Udom Emmanuel and the coconut revolution
The recent flag off of coconut planting at Ekeya in Okobo Local Government Area by Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel was a spectacle to behold, something to remember.
Palm coconut is largely an unexploited buck-spinner in Nigeria. But if carefully husbanded, it can become a foreign exchange earner for country. Predictably, the Governor has a vision of coconut boom for his people.
Coconut has a history of about five centuries since it was discovered in the Indian Pacific, but the ongoing research for industrial use has attracted attention of some industrial nations. Hence, some of these industrial giants have provided congenial incentives to boost the palm coconut planting.
Governor Emmanuel is taking the bull by the horn in a country that is the 18th producer in global ranking with a miserable 260,000 metric tons – a sympathetic position some school authorities would pass out their students as “let my people go graduates”.
The State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Elder Aniekan Simon Akpan, hailed the agric-promoting State Chief Executive for the exercise, urging the people of the State to borrow a leaf from the State Government as palm coconut is an untapped goldmine that can add values to the lives of the people.
Indonesia tops the chart as the largest producer with 3.6 million hectares of coconut plantation making it a major booster of their economy. The country is also the second largest producer of palm oil having provided mouth-watering incentives to private farmers who are critical players in the sector. Philippines is the second while Sri lanka follows as intimidatingly challenging third.
The choice of Ekeya is not out of place. Perhaps the Lekki and Coconut Island examples in Lagos State may have informed the government’s choice of Ekeya. Palm coconut is a tree that flourishes by the streams of water, that yields its fruits in its season. It is also a lover of loamy soil and the forest region where arable land and good weather are lavished by nature.
Coconut is used as food, medicine, industrial purposes and timbers as building material, coconut flour which is prepared from byproducts of coconut after removal of coconut milk, contains high amount of dietary fibre. These fibres are said to help reduce cholesterol and control blood sugar levels. It checks bladder stones, digestion and weight loss, blood pressure levels, pancreatitis and eliminates mental fatigue.
It improves bone strength and dental health, just like it regulates insulin secretion in diabetics. Men who are in short supply of semen may have a cause to shed joyous tears if they eat coconut, not copra anywhere. With coconut, Gigolos and other commercial love providers who have this health deficiency may not report a failing in their manliness duty. Research also reveals that oil from the copra aids healthy hair growth and skinny quality even as it prevents wrinkles, sagging and dryness. It is also an immune booster.
Coconut contains a high amount of saturated fat described as medium chain triglycerides. They are reported to work different from other types of saturation in the body. They burn fat and reduce its storage. Raw materials from coconut are used for production of soap and paint. They are also used in the manufacturing of methylesters, fatty acids and fatty alcohols which are raw materials for detergents, surfactant, emulsifier, pesticides, body and hair cream.
But it is not without side effect which cannot outweigh the good side of the cocos nucifera. If eaten continuously in excess, it can be harmful. It may lead to cardiovascular problems like heart-attack, heart stroke and irregular heart-beat, just like alcohol and other stimulants.
Among Africans, coconut seedling is used as a gift to cement long lasting friendship and marriages. Grooms were given by the bride’s family to plant for the unborn offspring. Palm coconut transcends generations.
Coconut timber has been a material for the construction of different forms of architecture. Superfluous dividends of coconut can be reaped if it is planted between early May and July followed by recommended agricultural practices.
Governor Emmanuel’s vision comes in an auspicious time when hyperinflation has sparked agric-business investment to open new vistas as the bedrock to cushion the effect of untold hardship. Be that as it is, coconut farmers should be encouraged with incentives backed by legislation. The schools that obtained the seedlings from the government should be monitored so that they would not be left to the mercy of termites, rodents and weeds.
This is what the government did to oil palm farmers in the 1970s even though the land tenure system remains a constraint. Malaysia takes the lead in palm oil production because the government has provided legislation and land to big corporations to manage the sector. Government anywhere is not an astute manager of business. Research in oil palm started in Malaysia in about 1912. The country exchanged seedlings with Nigeria in 1960s and 1970s which was then the leading giant. Since then, Malaysia has used the sky as the stepping stone while Nigeria’s Terena specie of the oil palm that yields in 27months is still the best.
Inspite of the effort by the comatose Nigeria Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR), established in 1939 and despite publicized researches in the sector, Nigeria’s third position in the global production of palm oil is pillared by the wild oil palm of Southern Nigeria. As the next article of trade after the Atlantic Slave Trade that lasted for over 400 years, research in oil palm was commenced by the colonial authority in 1911. By 1951 WIFOR was formed to cover the entire British West Africa for collectivization of exploitation of palm oil and fast-forwarded same as a lubricant for their fledgling Industrial Revolution.
Governor Emmanuel has a sterling vision of coconut cornucopia. Vision is the seal on the soul of leadership. There is a problem of continuity by successive governments in our political firmament. No one can decipher the complex dynamics of the human mind which is embedded with egoistic and flagrant machinations. As it is usually the case, flagship policies and programmes may be given a befitting burial after the progenitor’s exit from office. A past government may be draped with funeral colour, insolence, insinuations and innuendos. The vision of Akwa Ibom Coconut Day might be seen by a successor as a daydream, depending on the lenses the new leadership would look at it. Therefore, it should be fast-tracked into legislation.
John C. Maxwell has observed that “if vision doesn’t cost you something, it’s a daydream”. The purpose of a vision is to take you and your people as in this case from where you are to where you dream of seeing. It is about positive change, progress, growth, expansion and improvement.
Feighon Ford has espoused that vision is the very stuff of leadership; the ability to see in a way that compels others to pay attention. Like good books, visionary leadership awakens the quintessential giant within, triggers strategic and incisive thinking which spurs creative acumen – the raw material for uncommon performance.
He who plants vegetables is an architect of stomach infrastructure. He who plants coconut is a visionary who plans for a prosperous posterity. Vision is the seal on the soul of leadership. Where there is no vision, people perish. A revolution is not merely an event or an ideology but a grand process that glows to manifest in tangible results in the lives of the citizenry.
