Ondo State must tap into Blooming Global Marijuana Industry– Governor Akeredolu

Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, has said the state can diversify its economy by tapping into the marijuana market.

Arakunrin Akeredolu explained on his Twitter page that with an estimated value of $145 billion in 2025, the state will miss a huge opportunity if it ignores the marijuana business.

“We all know that Ondo State is the hot bed of cannabis cultivation in Nigeria,” he tweeted.

“We know how to grow it and it thrives well in the Sunshine State. With an estimated value of $145 Billion in 2025, we would be shortchanging ourselves if we failed tap into the Legal Marijuana Market.

“Our focus now is Medical Marijuana cultivation in controlled plantations under the full supervision of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA. I strongly implore the FG to take this seriously as it is a thriving industry that will create 1000’s of Jobs for our youth & spur Economic Diversification”.

The governor and Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah, chairman of the NDLEA visited Thailand to learn more about extracting cannabis.

At a programme held in Thailand on Monday, Akeredolu said they came to “study how cannabis can be of more advantage to the state and Nigeria at large just the way Thai Government has done. Cannabis is used for medical purposes; how can it be cultivated for specific purposes  and not be abused?”

Cannabis in food and drinks

Abdallah said that the current trending in the world is to look into the advantage of cannabis in the making of food and drugs.

Did Sowore set a precedent?

Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, AAC, had promised that Nigeria will export marijuana if elected.

Sowore said billions of Dollars were being made from the plant while Nigeria was missing out..

“We have to start taking care of our weed (Igbo), such that we can also contribute to the GDP of the world,” he quoted to have said.

In November 2018, most stores in Canada were reportedly struggling to meet the demand for cannabis, two weeks after the Canadian government had approved it for recreational use.