Edo Group Tackle NIFOR

Edo Group Tackle NIFOR

OPEN LETTER TO THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE & FOOD SECURITY, BY THE BENIN NATIONAL CONGRESS (WORLDWIDE), ON THE SEEMING GROSS MISMANAGEMENT OF AFFAIRS AT THE NIGERIAN INSTITUTE FOR OIL PALM RESEARCH (NIFOR) AND ATTEMPT TO BREACH THE PEACE AT THE INSTITUTE, AND HOST COMMUNITIES BY TH EXTENTION. 16 SEPTEMBER, 2023.

We hereby congratulate the Honorable Minister of Agriculture and Food Security; Distinguished Senator
Abubarkar Kyari on your appointment as Minister to steer the affairs of the Ministry.

Benin National Congress (Worldwide) is a foremost sociocultural and ethnic nationalist organization of Edo people at home and the diaspora. We are committed to the propagation, promotion and protection of the cultural, human capital development and the general socioeconomic interests of our people.

We are particularly disappointed at the administrative events stifling the performance and progress of some research Institutes in Nigeria. Research Institutes were established as research and innovation arm of the Federal Government, to carry out research in their mandate crops for genetic improvement, post-harvest loss mitigation, extension of developed technologies and monitoring of feedback from technology beneficiaries. If these activities were faithfully implemented, Nigeria would have recorded high food sufficiency if other factors remained constant. If we take the Nigerian Institute For Oil palm Research as a case in point, our investigation showed that the Institute is about 84 years old. The Malaysians visited Nigeria for oil Palm seeds when NIFOR was about 30years old and collected our materials to improve what they had. Shortly after that, the Malaysians became the largest exporter of Palm oil in the world market. They continued until the Indonesians copied them and displaced them from the first position because Indonesia has more land and an adapted technology. Today Indonesia produces more than 34million tons of Palm oil and Malaysia produces about 19million tons of palm oil while Nigeria produces about 1.3million tons per year. Our total requirement of Palm oil and Palm kernel oil is about 2.5million tons per year.

NIFOR is the parasternal under your Ministry with the primary responsibility of providing improved planting materials, processing technologies and extension services. Since the year 1994, the Institute has been overtaken by crisis fomented by alleged gross mismanagement at the Institute level and supervisory oversight.

In 1994, industrial action by the Junior staff led to seed contamination which could not be resolved until 2015 (21 years later) during which time many Nigerians planted contaminated and underperforming seeds from NIFOR which further exacerbated the palm oil and Palm kernel oil supply deficit in Nigeria.

In 2017 NIFOR was embroiled in another avoidable leadership crisis that shut down the Institute for about 3years. In the year 2017, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture appointed Dr. Napoleon Aisueni as Director/Chief Executive Officer after his retirement from service. Within a week of his appointed, the Honorable Minister for the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) withdrew the appointment and appointed Dr. Charles Aisagbonhi as Acting Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer following which he was confirmed as Director/CEO. Dr. N. O. Aisueni took legal action and in 2018, he was given judgment that his appointment was legitimate and should be allowed to function as Director/CEO of NIFOR but the FMARD denied him. Dr Charles Aisagbonhi retired in 2018 and handed over to Dr. Celestine Ikuenobe who was made acting Executive Director/CEO by ARCN. Crisis erupted that shut down the Institute for more than two years and Dr. Ikuenobe could not assess the Institute or the office for that period of time. On resumption, he was confirmed quietly by the FMARD as Director/CEO up till date. The case between Dr. N. O. Aisueni and the Ministry has been running for about 5years and the FMARD is waiting for him to die so the case can naturally cease to exist rather than calling Dr. N. O. Aisueni for negotiation so the case can be taken out of the court and NIFOR be allowed to breath. How can the same Ministry appoint two officers into one CEO position within the same period and expect work to go normally?

Following our investigation, we wish to inform the Honorable Minister that the Act with which the FMARD is appointing Director/Chief Executive Officer is more than 40years old and has been overtaken by events. The new Act and guidelines for research Institute Administration specifies that the position is Executive Director/CEO. The foul play now is that the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) issues letter of acting appointment as “ACTING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/CEO”. On confirmation by the Ministry, ARCN will issue a letter of Director/CEO. Director/CEO was the label of that office when the most senior Scientist was an Assistant Director but now the cadre has been expanded to Directors. After appointment as Director/CEO, ARCN will be addressing the officers formerly as Executive Director/CEO which shows that the new label from the FMARD is irregular.

Honorable Minister Sir, the recent advert of the vacancy at NIFOR was a booby trap. Those that published that advert knew the position was sub-judice and that the FMRAD could be liable of contempt. They also knew that if the Honorable Minister resumed office, he might ask for caution being an experienced Administrator. They quickly went to the press when it was clear to everybody that the Ministers will be sworn-in within a month. The intended embarrassment has been achieved. These are the same people that wasted five years without concluding the case because of their ineptitude. Similarly, several research Institute CEOs are due to commence the mandatory pre retirement leave for year 2023 and none of them has been written by ARCN to proceed on leave. If they lacked capacity to conclude the case, they could have waited for you to resolve the case before this evil plan to embarrass you. This is an indication of the mine-field in which you will work for the period you will be at the Ministry.

As concerned citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, we wish to recommend the review of the funding and key performance indicators for the Research Institutes in Nigeria especially those with functions to ensure food security, so that they can deliver desirable benefits to Nigerians. This will reduce the humongous forex hemorrhage on food import and expand job opportunities for our army of employable youths.

For and on behalf of the Benin National Congress (worldwide)
Aiyamenkhue Edokpolo fcdm, President.