Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, OFR, says that his administration is poised to partner with the Rubber Research Institute of Nigeria (RRIN) to improve the State’s economy through harnessing and advancing rubber production.
The Governor stated this on Wednesday, when he received in audience a delegation of the Rubber Research Institute of Nigeria (RRIN) led by the Chairman of the Governing Board, Barr. Alphonsus Ogar Eba, who paid him a working visit.
Governor Otti instructed the Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Cliff Agbaeze, and his Industry and SME counterpart, Mazi Mike Akpara, to sit down with the team and work out the modalities of the partnership for immediate implementation.
Dr. Otti said that the partnership with the institute would increase the productivity of the State, have a positive effect on the GDP, and also create jobs for the people through downstream positives that will come from it, like the processing of rubber, packaging, and export.
”So, in the next few days, I think we need to sit down and flesh out all the details of where you want us to come in. We can even set up an SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle),” he stated while declaring his full alignment with their presentations.
The State Chief Executive noted that Nigeria has no reason to play down on agricultural products and services, which were pillars of Nigeria’s economy before the advent of oil.
”There is no reason for us to just ignore some of these agro-services and products, which were the mainstay of the economy, prior to the advent of oil. So, everybody faces one direction, ignores every other direction. Clearly, if not in our generation, maybe in the next generation, oil would have no value,” he warned.
”Today, we have seen the campaign towards a transition from emission to zero emission. If that campaign continues to succeed, which I believe it will.
”When you have zero emissions, that means you have no vehicle plying the roads that is powered by fossil fuel. That means the near end of oil, Gov. Otti added.
Earlier, Barr. Alphonsus Ogar Eba, the Chairman of the Governing Board of the Rubber Research Institute of Nigeria (RRIN), stated that they are seeking a partnership with the Abia State Government to support the presidential initiative for revitalizing rubber production and processing. He emphasized that the initiative would create employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed youths in Abia State and beyond.
He noted that Nigeria is at a distant 10th in rubber production in Africa, stressing that the time has come to harness the potential in rubber production.
”The time has come for us to see how the industrial needs and the medical needs, and even every other issue that starts to come out of rubber can be properly re-energized.
”Abia stands very tall in terms of industrialization. We have the Akwete station here, which is one of the very substations of rubber,” he noted.
Also, the Executive Director, Mrs. Lilian Nkechi Dongo, said that the Rubber Research Institute of Nigeria is the only research institute that has the mandate for research and development of rubber and all the lettuce-producing plants.
She said that the partnership would assist in advancing rubber production in Nigeria, and maintained that rubber can take Nigeria out of the economic challenges.
According to her, “We are here to see how the State can partner with us, and collaborate to advance the rubber industry in Nigeria,” She said.
She called for the support of the Abia State Government to host their international conference coming up later in the year.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Cliff Agbaeze, and his Industry and SME counterpart, Mazi Mike Akpara, were among other government officials present at the meeting.
Ctz. UKOHA NJOKU UKOHA
Chief Press Secretary to the Executive Governor of Abia State, Government House, Umuahia
09 – 07 – 2025.
