The Ondo state governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu,
SAN, has raised an alarm that Nigeria may
lose an estimated value of $145 billion by
2025 if it failed to tap into the legal
marijuana market.
The governor made this known via his
verified twitter handle on Tuesday while
reacting to some media reports that he was
in Thailand to learn how to grow cannabis.
Akeredolu who described Ondo state as the
hot bed of cannabis cultivation in Nigeria,
noted that how to grow cannabis is never a
problem in the sunshine state.
According to him, “we know how to grow it
and it thrives well in the Sunshine State.”
The governor said the focus of his
administration is on medical marijuana
cultivation in controlled plantations under
the full supervision of the National Drug Law
Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) while
imploring the Federal Government to take it
seriously, as it is a thriving industry that will
create over one thousand jobs for the youths
and spur economic diversification.
Akeredolu, alongside the Chairman of the
NDLEA, Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah
(retd) ,are on a visit to Thailand for a
programme on Medicinal Cannabis Extract
Development.
The programme which is centred around
exploiting the possibility of medicinal
cannabis extract development, is aimed at
building capacity and researching the
modality of licensing for planting and
extracting cannabis oil in Nigeria, as well as
exploiting its commercial potential with
focus on Ondo state.
Ondo state government and the NDLEA are
using the visit to access Thailand materials
and best practices with the possibility of
replicating them in Nigeria.
At the briefing, the Secretary-General of Thai
Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Tares
Krassanairawiwong, stated that the meeting
will be of great advantage to the Nigerian
government.
Akeredolu, who commended the Thai
government, said Ondo state is known as the
largest state in the planting of cannabis in
Nigeria.
He said, “we are here 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?”.
Col. Abdullah said the current trend in the
world is to look into the advantage of
cannabis in the making of food and drugs.
During the trip, they also visited the Faculty
of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Naresuan
University, Phitsanulok where the school
management made presentations on how to
control cannabis, licensing and
pharmaceutical benefits of cannabis, among
others.
They also toured the University’s cannabis
research laboratory where Governor
Akeredolu proposed that they also work
along with Nigerian species during their
research as Ondo state is ready for
partnership with the Naresuan University
team.
