes about 16%. Agriculture contributes about 40% of your GDP. At least do your home work if you are going to open threads on issues that are somewhat beyond you.

Local production of cashew nuts to hit 400,000 tonnes

Meanwhile, Nigeria is the 6th largest producer of cashew in the world after India, Brazil, Vietnam, Guinea Bissau and Tanzania. Like most African producers, most of Nigeria’s production are exported in raw form to India and Vietnam for processing and export with added value and benefits to those economies. Vietnam, for example entered the field of cashew production for export in the early 80’s about the same time Nigerians became aware of the commercial significance of cashew.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/12/local-production-of-cashew-nuts-to-hit-400000-tonnes/

Cocoa is grown principally in West Africa, Central and South America and Asia. In order of annual production size, the eight largest cocoa-producing countries at present are Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Brazil, Ecuador and Malaysia. These countries represent 90% of world production.

Ondo State is planning a massive cocoa revamp programme that may put the nation back on track as the powerhouse of cocoa production in the world.

n 2008, the then deputy governor of Osun State and chairman, Cocoa Rebirth Committee, Erelu Olusola Obada, disclosed during the 4th Cocoa Day celebration that efforts had been made to ensure that cocoa production hit 600,000 metric tonnes in 2010. And in 2010, at a two-day convention of cocoa-producing states in Akure, Ondo State, 14 cocoa-producing states promised to formulate renewal policies geared towards enhancing farmers' capacity and the payment of a cocoa development levy to assist farmers.

Cocoa increasingly accounted
for the largest percentage of non-oil exports in Nigeria[b]. Both cocoa and rubber still
remain the largest non-oil exports from Nigeria.[/b]

http://www.unep.ch/etu/publications/Synth_Nigeria.PDF

A few days ago I told my followers on twitter that I will be attending a business investment forum that included six Nigerian governors. These governors were from Benue, Imo, Ogun, Cross Rivers, Rivers, and Katsina. The forum had several pros and cons, but overall I enjoyed the information that was given. I believe the forum was really the first of its kind in the United States, and it shows that some Nigerian governors are ready to work. I personally learned a lot of valuable information, about the different states and the resources that each state naturally has. One thing that stood out to me during this whole event was that each governor stressed the importance of agriculture, and that oil has blinded us from seeing the benefits of farmers. What is ironic about this statement is that the federal government seems to be doing everything to be against agriculture, as we do not have friendly policies and the banks refuse to give out loans to farmers. While the forum offered good information, I will say that I do not see any really business deals coming out of it. There were no small meetings arranged to meet with the governors one on one , and of course the business as usual politics were played on who can speak with the governors. Nonetheless below I posted some interesting facts I learned. Enjoy !!!

Rivers state is creating farming settlements where families can live there and sell their goods

Gold has been discovered in 10 LGAs in Katsina state
There are large quantities of diamond deposits in Katsina state
In the last 4 years every child has been able to get a free education in Katsina state

Cross Rivers has been named the cleanest and greenest state

1% of Cross rivers state budget is allocated to SMEs

10 ICT centers have been built in Cross rivers with plans to build an entrepreneurial center

Cross Rivers is the only state with 3 climate belts producing a wide range of agriculture products

Cross Rivers is host to Obudu Mountain Race the largest fee paying road race in the world

Benue is the largest producers of oranges and mangos in Nigeria

In the next 3 years Ogun State  wants to have at least 500 companies invested in their state

Benue has the Makurdi zoological garden in which the governor would like partners to invest in

Ogun has a large deposit of quartz, limestone, glass, and clay
About 40% of people who work in Lagos live in Ogun state

Imo state is the braintrust of Nigeria

Imo state currently has in construction low cost housing for those from the diapsora that need a place to stay

Imo state has spent 1 Billion naira on education since April of 2011

igbo2011:

http://chikauwazie.com/2011/09/21/governor-business-investment-forum-was-it-worth-attending/

jason123:

Thanks for that, brother! But, what has been the contribution of Gold or Diamond to Nigeria's GDP? I know of Limestone, that is why Africa's richest man (Dangote) is investing in Ogun state. Others like quartz et.al have contributed NOTHING to Nigeria's GDP.

igbo2011:

Africa exports to much, we should be processing first then exporting the rest to other countries. This same eal goes with all of our resources. Africa is ike a big plantation for other countries. Export crude oil, import finished petroleum product, cotton import finished clothing, export rubber import tires. It shouldn't be like this. We don't NEED anyone, we have everything in the world in the continent.

The study on "A Cassava Industrial Revolution in Nigeria" coordinated by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is in line with the Global Cassava Strategy. It was prepared as a contribution to the joint effort by IITA and the Federal Government of Nigeria to enhance the Nigerian Cassava Industry. This has been followed-up with similar support from many of the petroleum and crude oil producing companies operating in Nigeria to ensure that this effort is achieved.

http://www.fao.org/docrep/007/y5548e/y5548e01.htm

THE World Bank has aid that Nigeria as the largest producer of cassava, could develop its econonmy by exporting quality cassava and other commodities other than oil.

Oil is actually the fourth largest sector of the Nigerian economy, the largest sector is agriculture, the second largest sector is wholesale and retail and services is the third largest.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/01/cassava-can-be-nigeria%E2%80%99s-mega-export-earner-world-bank/

Ibadan – By the middle of 2014, more than 150,000 households in Nigeria are expected to be eating vitamin A fortified yellow cassava, an international agricultural organisation, HarvestPlus, said

Traditional fertility and marriage ceremonies are not carried out in the south-east of Nigeria unless a big unwieldy yam – which can weigh up to 70kg (150lb) – is presented.

is generally agreed that the Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis) originated in the tropical rain forest region of West Africa. The main belt runs through the southern latitudes of Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo and into the equatorial region of Angola and the Congo. Processing oil palm fruits for edible oil has been practiced in Africa for thousands of years, and the oil produced, highly coloured and flavoured, is an essential ingredient in much of the traditional West African cuisine. The traditional process is simple, but tedious and inefficient.


[img]http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQaPyTthnibGlFeTXtCtg2fUuqbWdpv_7VZVKcC_hXmD0tC9ngI[/img]

jason123:

[b]Cassava
[/b]The second quote was for the people that thinking Nigeria is fully dependent on Oil.

igbo2011:

Oil brings the most money though. 80% of government revenue is from oil

igbo2011:

Oil brings the most money though.  80% of government revenue is from oil

jason123:

Also, notice that an economy based on natural resources instead of agriculture or a 50% mixture of both, is usually ran down because of GREED!

igbo2011:

There are also foreign powers that corrupt the people. If you look at Mauritius, foreign powers aren't there as much because htey have no resources. Since Nigeria has oil and America imports a lot of their oil from Nigeria, it is very important to have those resources. The Congo is CURSED with resources. America kills all their good leadrers like Lumumba in the 1961 and Kabila in 2001. imperialism plays a big role too.

jason123:

Since we know that and we are humans, why don't we move away from Oil? I hate natural resources. There is nothing better than peace.