Cocoa Price Rises In Osun, Falls In Other States As Elections Slow Down Trade

THE price of cocoa products increased this week in the State of Osun but declined in other states of Nigeria.

Cocoa trading was slowed due to uncertainty over last week’s presidenal and parliamentary elec ons in the country, industry officials and traders said on Wednesday.

Cocoa traders in the country said focus has been on elec ons and trading was just ge ng back to normal.

In Osun, graded cocoa-which has been cer fied as fit for export was trading at N1.8m ($3,905) a metric ton, said Isaac Arayela, Manager at the Cooperave Produce Marke ng Union in Ile-Ife.

Arayela stated that cocoa price stood at NGN1.6m in the state last week.

In Cross River state however, graded cocoa was trading at NGN1.75m compared to between NGN1.76m and NGN1.78m last week, said Sayina Riman, a former president of the Cocoa Associa on of Nigeria.

The chocolate ingredient fetched NGN1.7m in

Edo State compared to N1.75m a week ago, according to Vincent Ohwojakpor, a trader.

A cocoa trader in Ogun State, Nojeem Olomide, said the product was selling at between N1.6m and N1.75m from N1.83m last week.

Mazi Uche, a Chrisan Associa on of Nigeria (CAN) official in Abia State, said cocoa was trading at N1.7m compared to N1.75m on February 8.

Meanwhile, cocoa price remained steady at N1.8m in Ondo state, the country’s largest producer of the product.

WE congratulate the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on his hard-earned victory in the just concluded presiden al elec on. The process was tortuous, full of twists, turns as well as “tales of the unexpected”. We wish a worthy winner well as he accepts a poisoned chalice and goes about the daun ng task of rallying the republic with vigour around renewed hope.

For many, the tenor of the elec on has turned out to be an an -climax. Such expressions of reserva ons ought not to be contemptuously dismissed or waved off, they should be explored as we move on and deepen our democracy. Discerning observers for example have asked for a revamp of the structure of the Independent Na onal Electoral Commission (INEC) as well as perhaps a revisit of the recommenda ons of the Uwais commi ee’s a report on electoral reforms. The Uwais commi ee had arisen as a result of the perceived electoral debacle of the 2007 presiden al elec on. It is to the eternal credit of the late President Umaru Yar’adua that he had the intellectual honesty and the moral circumspec on to try to correct the flaws in the electoral system. Such a ributes are very much needed now.

The structural debilita on of INEC must now be examined and solu ons found to a myriad of problems not least those of logis cs and data. The irony is glaring that logis cs and data propel the modern world. The need for a thorough revamp is therefore urgent.

It is also crucial to look at the causes and effects of the low voter turnout. The elec-

Let Us Face The Future

has commenced. All elec ons are divisive a er which must come a truce, alignments and na onal democra c agreements. Once again, we urge the next Na onal Assembly to pass a law to formally and statutorily guide the transion process. We cannot afford to con nue to lag behind the rest of Africa.

The president-elect faces a daun ng task: far too much of the ‘evil day’ has been postponed. It is clear as daylight that the fiscal buffers do not now exist to postpone anything the dire is cast!

on as a result of the surge in new registra on and the collec on of Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) had been expected to be very high. With so many first- me voters and heightened interest even in the diaspora, such expectaons were valid. Unfortunately, once again, it was promise unfulfilled. Turnout on the country went down to 27%! This is awful. In some countries there are actually minimum turnout limits for the validity of elec ons as amongst other things a weapon against voter suppression. Saturday’s turnout is unacceptable and indicates a disturbing decline in voter parcipa on. It has not always been like this. For example, the pre-independence general elec on of 1959 recorded voter turnout of 75% and the 1963 plebiscite to ra fy the Republican Cons tu on had voter par cipa on of 83%. There is something wrong which has to be addressed.

We also salute the raw courage of the new forces who have emerged and enthused the electorate in this electoral cycle and urge them to keep up with their endeavour, a democracy is anchored on plurality and an array of choices.

WHAT IS TO BE DONE?

THE president-elect has a full in tray and must act with dispatch. A transion commi ee with sub - commi ees much be cons tuted immediately. The expected diversity in the composi on of the transi on commi ee will by itself send out a message that the process of healing a er a divisive elec on

The incoming president must realign the fiscal framework of a country that is technically insolvent. A na onal consensus must be weaved to amongst other things implement in full the recommenda ons of the report of the Oransaye commi ee on the costs of the machinery of government; mul ple exchange rates must be merged and the fiscally destruc ve subsidies in order to grow revenue. A na onal consensus is interwoven with obtaining a na onal democra c agreement to solve the debilitaons of the aforemen oned problems. And of course, the process of returning to the ethos of a federal structure must begin with “the fierce urgency of now”.

Osun Defender

Publisher – Moremi Publishing House Ltd.

Deputy Editor – Ismaeel Uthman

Produc on Editor – Petkola Taiwo Ibitowa

Reporter – Yusuf Oketola

Reporter – Kazeem Badmus

Photo Journalist – Olushola Aderinto

Computer Graphics – Zainab Olalere

OSUN DEFENDER is published by Moremi Publishing House Limited, Promise Point Building, Opposite Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB), Gbogan Road Osogbo, State of Osun ISSN : 0794-8050

Telephone : 0809-301-9152

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All correspondence to the above email addresses.

The poli cian must now claim his place in history by transforming into a statesman. In the condi on we are in there is no alterna ve. We wish him well and pray he succeeds, for as he succeeds we all succeed. Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!