By Zika Bobby
MTN, Fidelity Bank and three other firms will back this year’s edition of Cocoa Festival billed for Lagos on November 28.
MTN Nigeria’s representative, at a briefly, Kester Osai, said while MTNN has been promoting cultural heritage in the country, Cocoa Festival is one of the important festivals that must be supported because of its importance.
Sales Manager, Bayer Crop Science, Mr Adeyemo Adeyemi said it is the policy of the organisation to add value to peoples’ lives and supporting an event like Cocoa Festival is another way of adding value to the lives of Nigerians.
AGM Commodities, Wacot Ltd. Bhatta Charyya said his company has always been interested in the Nigeria’s economy. He expressed regrets that because Cocoa is not being processed in the Nigeria, the country is losing billion of naira. He therefore promised Wacot’s commitment to supporting Cocoa in Nigeria.
The traditional ruler of Eti Oni, Oba Adedokun Thompson said the main objective of the Cocoa Festival is to create a renaissance in the cocoa industry and build bridges between production and consumption to achieve sustainability and through it, transform the rural community of Eti-Oni into a sustainable model smart town in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN 2030 SDGs).
He said the event, in its 4th edition, is themed: ‘The royal origins and traditions of cocoa for sustainability, and geared to be even bigger and better than the previous years.
While appreciating the support of the Osun State governor, Oba Thompson thanked other sponsors and partners including – The Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria CRIN, The Central Bank of Nigeria CBN, The Nigeria Export Import Bank NEXIM, The Nigeria Export Promotion Council NEPC, Chocoa Amsterdam, The Friends of Eti-Oni London, Cocoa Town Atlanta and AIDPOL Warsaw and CMB Building and Maintenance Company Limited Kachifo Books, Mechano Properties, DNL Construction Limited and a host of others.