Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, has said the state could diversify its economy by tapping into the marijuana market.
In a tweet on Monday, Akeredolu explained that the state would be short-changing itself if it ignores the marijuana business which is estimated to be in billions of dollars in 2025.
“We all know that Ondo state is the hotbed of cannabis cultivation in Nigeria.
“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 @ndlea_nigeria.
“I strongly implore the Federal Government to take this seriously as it is a thriving industry that will create thousands of jobs for our youths and spur economic diversification,” he tweeted.
The governor and Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah, visited Thailand, to learn more about extracting cannabis.
At the programme on Monday, Akeredolu explained they came to “study how cannabis can be of more advantage to the state and Nigeria, at large, just the way the Thai Government has done.
“Cannabis is used for medical purposes; how can it be cultivated for specific purposes and not be abused?”
On his part, Abdallah said the current trend in the world is to look into the advantage of cannabis; in the making of food and drugs.
During the electioneering campaigns, Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), had said Nigeria will export marijuana if he gets elected as president.
He said people are making billions from the plant while Nigeria is lagging behind.
“We have to start taking care of our weed (Igbo), such that we can also contribute to the GDP of the world,” Sowore said then.
In November 2018, most stores in Canada were reportedly struggling to meet demand for cannabis, two weeks after the Canadian government approved it for recreational use.