By Rabiu Basiru, Oyajimi Kehinde
The Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) made significant contributions during the second quarter meeting of the Ogun State Committee on Export Promotion (SCEP), held under the auspices of the Ogun State Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment.
SCEP was established by the Ogun State Government in collaboration with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) to promote and coordinate export-related activities across the state. The quarterly meeting brought together stakeholders from federal and state Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), as well as the organized private sector.
Chairman of the committee and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Olu-Ola Aikulola, welcomed members and extended special recognition to the new NEPC State Coordinator, Ms. Abolaji Jumoke, who recently succeeded Mrs. Francisca Odega. He wished her a tenure of outstanding achievements and praised committee members for their continued dedication and contributions.
In her address, Ms. Jumoke thanked stakeholders for their support and pledged to deepen partnerships and unlock new opportunities to boost exports in Ogun State. She provided a briefing on the recent National Committee on Export Promotion (NCEP) meeting held in Abuja, where discussions centered on grassroots development through cluster formation targeted at youths, women, and farmers under the One-State-One-Product initiative.
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She also outlined NEPC’s key strategic goals for 2025, including the establishment of Common Facility Centres for priority products, addressing the challenges causing rejection of Nigerian exports, formalizing informal trade, documenting informal exports in collaboration with Customs, capacity building for youth, competitive pricing strategies, and expanding the horticulture and vegetable export sectors.
During the deliberations, the Ogun State Coordinator of RMRDC, Mr. Rabiu Basiru, reiterated the Council’s readiness to collaborate closely with NEPC. He informed attendees of an earlier strategic visit he paid to the new NEPC Coordinator to align on joint activities. Mr. Basiru also announced plans to host a Stakeholders’ Investors Forum focused on Cassava Value Chain Development and said targeted stakeholders have already been contacted. He assured that further details about RMRDC’s programmes in the state would be unveiled in future meetings.
In his closing remarks, Dr. Aikulola urged the NEPC to fully leverage the expertise of agricultural agencies within the committee, while emphasizing the national shift from oil to non-oil exports. He encouraged greater visibility for NEPC activities and deeper stakeholder engagement, especially at the grassroots level. He also called on agro-based agencies to better publicize their programmes and urged NEPC to organize training sessions for stakeholders in non-agricultural sectors.
He further encouraged them to remain committed and to relay the meeting’s outcomes to their respective organizations.
The meeting concluded with a renewed commitment to collective efforts aimed at strengthening Ogun State’s position in Nigeria’s non-oil export landscape.
