Temitope Amujo, Chairman of AMU-Gold Global Network, a
cosmetic manufacturing company has pledged to plant a
minimum of one million Shea butter trees to restore the
vital trees destroyed by Charcoal dealers in the Kaiama
Local Government Area of Kwara State.
Amujo said his company will partner the Elumelu
Foundation to achieve this target, the planting of the
new shea butter trees to replace the old trees
destroyed by the Charcoal dealers would guarantee the
availability of shea butter which constitutes the bulk
of the major raw materials needed by his company. That,
however, is not the only advantage that will be derived
from the collaborative effort, so it is really not a
selfish agenda. The planting of the trees would also
prevent deforestation, while also reducing the
exploitation of the forest resources in the country.
Amujo who was speaking at the 10th anniversary
celebration of his company’s products rollout, which
held at the head office of the company in Ilorin, Kwara
State capital, disclosed that the company sourced 90
per cent of its raw materials locally from wild shea
butter trees, which abound in the forest of the area.
He, however, lamented that the trees were going into
extinction because of illegal tree felling by charcoal
dealers.
To address this development, where a business concern
grows at the expense of another, Amujo said his company
is collaborating with some stakeholders in a solution
approach to plant more trees that will also be guarded.
He said, “There is the urgent need to replace the wild
Shea trees which produce one of our major raw materials
and we are collaborating with the Forestry Research
Institute to plant an improved breed of one million
trees in Kaiama in Kwara state where it grows
naturally.
“The issue of cutting down shea trees for charcoal is a
challenge envisioned to deter the growth of the
company. AMU-Gold Global will be working with Elumelu
Foundation which is a global organisation as partners
on a global green funding initiative to plant a minimum
of one million shea trees to put rural women back to
business.”