Ikom, where the dollar
comes sepia
By MAURICE ARCHIBONG
Thursday , November 25, 2004
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Photos: Sun News Publishing
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Along the major roads, open fields and virtually everywhere,
you can’t miss the sight. Countless seeds, spread out
to dry, paint abstract mosaics that bury almost every square
inch of the gargantuan tarpaulin that serves as mat for these
harvests. Almost everywhere, you can’t miss the whiff
of something fermenting. The smell itself is not that offensive,
even though it is still pungent. And pray, what are these?
Uncountable seeds spread out on numerous mats, which could
be found everywhere in this town?
My guide’s response was to bend down, scoop a handful
of seeds and proceeded to peeling one, which he threw into
his mouth. If it couldn’t kill him, I could stand it
also, I reckoned. I pick a seed, stripped it of the shell,
and saw something softer than fresh peanuts, except that this
one was very dark brown or sepia in colour. Like my guide,
I threw the seed into my mouth and began to chew. It left
an awfully bitter taste in the mouth. Promptly, I emptied
my mouth of this gall-like substance. What is this? It turned
out to be cocoa seeds. We are familiar with the pod but the
stuff from which your chocolate derives, we were meeting and
tasting in its raw form for the very first time.
Taxonomists classify cacao among the sterculiaceae family
of plants. Now, that makes the bitter taste of the cocoa beans
understandable, albeit no more tolerable, for the kola (called
a nut, which it is not) goes by the botanical name sterculia
acuminata. Simply put, Cacao and kola belong to the same family,
sterculiaceae.
According to S.A. Agboola, author of An Agricultural Atlas
of Nigeria, in 1914, Nigerian cocoa producers’ income
was N0.264 million but 14 years later (1928) their earnings
were a staggering N4.6 million. By 1965, the value of cocoa
production had reached N85.4 million and almost double that
(N143.2 million) in 1971. In the Foreword of the book, Cacao
in West Africa A.A. Laryea reveals that cocoa is the fruit
of cacao, "a tropical plant indigenous to South America".
These writers endorse the Golden Tree epithet given to cacao
thus: "(It is) an apt description that derives from its
ripe golden pods that hang on the brown stem against the green
background of leaves". However, Laryea, a former Chief
Agricultural Officer of Ghana goes on to add that "…
cocoa has indeed been worth more than gold to many countries,
especially those in West Africa, because of its contributions
to economic development". Cacao might have been originally
native of South America but the geographical zone of West
Africa has become the biggest cocoa producer in the world,
according to authors of Cacao in West Africa, LA Are and DRG
Gwynne-Jones. By the 1960s, West Africa’s average annual
production was 900,000 metric tons. Four West African countries:
Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon rank among
the five most important cocoa growers worldwide. Brazil is
among this quintet. Other cocoa producers in West Africa are
Togo, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Equatorial
Guinea. It was from Fernando Po that cocoa was imported into
Nigeria.
In Nigeria, cocoa is grown principally in Ondo, Ekiti, Cross
River, Delta, Edo, and Oyo States. Curiously, the crop failed
in the first towns in which it was introduced in Nigeria,
namely Agege, Asaba and Bonny in Lagos, Delta and Rivers States,
respectively.
Are and Gwynne – Jones say the cacao tree originated
from "the Upper Amazon Basin of South America and the
coastal strip of the Andes". From here it was taken to
the forest of today’s "Guatemala, Yucatan and Honduras
and cultivated by the Maya people of those areas".
It was the Mayas, who perfected the cultivation of cocoa and
discovered how to crush its beans to make a drink. Although
the popularity of this cocoa drink even spread to the Aztecs,
who lived in today’s Mexico, Europeans only came to
know of cocoa in 1502 after Christopher Columbus stumbled
on a boat loaded with cocoa beans off the coast of Honduras
during the explorer’s fourth visit to the New world.
About 1522, Hernando Cortes and other Spanish conquistadors
discovered staggering volumes of cocoa beans in the stores
of the palace of the defeated Aztec Emperor.
Some 500 years ago, a hundred cocoa beans would buy a slave.
That’s how highly valued cocoa used to be. Until the
Spanish found this plant, the Aztec called it cacahuatl. The
Europeans would, as usual, corrupt the name to cocoa. The
drink, which the native Americans made from crushing cocoa
beans, was known as xocoatl. Again, the Iberians re-named
it chocolate.
In the 16th century, however, when Cortes landed in Spain
with an improved formula cocoa drink, chocolate drinks proved
such an instant hit with the ladies at the court of the king
of Spain. In fact, such was the love of the cocoa drink that
the Spanish signoritas even had chocolate served to them during
church service, much to the consternation of the bishops,
according to Are and Gwynne-Jones. It was from Spain that
the culture of drinking or eating chocolate spread to other
parts of Europe, the authors reveal.
Whereas five centuries ago, 100 cocoa beans were enough to
buy a slave, the price of the commodity has dipped so drastically,
especially in the last 30 years, that the botanical name of
the plant, Theobroma Cocoa (food for the gods) sounds like
a lie. What went wrong?
Mr. Neji Abang Neji, National Vice Chairman of the Cocoa Association
of Nigeria said that the drop in the world price of cocoa
is partly due to the manipulative inclination of an international
cartel and the fact that the world’s major producers
do not consume what they grow, among other reasons.
According to Neji, Ikom is the second highest cocoa producing
LGA in Cross River State. The leading LGA in cocoa cultivation
in that state is Etung, said Neji, who hails from Akparabong
in Ikom LGA. Etung’s annual cocoa output is about 25,000
metric tons, while that of Ikom is in the region of 15,000
metric tons, Neji revealed. With regard to the current world
price of the commodity, Neji who is Chairman of Cocoa Association
of Nigeria in Cross River State rued that cocoa is one produce,
whose price defies the conventional law of demand vis-à-vis
supply.
"Those day’s (in the mid-1980s), a bag of cocoa
was about N100 (roughly 170 US dollars). Currently, a bag
of cocoa goes for about N9, 000". However, a comparison
of these prices in the light of the prevailing exchange rate
of the Naira shows that the current cost of a bag of cocoa
(N9, 000) amounts to barely 80 dollars. In other words, the
price of cocoa has dipped more than 50 per cent over the last
two decades. Neji laments that this decline in the earnings
of some African farmers is the handiwork of an international
cartel that manipulates the price of the produce.
"We have no control over or make no input in the pricing
of a commodity, which we grow. It leaves us at the mercy of
the price of fixers. It is very saddening. If you were a manufacturer
of electronic appliances, you would fix the price of your
goods after taking into consideration the cost of production
and adding your profit. But in cocoa, we have no say. The
end-users sit somewhere and tell us what we have to sell for
and we are forced to sell at their price. So, the price has
been constantly on the decline except, for a brief period,
when Cote d’Ivoire (the leading cocoa producer worldwide)
threatened to burn a huge stockpile of cocoa. That action
saw a marginal rise in the price of cocoa on the world market".
Neji is of the view that the drop in the price of cocoa on
the world market is one reason Nigeria continues to lag behind
Cote d’Ivoire in cocoa production. Another problem,
for the welfare of the Cross Riverian cocoa farmer is that
he even earns less than the low international price, Neji
revealed. How?
"We lose money because we have to pay for the freighting
of our produce to Lagos for export. Imagine: We grow about
25 per cent of Nigeria’s cocoa export, we have a seaport
at Calabar but because that seaport has been rendered dysfunctional,
we have to spend a huge percentage of our income on freighting
our goods to Lagos. If the Calabar Port was made more functional,
it would be a big relief to farmers in Cross River and neighbouring
states", he intoned.
Another problem with exporting from Lagos, is that the Cross
River-based cocoa marketer loses a lot of money to what Neji
described as multiples taxation. In the course of ferrying
the produce to Lagos, too many local government councils’
revenue department workers extort money from the trailer operatives.
This is illegal, but if you don’t pay up they’re
prepared to delay you for days, after all they have nothing
to lose", Neji reckoned.
Apparently, the Cross Riverian cocoa farmer and marketer stood
to earn more, if some ways were found to add value to their
produce. Have Neji and others ever considered going into food
processing, such as producing cocoa butter, for example, instead
of just exporting the raw material?
Neji again: "You know, we have been thinking about it.
But food processing is capital intensive. Then, you have to
think of the availability of infrastructure, such as power
supply. For now, we have had discussions with some South African
investors; we’re proposing international partnerships.
They seem to be interested but are keen on testing the waters
by just buying the raw-materials first". Other problems
facing Nigerian cocoa growers are that "we’re not
looking inwards, in terms of cocoa consumption" said
Neji. According to this cocoa marketer, Nigerians consume
less than 0.2 per cent of their cocoa output.
As to when he got into the cocoa trade, Neji told Daily Sun:
"I was born into cocoa". His father was into cocoa
cultivation and trading before Neji was born, and he actually
became an active participant in his father’s business
from his secondary school days. Thus, it came as no surprise
that after a master’s degree in Banking and Finance,
Neji would return to the farm to continue growing and selling
the popular bean. Despite the drop in world price of cocoa,
the bean’s cultivation remains attractive because the
farmer begins to reap barely three years after he sowed, with
the new species. And the yield continues to rise for the next
50 years!
As to the frequency of cocoa harvest, Neji said: "Normally,
you can harvest cocoa at least six times a year. In fact,
the crop could be harvested even fortnightly, depending on
the size of one’s farm. Since most of the produce ends
up as exports, the farmer cannot afford to let the pods ripen
on the farm. Although cocoa is not among the more risk-prone
agricultural crops, this is not to say that cocoa farmers
face absolutely no problem in the fields. For example, cocoa
plants could be overwhelmed and destroyed by a fungal infection
that is known as black pod disease, to use the layman’s
term. Apart from fungal infestation, insect pets also pose
a nuisance to cocoa farmers, Neji added.
However, a Lagos-based company, noted for producing effective
pesticides for cocoa farmers recently opened an out post in
Ikom. This, Neji enthused, is a welcome development.
Neji would not end our chat without kudos to President Olusegun
Obasanjo for banning the importation of cocoa powder/butter.
"Some of the chocolate drink manufacturers in Nigeria
have been harming the Nigerian economy through their preference
for imported cocoa powder or cocoa butter from Europe".
The Cocoa marketer recalled that in October 2004, the Federal
Government established the Cocoa Consumption Committee. This
body, whose members include representatives from the Federal
Ministries of Finance, Agriculture, Commerce and so on to
propose ways of increasing cocoa consumption locally.
One of the suggestions sold to that body is that chocolate
drinks should be provided free to pupils aged between three
and six years across the country. That way, the nation could
get the future generation in love with the drink thus assuring
local producers of a local market in the year to come. This
strategy has become necessary because too many Nigerians wake
up to fufu, gari and amala for breakfast. A lot of Nigerians,
you’d be surprised, don’t even know what cocoa
drink tastes like in spite of the fact that their country
is an important grower of that crop, we gathered. But let’s
return to the town itself, again.
Geography
Five clans: Ikom Central, Oche Rore, Agbokim Mgbabor, Ajinjikpo
and Ikom South, make up Ikom Town, according to Chief Emma
Manyor Bakin, Village Head of Etayip. Etayip lies within Ikom
Central, which comprises seven villages altogether. All Ikom
people speak a dialect of the Ejagham language. It was at
the residence of Chief Bakin, who is also the Clan Head of
Ikom Central that Daily Sun also spoke with Mr. Vincent Adoga
Akwa, Secretary of Ikom Town (Ekpache Nkone) traditional rulers
council.
Ikom lies about 210 Kilometers from the Cross River State
capital, Calabar. The fare to Ikom from Calabar is N600 and
the journey could last as long as four hours because many
of the commercial vehicle operators are in the habit of transferring
their passengers into another bus/car mid-way into the trip.
During one of my journeys, I arrived in Ikom after being transferred
to two other motorists! Anyone travelling through Ikom has
to go through this town’s Four Corners. Coming from
Calabar, Four Corners stand beyond Ikom Main Park, where Calabar
Road washes into Ogoja Road. To the left is Okim Osabor Street,
while a right turn leads the tourist into Obudu Road. Most
of this town’s super-markets, filling stations, major
hotels, photo labs, etc are located along these avenues, which
converge at Four Corners.
However, the town also lent its name to Ikom LGA, one of the
18 local government areas of Cross River State. Although present
day Ikom LGA boasts a population of over 100,000 the size
of the current political domain is much smaller than what
used to obtain in the past. For example, a part of the original
Ikom LGA was excised to create Boki LGA. And more recently,
some 15 per cent of the 10 wards that made up the remaining
Ikom LGA were again carved out to form a part of Etung LGA.
These loses of land areas have robbed Ikom of her status of
the second highest cocoa producing LGA in Nigeria, according
to Neji, national vice-chairman of Cocoa Association of Nigeria.
Even at that, Neji mused that Ikom might well be producing
more than she was being given credit for.
However, Mr. Ebaye Akonjom, Chairman of Ikom LGA, was quick
to point out, at another forum, that while the status of highest
Cocoa grower in Cross River has eluded his area, everyone
in Cross River, Abia, Rivers, etc. involved in the cultivation
of the raw material gravitates towards Ikom. That town, according
to Akonjom remains 100 per cent the hub of the industry, intoned
the barrister who explained that the sale, storage and various
relevant administrative inputs still take place in Ikom. Asked
to encapsulate Ikom in a nutshell, Akonjom said the town is
to Cross River what Aba is to Abia and Onitsha to Anambra
State. You spend several days in town looking for the locals
answer to Ariaria in Enyimba City or Ochanja in Onitsha and
discover nothing comes close. And being somewhat aware of
the adverse effects uncontrolled mercantilism: influx of countless
traders, filth-generation, environmental degradation and so
on, you almost wish Ikom could retain its vernal flavour forever.
And what has this town got to offer? Until our latest visit
(during the first week of November) we could simply have said,
nothing! As far as telephone services are concerned. But as
the month dawned V-mobile brought a new dawn to residents
of this ancient town. Our arrival coincided with V-mobile’s
so-called bonanza. I didn’t bother to go to the venue,
where I gathered you could get a SIM pack for N1,000 because
going by newspaper ads and billboards the going price was
supposed to be N1. Any way, Ikom’s inhabitants were
very excited. They had every reason to be thankful. Before
V-mobile got to Ikom, the only phone network they knew was
Thuraya. Of course, the national operator, NITEL, has a big
outpost along Ogoja Road, but their lines went mute many years
ago around Ikom. On a positive note, we sighted NITEL’s
office, all repainted with Mtel prominently inscribed. Some
respondents’ quip was "may be this refurbishment
is a sign that Mtel is poised to regain its voice, in Ikom,
again".
In the area of roads, Ikom’s major roads are a lot better
than what we’ve seen in other parts of the country.
Akonjom again: The Cross River State government, under the
leadership of Governor Donald Duke has opened up 20km of roads
across the LGA". The barrister added that plans are afoot
to construct another 25km of roads in the urban centre. Ikom’s
newly rehabilitated roads include Agric, Oche Rore, Mission
and Mile Two. Yes, Ikom Town has its Mile Two, too. Not only
that, this Cross River State settlement boasts another neighbourhood
evocative of Lagos. This is Ajegunle. Ikom’s Jungle
City’s namesake stands near Four Corners around Obudu
Road area. But don’t be deceived by its popular nickname.
There is nothing ghetto-like about the area any more.
Chief Bakin said oral tradition has it that the first settlers
in Ikom had stopped over in a hilly area called Onugha around
Ekuri in the course of their migration. "Initially, the
peoples of Ikom, Ugep and Okuni were together. When I was
a little boy, in primary school, we were taught that the natives
of Ikom, Ugep and Okuni went by the collective name of Eburutu",
Bakin recalled. Later, possibly owing to some misunderstanding,
the Ugep people moved southward, while Ikom and Okuni migrated
northwards.
"When the Okuni got to a particular area on one bank
of the Cross River, the group’s leaders advised: "Let’s
try here and see" (Elume). That’s how they came
by that name. When the Ikom band crossed to the other side
of the same river, the leader is believed to have remarked:
Re nkome nfa, (here, we have hung our bags), akin to a hunter
getting home after an expedition.
Subsequently, Re nkome nfa was shortened to Nkome, which the
colonialist corrupted to Ikom. However, none could give us
the name of the earliest settler.
Bakin, whose clan comprises seven villages, told Daily Sun
that the traditional bride price common to all Ikom people
is 66 kobo. Pray, how do you come up with a currency that’s
no longer in use? "O, you’d have to find it",
he declared jocosely. The Ikom people have no fixed day, after
the birth of a baby for child naming. The naming ceremony
takes place whenever it is convenient for the relevant family
members. Interestingly, two names, Mayong and Amba are popular
in Ikom. Mayong and Amba are the local’s equivalent
of the Yoruba Taiye (Taiwo) and Kehinde or the Igbo Ejime
(Ejime). In other words, the birth of twin children wasn’t
considered a bad thing among the people of Ikom. And if you
run into someone with the name Reku, it simply means the fellow
was born during the Nigerian civil war. Reku is the Ejagham
word for war, Bakim revealed.
The Efik people have gained universal fame for their culinary
triumphs so what can their northern cousins boast of? Chief
Bakin again: "Our favouriate here is Edere. Edere is
variously known as Afia Efere or Nsala among the Efik and
Igbo respective. But among the Ikom, Edere is usually prepared
with smoked or fresh fish.
The people of ancient Ikom had a curious funerary tradition,
which made it a taboo to embalm remains of a deceased traditional
ruler. Seven days after the chief’s death, the corpse
would be taken up a tree and placed in a sitting position,
after which a fire and would be lit on the ground beneath
the body. The smoke from the flames helped to keep flies at
bay, while the heat from the fire served to dehydrate the
decomposing remains. But this tradition is now history, as
Christianity has since taken hold of the community.
It is noteworthy that the above-mentioned elaborate rites
of passage were reserved for members of the ruling class only.
The remains of an ordinary fellow was usually washed, lay
in stage and intered within 24 hours of transition, Bakin
clarified.
The New Yam Festival, which is officially fixed for September
1, every year, is without a doubt the most important event
on the Ikom cultural calendar, according to Akwa. The traditional
council secretary explained that though the official observance
date is September 1, in Ikom the New Yam Festival often runs
for two weeks before the grand finale. Apart from the major
event, which is the launch and prayers for the latest harvest,
the festival’s side attractions now include symposia,
football matches, wrestling and what have you. So, if you’re
thinking of coming this way, come between the last week of
August and the first week of September. However, you might
also discover something new visiting Ikom during the Valentine
Season, where parts of the Cross River dips in volume, throwing
up a seasonal beach around the UAC part of town.
Hotels
For a town with a population of about 0.1 million, Ikom boasts
a large number of hotels. Roll call: Heritage, Lisbon, Castle,
Sweet Mother, Hollywood, Mirinda and P&T Hotels. Sweet
Mother Hotel stand along Sweet Mother street and was established
by Prince Nico Mbarga, deceased music star whose record, Sweet
Mother, is one of the biggest chart busters ever released
by a Nigerian artiste. A night’s stay at Sweet Mother
comes at a minimum of N500 and maximum of N1, 200, depending
on one’s choice between room and suite. In- between,
the hotel also offers an N800 per night studio accommodation.
But the bar is currently non-functional.
Ikom’s biggest and most modern hotel is Heritage. According
to Mr. Alfred Etta, a tourist guide and driving school proprietor,
Heritage Hotel is a three-star affair. A double room at Heritage
comes at N3, 220 per day but the guest is expected to deposit
N8, 000. At the top end, Heritage offers Executive Suites.
A night’s stay in an Executive Suite at Heritage Hotel
costs N5, 520 but the lodger is expected to deposit N10, 000.
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