…the question we should ask ourselves, especially in South-West Nigeria is, “How can we abandon our farms, become city rats and say ‘ebinpawa’?” Is it not so obvious now that there may be more urban than rural poverty in Nigeria, and that the abandonment of our natural endowments – this time around cocoa farming – is inimical to our own progress? Do we have to lease out our farms and look down on what our grandfathers planted while chasing golden fleeces everywhere, including abroad? Why do we equate farming with poverty?
I noticed his accent. This guy must be from Ondo State. I have a keen ear for accents from all over Nigeria and even beyond. But I usually like to engage folks from my end of the woods in Lagos, and to find out about their journeys so far.
Of course he is from Ondo town proper, he told me. I joked with him about how lucky he was that he wasn’t given the Number 11 tribal marks that is indigenous to Ondo town – apart from the love for 404 (go figure). He laughed as he shook his head, rejecting the suggestion that his face be carved up like they used to do in times past. I glanced at his rather handsome ‘yellow’ face, imagining how the tribal marks would have sat. I then asked why – like me – he abandoned Ondo State for Lagos or elsewhere. He parried the question, but I could deduce that it was all about chasing down the Benjamins, like the Americans like to put it. Everyone wants improvement, don’t we?
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The conversation with my Bolt Driver as we headed out of the local airport towards Ikorodu Road swivelled to the Cocoa boom of year 2024. I informed him that this year may even be better for cocoa growers and merchants because there is some drought in Cote d’Ivoire. Nigeria, through its cocoa growers and sellers made $2.8 billion in 2024, up from $800 million the year before. Very little of this sector is driven by government, if any. This means that potentially all that money went into our people’s pockets. I told the guy that if they have cocoa in his family, he should keep an eye on it.
I informed him that many corporate guys left their jobs last year to go back to their family cocoa plantations and many are doing well. One 100-kilogramme bag of cocoa beans sold for an average of N1.4 million. The guy was aghast. He said his dad had a cocoa farm back in Ondo town, but they had rented out the farm. I said it’s the renter that’s enjoying today. He said he would call his dad and ask if it was true that Cocoa had come into so much money. The energetic young Bolt driver fell into a melancholic silence as he shook his head slowly from side to side, as if in regret.
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Before then, as our discussion took shape, I called my cousin in Ondo State to ask what had happened to our family’s cocoa farm at Ita Oniyan, Akure, Ondo State. He said most of the trees are dead and people have started building in and around the old farm. I noticed how overgrown the farm had become when he took me there like 10 years ago. My cousin confirmed that a kilogramme of cocoa sold for like N1,400 (that’s N1.4 million per bag, as mentioned above). We discussed how we can revive the farms. He said last year many people in Ondo State started running around to see how they could revive their cocoa farms when the prices suddenly spiked. I recalled some guys pointing to a truck as it left Idanre, Ondo State, filled with cocoa bags, quipping that that was N600 million in the full truck. People really made money in that axis last year and this year may even be much better because there may be shortage coming from the world’s largest producer – Cote d’Ivoire – as earlier stated.
Many South-Western towns remain hobbled since Nigeria pivoted away and scrapped the cocoa boards, which helped our farmers aggregate their farm proceeds and also offered them some kind of insurance up till the mid-1980s. Thankfully, a few weeks ago, the Federal Executive Council, under President Tinubu’s leadership, returned the Board. We look forward to a future where Cocoa farmers will return to being the chief drivers of local economies in the South-West, up to Cross River State.
Perhaps more money was made in Cross River State, in the Ikom area, last year. Unlike in the South-West states, Cross Riverians may not have abandoned their cocoa farms for ‘japa’ and other white-collar pursuits. The Business Day report that spoke of how bankers and engineers abandoned their city jobs and made good money from cocoa last year, was centred around Ikom.
But I also note that at least in the South-West, a lot of the $2.8 billion (which is an equivalent of N4.2 trillion when converted) will head back to foreign countries straight up. Unlike up till the early 1980s when our fathers and uncles used cocoa money to build real monuments and individual castles at home, competing among themselves to show who kept the most Cocoa-money at home to buy real assets, and build houses, the modern-day Nigerian has become overwhelmed and confused with the proliferation of bad news about their own country and some even believe that Nigeria has no future – even those making good money off the land.
Social media has not helped, especially because Nigerians are statistically the people who sit on social media the most in the whole world. Somehow, social media has made our people lose hope in Nigeria even more daily. We need to work seriously on bringing back that innocent patriotism that existed in Nigeria in the past. Many South-Western towns remain hobbled since Nigeria pivoted away and scrapped the cocoa boards, which helped our farmers aggregate their farm proceeds and also offered them some kind of insurance up till the mid-1980s. Thankfully, a few weeks ago, the Federal Executive Council, under President Tinubu’s leadership, returned the Board. We look forward to a future where Cocoa farmers will return to being the chief drivers of local economies in the South-West, up to Cross River State.
This is important and will be salutary to the economy, because today’s middlemen and exporters find every means of keeping their dollar proceeds abroad, rather than remitting them back home. We forget that this world is about competition from one country to the other. Smart foreign countries have since devised means of collecting the money you bring for their own development. You may not know that even in the days that they were corrupt and disorganised, they ensured that their monies stayed in their countries, for their countries’ development. That’s it. Economic nationalism is the name of the game, and every nation is wising up. In the mid-1980s, as Nigeria scrapped it’s cocoa board, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire maintained theirs, and this has resulted in better fortunes and increased annual productivity for those countries, which have now overtaken Nigeria by several miles. Thankfully, President Tinubu has brought back the concept.
Nigeria is so blessed. The agricultural sector alone could transform our fortunes. This article is focused on what’s going on with cocoa alone. Across the land, there are so many other crops that sometimes sprout wildly but are worth fortunes. From cashew nuts to sesame seeds, to sheanuts, ginger, turmeric, onions and so on. The north of Nigeria – occupying more than two-thirds of our landmass – is a goldmine for agriculture and many are doing great, silently.
So, the question we should ask ourselves, especially in South-West Nigeria is, “How can we abandon our farms, become city rats and say ‘ebinpawa’?” Is it not so obvious now that there may be more urban than rural poverty in Nigeria, and that the abandonment of our natural endowments – this time around cocoa farming – is inimical to our own progress? Do we have to lease out our farms and look down on what our grandfathers planted while chasing golden fleeces everywhere, including abroad? Why do we equate farming with poverty? Can we not do farming in a smarter fashion? Are we being smart here? And those who made serious money from cocoa, etc., what happened to sharing and being our neighbour’s keeper.
I think a few have made some serious money in recent times. Now is the time to share and be cheerful. Ebi o gbodo pawa mo. And let’s stop gifting our money to oyibo because of colonial mentality. Invest in Nigeria. There is so much space for development in this country. Buy assets here where you can at least supervise them. Invest in regulated stock markets. Start a business and employ people, so that you can be part of the solution to Nigeria’s problems.
Nigeria is so blessed. The agricultural sector alone could transform our fortunes. This article is focused on what’s going on with cocoa alone. Across the land, there are so many other crops that sometimes sprout wildly but are worth fortunes. From cashew nuts to sesame seeds, to sheanuts, ginger, turmeric, onions and so on. The north of Nigeria – occupying more than two-thirds of our landmass – is a goldmine for agriculture and many are doing great, silently. Smallholders are, however, being taken advantage of, hence the need for some cooperation.
My concern in this article, however, is that our younger generation shouldn’t scorn the legacy of their ancestors who seem to have thrived better than many are doing these days. I hope my Ondo friend is able to retrace his steps and go back to help his dad, just like what is happening in the Cross River axis.
‘Tope Fasua, an economist, author, blogger, and entrepreneur, can be reached through [email protected].
