Jabborro Blog

By Uduak Umo -           How AKEES Challenged the Impossible -           The Mathematics of Making 33M with 17M on 10 Hectares Our fathers grew melon on our soil; we called it ‘ikon’ and another specie called ‘ndise’ in Ibibio. They grew wild cucumber called ‘ukpok’- the shell became palm wine cups when dried and the entrails used as sponge, dried. But for decades since “Oil and Gas” we have believed that high value vegetables CANNOT grow on Akwa Ibom soil. And then came AKEES. In his determination to achieve his agenda of Job Creation in Akwa Ibom State, Governor Udom Emmanuel established the Akwa Ibom Enterprise and Employment Scheme, AKEES, led by his SSA on Technical Matters and Due Process, Elder Ufot Ebong. Courtesy of this initiative, up to 22 crops that, previously, had been tested by several individual farmers and considered impossible to grow on Akwa Ibom soil; these vegetables are yielding everything from fruits to roots, to leaves, to revenue, to jobs. I

[INVESTMENT] Tomato Demonstration Farm in Akwa Ibom Regular readers of Jabborro.com posts would have met my report on how Akwa Ibom was working towards meeting the Federal Government of Nigeria’s tomato paste production objective. It was carried on a few print media and websites as well. Please find it here. The Tomato Nigeria Will Get From Akwa Ibom Not long after that report, price of fresh Tomato skyrocketed by about 400%. Tuta Absoluta, a crop pest that originated from South America, became resistant to pesticide and this was blamed immediately, although a combination of it and other factors actually caused the inflation. Now, the inflation caused many damages across the nation. Yet, I know of 2 experiment farms that neither suffer the plague nor fail to make profit. They thrive in the epidemic, thanks to collaboration with AKEES – Akwa ibom Enterprise & Employment Scheme. Here is a mild analysis of their enviable turnover even as a trial farm. CHECK

Update : Dangote Suspends Tomato Paste Factory Because He Can't Find The Raw Crops   In December2015, I had a close meet-up with Sir Goodluck Etom Obi (KSC), Chairman of GateGold Nigeria at MMA, Lagos. I discussed with him the prospects of investing in Akwa Ibom State; and he shared with me his experiences in other places as one of the nation's top tin tomato manufacturers. As I expressed my concerns about President Buhari's Economic policies, the lack of them (pardon me) or maybe the lack of public awareness of them; he took the time to walk me through the President's activities in the development of the Economy at the grassroots, as he knew it. He shared the challenges facing the Federal Government's programme to intervene in several sub-sectors of our Agric Super-sector, citing one commodity for an example; the red tomato used in making the tomato paste. "Do you know that the tomato we plant in this country is not suitable for canning?" He p