₦airaland Forum

InvestSmart:
You’re 100% correct.
The painful truth is: Nigeria is not “short of palm trees”… we are short of productive palm oil.

Most of the palm trees scattered across the South/South and Middle Belt are:

-Wild groves (not plantation-grade)

-Low-yield dura varieties

-Unmanaged (no pruning, fertilization, harvesting cycle)

-Harvested late (high FFA → poor oil quality)

-Processed with outdated small presses (low extraction rate)


So yes — fruits ripen and waste, and even when harvested, we still lose a lot at the processing stage.

That’s why Nigeria still imports. Not because we lack trees, but because we lack commercial-scale yield + processing efficiency.

The same thing applies to cocoa too: the opportunity is huge, but it only becomes real when farms are professionally established and managed like a business, not like “village farming”.

I’m currently pushing this conversation because we’re working on a model where Nigerians can actually own properly planned cocoa/oil palm plantations and let experts handle the agronomy end-to-end.

If you’d like, I can share a simple breakdown (with numbers) of why Nigeria’s yield is low and what a well-managed plantation produces per hectare.
You can also DM me so I don’t spam the thread.

I see you are an expert. I am not ready for farming for now. I wish you all the very best. The palm oil production went down during the civil war and never came up again and anything we massively produce now can cause a price crash if the production is much. However if not that we are exporting crude oil and are focussed on that then we would have been the highest producers of at least palm oil and cocoa as it was originally. Cassava is also rising with international trade in excess of one billion dollars now and Thailand is in control. Our cassava production is mainly for local consumption

Rashduct4luv:
The greatest sin is Islam is the association of partners to Allah especially in worship!

Anyone who dies in that will never be in paradise but hell forever.

Where is the proof? People should be banned from saying this in public. Allowing people to say whatever they like about God in public is a cause of huge problems in this world. If your father can not be this mean, why would you agree the same about God?

AlphaTaikun:
Nicely put. The Ebiras of Kogi however are overwhelmingly Muslims although I have a couple of very brilliant Ebiras associates that I have known for over 50 years now who are NOT Muslims. The Igalas also have a significant number of Muslims. However the Kogi State Yorubas (Okuns) are LARGELY adherents of Ifa and Christianity. I've never seen or heard of even one Muslim among the Okuns.

Just to add my thoughts on the religious inclinations of Yoruba folks in the 1800s, in my many decades of studyinh advanced archival materials on Yoruba history of the last 500 years (from books such as the "History of the Yorubas" by Reverend Samuel Johnson who is Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther's cousin via Alaafin Abiodun of the Oyo Empire), Balogun Oderinlo of Ibadan who was one of the MOST respected Ibadan military commanders that defeated the combined Fula attack in 1830 (there were also Ilorin Yoruba and Hausa Muslims who took part in the attack on Osogbo), was actually a practicing Muslim. It is to the credit of people such as Balogun Oderinlo that many of his fellow Yoruba Muslims stood up to fight the Fula invaders of Yorubaland and defeated them conclusively. The brave Yoruba warriors of Ibadan also defeated the foreign Fula bandits at Otun-Ekiti and they never attempted to attack the Yoruba interior again.

Ok I never knew Balogun Oderinlo was a Muslim

InvestSmart:
Oh yes, we have quite a number of palm trees that are not the right species and not properly managed .. But we're here advocating for a professionally well-managed palm plantation that wouldn't experience that kind of wastage you are referring to, and this starts from the choice of breed, and the right agronomy practice to nurture it all through its lifespan,

Yes Nigeria should be making more than fifty billion dollars forex from agric export. Ghana makes ten and south Africa makes fifteen. It however appears that we are not producing enough palm oil even for local consumption

anonimi:
If Ekpa can be jailed in Finland, who be Igboho

Was the Yoruba nation freedom fighter not jailed in Cotonou for some time?

The only thing Ignoho did was fight Fulani herds men. They can't punish him for being a secessionist. Why is Nwazuruike of Massob not arrested despite being a secessionist?. I am a secessionist and I do it publicly and nobody has ever challenged me.
What Igboho was involved in was a communal clash like Ife-Modakeke.

jom28gy:
You're wrong or either your prompting you're Muslim worship, because is the very people that worship God through other means or lesser god as put it,so don't pretend as if you don't know what you people do, for Muslims, anything goes,

I don't really get your English. Anything goes for Muslim? That is not correct. Muslims have been wired from the get go to be at war with idolators. It has been like that since the day of Prophet Mohammed

I think we have more than enough palm trees or don't we? Maybe the fruits just ripen and waste away. There are palm trees all over the south and southern middle belt

Lukuluku69:
Chief Imams are not political leaders.

In Islam, their is 2 types of Leaders (it used to be fused into ONE before namely the time of the Prophet (Peace be upon him), the four rightly guided Khalifas.

Spiritual Leaders and Political Leaders.

The Imams as we have it now are what you can term spiritual Leaders like your Padres, Pastors and the likes but there is also the Political Leaders which fits the Sultan perfectly.

The Sultan is both the Spiritual and Political Leader of Muslims in Nigeria. That doesn't mean there is no rebellion, there is but it doesn't mean a thing.

Of course I personally know Yoruba Obas that are practicing Muslims but the traditions they are holding on to disqualifies them from making a prouncement on Islam and for Muslims.

Only the Sultan fits that figure in Nigeria.

The head of your league of Imams in Yoruba land is enough for you as political leader of Muslims. If a Yoruba can not be leader of Muslims in Nigeria then Yoruba Muslims would be foolish to recognize such leadership and Yoruba institutions would be foolish to do same. Muslims are prone to brainwashing and etc, it is therefore important to manage the leadership.

LottiOk:
Goan sit down nwokem. You're not the only 1 from Anambra and should stop saying nonsense in support of a senseless order from terrorist secceccionists.

Soludo is the Govonor and landlord in charge of all the shops in all the markets in Anambra State. If any trader feels he'll obey the order of ipob against that of a duly elected governor who has promised enough security to deter any Esn/Ugm/Umuoma enforcers from stopping or harming anyone who steps, then his shop should be locked up till he gets sense or allocated to a more serious person who wants to do business.

You Ipob apologists should leave us alone, if you guys are not ashamed of yourselves, we are ashamed of you. It's not by force to support una Onye Ndufu Kanu.

There is no reason to force people not to sit at home. The truth is they have adopted a four working day week. The sit at home does not affect their revenue since it is observed by everybody. Even if Kanu is released they will be reluctant to end the sit at home

Lukuluku69:
Majority have been following the Sultan. I don't expect you to know and if you know you are deliberately being antagonistic.

The Obas in Yoruba Land can adjudicate nor pass Fatwa on Islamic matter, yes they are fathers to all but they don't amd can't tell us when to start Ramadan or when to stop.

S8nce they are not promoters of Islam, how them do you want me to follow them on Islamic matters?

How?

You have Chief Imam. Follow the person. The Obas are not part of your religion. The leadership of Islam is a security issue and if you are lax with it as a people, you will have yourself to blame sooner than later. The Yoruba have more Muslims and more clerics than the Fulani and there is no reason for them to be excluded from Islamic leadership in their own country

Lukuluku69:
Funny thing is that this arrangement has never been in contention for sometimes now until the agitations in recent times.

In any case, it is Sunnah of our Blessed Prophet who teaches that in an entity or any entity for that matter even if they are just 2 in numbers, they must assigned a Leader!

In Nigeria today, that Leader of the Faithful is the Sultan.

I am Yoruba and Muslim and I subscribed more to been led by the Sultan than our Obas when it comes to Islamic stuff.

There was never a time that the Yoruba majority ever followed the Sultan. They have always been following their own path. You are free as an individual minority to take the Sultan as your leader. The Obas in Yoruba land don't do religion. They are not promoting either Christianity or Islam. They are seen as father of all

Lukuluku69:
You raised a valid point but in this things there are some stuff that is given.

I will explain.

The same way the Queen/King of England is the Head of the Church of England is the same way The Sultan the Amir Al-muimeen in Nigeria.

And just has the Pope is the Head in Vatican. This thing simply have a Political ramifications you lots don't seems to have grasp of.

Despite the fact that there is an Archbishop in Canterbury the Queen/King still heads the Church of England. It is simply Political. And the Sultan holds that same position as the Leader of the Faithfuls.

The Sultan is a traditional ruler of the Sokoto caliphate. The Queen of England is the monarch of England. The Sultan didn't bring Islam to the Yoruba and the Yoruba have more achievements in Islam than the Fulani. There is no reason any right thinking Yoruba will agree to be sidelined from Nigerian Muslim leadership

Love800:
Wow.

That means its just 20percent of nigerians that drives new cars!

Or maybe it was then when the country was doing well like in the 90s, 80s that citizens could purchase new cars!

20 percent of Nigerians? How many new cars do you think exists in Nigeria? Probably not up to 200k

Which kind of mix up is this? When did the Kanuri become indigenes of Kano and Jigawa? Any Kanuri descent there has been Hausanized as any Hausa descent in Maiduguri is Kanurinized. The existence of Nigeria does not mean everything should be mixed up in such a manner. That would be totally wrong

Indigenous people's lands belong to them. Not acknowledging this is a major cause of insecurity. There are no Hausas or Fulanis in the North Central same way there are no Yorubas in the NW or NE. In the NC they have 18 senators and three are Yoruba, is there any other group with as many senators or house of rep members? If there is none then Yoruba has the highest population in the North central. They have land in Niger, Kogi and Kwara.

WhizdomXX:
Exactly. Then how does the northeast top the north central?

I never said the Northeast is ahead of the North Central. Abuja alone added 4 million to the North Central. The North Central is clearly ahead of the Northeast by population and GDP size.

Let people support whoever they want to support. It does not stop you or anybody from voting whoever you want to vote.

WhizdomXX:
So cities like jos and makurdi may be populated compared to maiduguri and bauchi but internal towns and villages may tilt the scale.

Maiduguri has always been rated higher than both. I however don't know about currently.

Is it wrong to approach God through lesser deities?


The Muslims say you should pray to God alone and no one else. The Yoruba also pray to God as a reflex action but the more acceptable way culturally is that if you need anything special from God then you should go through lesser deities. These lesser deities maybe your ancestors, national figures or resident spirits inside natural resources.

The difference should not have mattered if the Muslims had been reasonable. Even before Islam, there were Yoruba that did not go along with approaching God through lesser deities. One is the well known Olofin Aye, Olofin Adeja
It is just a clash in ideology. If you can seek connection to the President through his aides then there is nothing wrong in seeking connection to God through lesser deities. It should not be considered wrong by the Muslims and they should stop trying to force the society to see idolatry as wrong. They should pray to God directly or worship only God and stop haranguing people who choose to use another approach.

It is not wrong to approach God through lesser deities as the Muslims want us to believe but if you feel you have the wherewithal to approach God directly, why not? There is no reason for the difference to be a reason for wars.

May his soul rest in perfect peace!

WhizdomXX:
Sapele, igbos will still be more.
For Warri, the oil and gas sector skewed it in the professional aspect(more Yorubas in o & g), but of the population that reside in Warri, igbos will still be more overall, I'm quite sure. Also, many Yorubas here are usually half itsekiri too.

You may be right. If you have time, take a census of about ten classrooms in public schools in Sapele. The results will give an idea of the demography.

WhizdomXX:
The northerners say they stay in villages more than the cities than other regions.

Obviously yes. How many known cities in Kano of 20 million people? Only metropolitan Kano and the population is not up to 5 million. Compare with Oyo state that has Ibadan, Ogbomosho and Oyo as big cities

mandarin:
I don't think the first lady made this statement.

We have thrashed this on X(twitter), we don't have more Muslims than Christians but the other way round.

Among the Yoruba in southwest, a Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian ticket at state or national level may not matter because of religious tolerance, plurality and freedom.

There are 36 states in Nigeria and FCT.

NORTH

States with Muslim majority in the North : Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, Katsina, Kano, Bauchi, Borno, Jigawa, Yobe,

States with Muslim majority but with significant Christian population above 25% : Gombe, Niger, Kwara

Christian dominated states : Benue, Taraba, Plateau
States with more balanced population of Christian and Muslim(i.e. you need census to know actual figures): Adamawa, Nasarawa, Kogi ,Kaduna.

SOUTH

States with Christian dominated population are : Ekiti, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, River, Akwa- Ibom, Cross River, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu, Anambra

States with more balanced population of Christian and Muslim(i.e. you need census to know actual figures) : Osun, Oyo

States with Christian domination but with significant Muslim population: Ogun, Lagos

Note:

For the Muslim dominated states of Bauchi, Borno and Kebbi there are at least over 15% Christians who are indigenous of those states.

There is no way Muslims can be more, the argument has always been the population of the Northwest region with dominant Muslim population which will collapse in the face of biometric enabled census.
Even with the estimated census based on the 2006, Christians would be more.

Talking about biometrics enabled census, the most populous state in the north by far is Kano which may be around 14million people, this is less than the number of Christians in Lagos and at least 10% of that are Christians and they have small indigenous Christian population. Kaduna that is next say 9millionhas over over 40% Christians. This leaves Jigawa, Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, Bauchi, Yobe and Borno as the Muslim dominated states.

Logically, there is no way Muslims can be in majority and I do hope someday, a biometric enabled census will happen and the outcome will shock many.

How is Osun not Christian dominated when more than half of Osun are from Ijesa and Ife? Where is the population in Osun outside Ijesa and Ife? If no allocations then majority of Osun revenue will come from Ijesa and Ife.

jaxxy:
Retain a stake in a non functional and non rehabitable refinery that should be sold as scrap?

If that refinery can be fixed then the government should fix it or else scrap it out. All these vague political talks is not fooling anybody.

If they are going to revive it, then the right thing to do is for the FG to ask for a stake in the project. If it were your personal property you will know the right thing to do.
The FG has to sell because they have failed to revive it for too long and they can not continue paying over 1000 workers for doing nothing.

jaxxy:
if they sell the refineries what will the buyer do with it knowing they can't be repaired?

That is not your business once you get a good bargain. The refinery is worth billions of dollars. If sold at the right price, it is better than paying salaries without production. However they should retain a stake in it. Any serious government whether state, federal or local government should have a stake in any public company operating within its jurisdiction

Count the people on your land. That is your people. That makes the Yoruba the highest populated in Nigeria by far. Then count other things too like number of graduates, number of industry captains, number of Professors and etc and it is the same story. Any census figure that says otherwise is wrong.

Do you think 38 million is a small number? Which state has a Fulani majority? Maybe only Gombe. Fulani in the country will be less than ten million.

Gombe is infact said to be less than twenty percent Fulani

In any case, the right estimate of population is people living on your land since you are also living on other lands as a group. That will make the Yoruba in Nigeria around 70 million as at 2025. Any non Yoruba living on Yoruba land is accounted for with Yoruba living in other places. If no Nigeria, the population of Lagos or Ibadan will still be up to 20 million. Cairo today is more than twenty million and Egypt is not up to 100 million

WhizdomXX:
About the market own, you got me for Ughelli and Warri this were my main mode of statistic. Among the professionals in Warri and Sapele, Yorubas are more.
But for Ughelli because Delta igbos are many here too) I am willing to put my money down, if not for the whole 3 cities.

You see what I mean then? Despite the fact that Igbos control a senatorial district in Delta state, Delta towns and cities can still not be said to clearly have more Igbos than Yorubas.

WhizdomXX:
Thank you but this means North Central is more populated than North East?
Hmmm, interesting.

Yes of course. Even without a census just compare their cities.

00FFT00:
You will not find me arguing that a guilty man should be let off the hooks, to the contrary. But let's be clear, those in power in Nigeria know where the skeletons of our troubles as a nation are buried.

When prosecution starts, let all the culprits from across the tribes and political affiliation come under the hammer, not the selective persecution we are witnessing.

This is my dissatisfaction with the situation.

l

Ok. Let us just be watching them like a movie