According to him, a state in the United States makes $1billion from Cannabis while some states in Nigeria beg for federal allocation monthly.
Presidential aspirant and human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, has taken a swipe at the Nigerian government over its refusal to legalise cannabis for medicinal and commercial purposes.
Sowore, in a recent interview with Kikelomo Atanda-Owo on Silverbird TV, noted that the United States which recently legalised the use of Cannabis for medicinal purposes would generate an extra $100 billion in revenue for the growth and development of its economy while the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency in Nigeria burns over N1trillion worth of Cannabis annually.
According to him, a state in the United States makes $1billion from Cannabis while some states in Nigeria beg for federal allocation monthly.
He also noted that the NDLEA secretly gives licenses to people who use cannabis for medicinal purposes while it goes after those who cultivate it.
The activist, sometime in 2018, during an event on national health policy organised by the Centre For Social Justice, had said: "We have to start taking care of our weed, Igbo, such that we can also contribute to the GDP of the world, people who are...some of the best weed in the world is grown in Ekiti State and... I'm very serious. People are making billions out of that plant that is very potent in Nigeria, we should be focusing on it.”
In the Silverbird interview, Sowore noted that Nigerian cannabis would be much sought after just like the peculiarity of its oil.
This is even as he advised the Nigerian government to capitalise on cannabis export to provide local employment and generate unprecedented revenue.
He said, “You are talking about Cannabis which some people call Marijuana, some call hemp. A few days ago, the United States legalised Marijuana and it is expected that they will make $100 billion just from licensing alone.
“The population of US is about 350 million people, Nigeria's population is over 250 million people if we believe the figures that's been branded around for a long time. A city alone in the US makes over $1 billion every year from Marijuana.
“The Ondo State Government, the state where I come from, has to go to Abuja every month to beg for federal allocation. Assuming Ondo, Ekiti, Edo, and Delta make $1 billion extra, if you multiply that by N580, imagine what they will be walking away with and you have licensing opportunity.
“I've not said that weed will be better but it is clear that oil is going out of business and weed is entering into the business of revenue generation for countries.
“When I was saying this in 2018, people were mocking me, imagine now almost all the countries in the world including those countries that have strong religious convictions have legalised weed because weed has so many medicinal uses, that we should wait for them to impose and import their weed to us than making use of our great weed from here.
“The same way that oil is the best in the market is probably the same way our cannabis will be the best in the international market. That's a very super income generation.
“Even the NDLEA said they burn down over N1.5 trillion worth of cannabis, that's stupid, we can convert it to money, why burning? Now, underground NDLEA grants licenses to people who are processing weed for medicinal purposes. The better we capitalise on that, provide local employment, international revenue, the better for us.”