Unearthing the ‘crude oil’ of Kwaturu
The species of the crop across the world got it origins from Kwaturu, according to the village head of the area, Alhaji Nasir Kogi. He said the crop first spread to other parts of the southern part of Kaduna State before some Chinese explorers who were in the area picked it to their country. “It […]
The species of the crop across the world got it origins from Kwaturu, according to the village head of the area, Alhaji Nasir Kogi. He said the crop first spread to other parts of the southern part of Kaduna State before some Chinese explorers who were in the area picked it to their country.
“It was my forefather who first discovered the crop in the rurok forest around the 17th century while hunting. He picked it in the thick forest and brought it to the town. When he reached the house, he discovered that the crop had medicinal values because it was very pepperish. It was used in treatment of cold especially catarrh. This was why it was embraced by all the people of the village,’’ the 100 years old village head said.
Years after the discovery of the crop, he said the people of the area were bedevilled with a strong harmattan that made many people in the village to suffer strong catarrh and cough and that the crop helped in healing them. ‘’ When the people of our village then discovered the medicinal values of the crop as a result of the strong harmattan, they started planting it. This made the crop to become a household one among the people.’’
From that time, he said the people of the area started growing it along with other crops in their farms in small quantities for medicinal use. He said his grandfather who died over 50 years ago, told him that the crop was taken to Kachia, Kwai and some other parts of Southern Kaduna many years after the crop was discovered. According to him, some years after the crop was taken out of the village, the whitemen came and advised them on how best to preserve it. “ They advised us to be slicing it so that it can be preserved for a long time and they encouraged us to be growing it in large quantities and that was how the market for the crop started.”
While recalling when the crop was taken out of the country by a Chinese, he said all those claiming that the crop originated from their area or country are liars who were trying to distort history, emphasising that the crop has its origins from Kwataru village.
‘’ My late parents told me that the Chinese got the seed of the crop from the rurok forest and took it to their country but that when it germinated, it was not as good as ours because it was not peppery. This was how the crop got out of our village but anywhere you go, you will see that ours is still the best because of its pepperish nature. We don’t have any other crop or any other thing to sell here in this village than this ginger and we are doing fine even without any serious support from the government,’’ he added.
He said the slogan of the village, “Yar Kwaturu, mai yaji fari,’’ was coined when ginger was discovered by their ancestors in order to identify the crop with the village. The slogan means,” the product of Kwaturu which has white pepper.’’
“I started ginger farming at the age of 10. I grew up as a ginger farmer I schooled with it and I married my wives with the proceeds of the ginger farming. My 50 children and numerous grand children are now ginger farmers. Ours is a family of ginger. We are living on it and we are thankful to Allah and my grand parents for the crop,” he noted.
While lamenting the non development of the crop by government, he said for government to succeed in promoting the crop, ginger farmers must be carried along, stressing that the crop could replace the crude oil if well harnessed.
He took our correspondent to the rurok forest where he claimed his grandfather discovered the crop in the 17th century. The forest was about 30 minutes drive from the main road where the men stay.
A ginger merchant based in Kwaturu, Alhaji Adamu Nasir, said he inherited the business from his father 30 years ago, when he was 13 years old. ‘’ I don’t know anything aside from ginger. I am not a politician and I don’t have interest to become one in the near future. I get money to sponsor my younger ones and children to school through this crop. With this business, I have travelled to Ghana , Togo and Benin Republic marketing the product.’’
He said for would-be investors in the crop to excel, he needs experience and soil akin to that of the Kwaturus. “Soil matters most in the farming of this crop because I could remember when in 1999 we took the crop to Lagos, there was an attempt to plant it there but it did not come out well. So, if it is not from here, it cannot be pepperish like the one here.’’
He said the closure of the Kachia Ginger Factory did not have any impact on their business, saying right from the time of its establishment to when it was closed down as a result of inconsistent government policies, the factory did not touch the lives of the ginger farmers in the village.
The crop, according to him, encouraged peaceful co-existence between the host community and the herdsmen. “We give the Fulani cattle rearers our lands, they allow their cattle’s to graze on it for some time and at the end of the grazing period, they leave the waste of the cattle for us to farm ginger. We help them, they help us with the waste of their cattle and during this period, we co-habit peacefully.’’
Describing the crop as a capital and labour intensive venture, he called for the establishment of a ginger processing plant in the area in order to promote the development of the crop. He added, ‘’ the crop spend 30 days before germination and it is a year round crop. With little assistance from the government, we can produce ginger for both local and export purposes.’’
At a ginger farm in Kwaturu, a group of women were seen picking the crop after harvest. “We are not ginger farmers but we earn a living by picking the crop after the farmers have finished harvesting in their farms. We move from farm to farm daily and we make more than 500 naira everyday from it,’’ she added.
‘’ I am using the money for many things. I used it to assist my husband at home and pay the school fees of our children since my husband lost his job seven years ago. The picking of these crop is seasonal.
We pick it after harvest when the real farmers have finished harvesting,” she said.
A veteran journalist, Mr. Adamu Marshal, claimed that ginger originated from Kwoi in Jaba and not in Kwaturu as claimed by the village head. ‘’ Ginger is our cash crop here in Kwoi and all the claims that it was from another village are lies. Ginger is a wonder crop because it has many uses. My parents sent us to school with the proceeds of the crop,” he disclosed.
According to him, “Middlemen are the problems of the ginger farmers. They determine the prices of the crop to favour them while disfavouring the farmers who laboured for it throughout the year. They come all the way from Kano and short charge the farmers. This trend must be changed if the farmers are to make headway in the business,’’.
Kachia ginger pro-cessing factory
The plan for the establishment of the factory was done during the regime of Alhaji Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa, as governor of Kaduna State. The company did not see the light of day until 20 years after. Alhaji Balarabe Musa commissioned the factory on the 18th of May, 1999. Production works did not start in the factory until 2000.
The factory was established to assist the ginger farmers in the southern parts of the state to process the product. The existence of the company came to an end in year 2002, according an official of the company who spoke on condition of anonymity. He added that since the closure, the state government has been paying lip service to its re-opening moves.
“We are not being paid our salaries again. Fire is threatening to raze the place down as a result of bush burning. Snakes and other dangerous reptiles have since taken over the factory. The closure of the factory has rendered the whole community useless because it created employment to over 100 direct staff and numerous indirect ones,’’ he added.
Commenting on the closure of the Kachia Ginger Processing Mill, the Special Adviser to the Kaduna State Governor on Media and Public Affairs, Alhaji Umar Sani, said the state government in a bid to revive the company, had earmarked it for privatisation.
“The government is aware of its closure but it was closed before the coming of this administration. But we are working hard to revive not only the Kachia Ginger Factory but all the ailing companies in the state. The Kachia factory has been outlined for privatisation along with other ailing government owned factories,’’ he said.
On fertiliser allocation complained of by the ginger farmers, he said the government had introduced a new mode of distribution in the state. “Any interested farmer would apply through the Kaduna Agricultural Development Project for the fertiliser. We initiated it in order to curtail the diversion of the fertilizer in the state. This has in no small way assisted in the provision of the commodity to our farmers.’’