‘Why we can’t expand Kwara’s oldest garri factory’

Oluwatosin Oreofeoluwa is the Director of Feyinfolu Garri processing factory located at Lajorin area of Ilorin, Kwara State, which has survived over four decades despite two fire incidents in 1994 and 2019. In this interview, the 2015 graduate of Mass Communication talks about the journey so far regarding Kwara’s oldest garri factory.  What is the […]

Oluwatosin Oreofeoluwa is the Director of Feyinfolu Garri processing factory located at Lajorin area of Ilorin, Kwara State, which has survived over four decades despite two fire incidents in 1994 and 2019. In this interview, the 2015 graduate of Mass Communication talks about the journey so far regarding Kwara’s oldest garri factory. 

What is the story of this place?

It was started by our parents in 1977 and we have been consistently working since then. To work here, one has to be focused and committed. But it is not an easy task. The place is operated by different families.

How do you run the factory? 

We have different sections here from those who fry garri to those who sieve it and other who peel the cassava.      

What has been the success so far?

Our parents ensured that even though they didn’t go to school, we all had formal education – four boys and a girl. I am a mass communication graduate and all of our parents have their own houses. It has been a huge success. 

How lucrative is this business? 

It is very lucrative and the more your investment, the more your returns. It depends on you having enough capital. Processing garri to fufu, starch and elubo is very lucrative.  

 

How much do you make daily?

It depends on the period and we have our ups and downs, especially when it is the middle of the month. But on the average, a worker makes at least N50,000 monthly depending on the capacities of the people working for you. 

Is the membership restricted to the operating families? 

My family is among the three pioneers left that started this place from initial ten which is the Olarewaju, Adeyemi and mine, Ayodele. Some of those that started it left and created space for others to come. So, we have people from Kwara, Kogi and Osun among the families that control this place. But nobody can just from nowhere to say you want to come and fry garri; we have standard in our recruitment process and we don’t compromise. 

Please can you expatiate on the standard aspect? 

Our garri is different from the ones out there. I can say it’s the best in the country, not just in this state. We don’t spread our garri under the sun, we fry it and dry it from the fire. After peeling our cassava, we wash it and make sure that sand doesn’t get to it. We have them bagged and the place we’re making them is tiled. That is why our Garri is sand free and always fresh when you consume it. We spend more on processing our gari than others. Woods alone cost N22,000 and we don’t use it for more than two weeks. You can estimate how much we spend on woods in a month. That is why our garri is costlier than others because we have a better quality. Outside, you can get a rubber of garri for N200 but here, we sell for N400, non-negotiable. 

There was a time lassa fever affected the industry…. 

(Cuts in) It didn’t affect us simply because our customers trust us and we have served them for more than 40 years now. 

But despite your clientele and brand, why has it been difficult to modernize this place? 

We would have loved to if we have something that works for us. There was a time NCAM gave us a mechanized garri processor and it didn’t work up to our standard. Our garri must be well prepared, the heat must not be too much and it must be enough, it must be well regulated in order to get the necessary result which makes our customers to patronize us over and over again. We learnt of a Chinese made fryer that works perfectly well but we can’t afford it.  

What efforts have you made towards that?

We’ve tried on some many occasions to reach out to the government but it was all abortive. Just three weeks ago, I was at the Bank of Industry (BOI), to tell them about this place and ask for a loan if they don’t have any grant to give to us. I was surprise that we were turned down. I was even attended to by a Youth Corper who doesn’t know much about the process or about the business. I had to leave the place. I think Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq is interested in this kind of business, but we haven’t seen any formal interest. We’ve had contacts with some people from the government, but there hasn’t been any concrete move to tell the direction we’re moving. We’ve been having that over the years. The Chinese fryer works better than the fabricated ones. With the machine, you don’t need to do anything, it reduces the labour cost which means you as a producer can make more gain. We have more than 200 people working here, 98% of them are females. 

Have you tried to partner with those that can assist you to afford the machines?  

We have been trying, the machines are very expensive. In fact, we have a cooperative society here and we’ve been trying to reach out to different stakeholders but no headway yet.

Are the workers here paid daily or monthly?

We pay them daily, and you’ll calculate everything at the end of the month depending on their work. Some of them earn N40,000 more than the minimum wage.

How do you source for raw materials, I mean the cassava?

We get from farms and markets like Eiyenkorin, Afon, Otte, Gambari and many other places. Others bring it for us from places like Ogbomosho, Osogbo. 

You said NCAM machine didn’t meet your standard. What happened to the machines brought from there? 

They brought a lot of machines, grinders, peelers and garri fryer, among others, but most of the machines didn’t work. 

Why? 

It didn’t meet up to our standard and even with those engines, we had to do double work in some instances. After peeling the cassava with the machine, we still have to peel it again manually and that was why we decided to stick to manual alone. But they were given to us free of charge, we didn’t pay anything.