Come and invest in our palmwine —LG boss

ENUGU-EZIKE is the headquarters of Igboeze North Local Government Area of Enugu State. It shares borders with Benue and Kogi States.

In Enugu-Ezike,  palm wine tapping is the major occupation of the people, arguably, making them the highest producers of palm wine, east of the Niger.

Following the development, the Chairman of the Council, Mr Uwakwe Ezeja Igbo-Eze, has urged investors to come and package its palm wine, which he described as ‘‘a wonderful gift of nature’,’ for export.

Ezeja said, in Enugu-Ezike,recently that the council had a lot of palm wine trees, adding that the council’s climatic condition was good to produce palm wine trees in the form of large plantations. According to him, “our palm wine is the best  in the country and by extension, the world over. We have thousands and thousands of these palm wine trees all around us in the council. However, we lack the financial muscle to harness it and showcase it to the rest of the world through export,’’ he said.

The chairman urged investors to come and invest in the packaging and exporting of the ‘‘wonderful gift of nature’’ in the area.

“As a council, we are ready to assist investors to achieve their target as they explore the marketability and exportability of our tasty palm wine,’’ he said.

Ezeja noted that investors could also invest in farming, as the council remained one of the food baskets of Enugu State.

“Vast portions of our land are still fertile and remain virgin lands, to enhance agricultural produce. In short, no investment in agriculture and agro-allied investments in the council would ever be regretted,’’ he said.