The Akemokwes' Executive Farm House

By Suleiman Ugbokhe

Mr. and Mrs. Momodu and Pearla Akemokwe in their farm work attires conduct Agbelonews round their 'Executive Farm House' sprawling compound

They have every reason and the wherewithal to stay put in the city of their choice for a quiet retirement, well away from those annoying farm insects that constantly buzz in your ears – making you to slap yourself now and then – and bite and suck your blood all over your body, which was why Mrs. Akemokwe “was scared of those insects and other things.”

But Mr Momodu Akemokwe was more amenable to the irritating farm insects – he really had no choice then because “my parents were farmers, so, I was with them, going to farm throughout….”

His love for the soil and what it brings forth in form of life – vegetation – is so compelling that Momodu Akemokwe, a geologist, who retired as a deputy director in the Nigeria Geological Survey Agency in 2017, brushed aside city comfort for the countryside to do what makes him happy: “I feel happy when I put a seed down; it germinates; I watch it growing; I nurture it. One seed will now give you a cob of a thousand seeds. That aspect alone makes me like agriculture.”

The Akemokwes harvesting yams in the compound farm

Mrs. Pearls Akemokwe, who holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and an MBA in Management, had no difficulty in keying into her husband’s love for tilling the soil, despite being the proprietress of Pearl's Comprehensive Schools.
When I walked into their compound – I call the four bedroom bungalow an ‘Executive Farm House’ – for this interview with this ‘Poster Agric Couple,’ the aural of love for each other and for agriculture was all pervading.

Please, have a feel of it in this interview:

How did your interest in agriculture come about?

I was born into agriculture. My parents were farmers, so, I was with them, going to farm throughout my primary school, secondary school; even when I was in the university, when I am on holidays, I go to farm. So, that is where the interest started from and I actually continue having that interest, which is part of my hobby. I farm any where I find land and wherever I am.

But there were those children, though born in the farming environment, who never liked farming, so, what could have made you to have that interest in agriculture from the word go?

Yes, like I said, I actually developed that interest in agriculture. There is a particular aspect I like; it is not even the monetary aspect.

I feel happy when I put a seed down; it germinates; I watch it growing; I nurture it.

"I feel happy when I put a seed down; it germinates; I watch it growing; I nurture it. One seed will now give you a cob of a thousand seeds"











One seed will now give you a cob of a thousand seeds. That aspect alone makes me like agriculture.

I now turn to face Mrs Akemokwe, who sits quietly as her husband was speaking, “Madam, how about you?” I ask her. “we never knew ladies could have so much interest in agricultural activities. Was it that your husband dragged you into it or your own is also natural interest?”

I wouldn't say it is natural because even going to farm when I was much younger, each time I came home on holidays during my secondary school days was somehow scaring because I was scared of those insects and other things.

But along the line seeing my husband grossly in love with agriculture, I just had to toe the line and gradually it became a passion for me.

What did you start with in your furore into agriculture?

When we were in the dry far north east, Maiduguri, where there was not much water, much rain, we were farming. We had a very big compound and my husband would always farm groundnut. We had a garden at the back. In that garden, we had vegetables all year round. We had some other fruits…

…How were you able to cultivate vegetables all year round since you said there was not much water and rain there?

Ok, somebody outside our fence had a car wash and then the water drains into the compound, so, we used that to irrigate the farm.

We have been in it. We always had vegetables. We could even take to the market for sale while we were there.

So, you started with vegetable farming?

Vegetable farming; during the season, we had groundnuts and at a time my husband even went into a kind of commercial farming. We had a millet farm at a time,…that was in 1990…

…the husband took over the narration…

I farmed in an area called Molai, from Maiduguri to Darwa west, that is Molai when you are going on the road – where the Boko Haram have taken over all those ones now.

About 30 kilometres away from Maiduguri, at Molai, you get to Darwa west, from there, about three kilometres into the bush, that was where I had my farm.

How big was the millet farm?

It was just about two acres. I was a civil servant, so, I was doing it on an ad hoc basis, not as a full time farmer.

The gaggle roams freely and their goslings (below) in confinement

How was the transformation like moving from one extreme end of Nigeria to another end?

On agriculture or personal level?

On agriculture….

From my introduction, I told you that anywhere I find myself, I look for land to farm.

So, when I came from Maiduguri to Benin in 2007, I had a very big farm again in Benin – a cassava farm.

Cassava farm with cashews too

Luckily for me, the office had a very big land, about 4 to 5 acres, if not more.

But because of the problem with agriculture, the pricing, you farm and at the end you take it to the women at the local market, the price is so low, so, I got discouraged and I had to abandon the farm in Benin and I decided to come down home to Igodo. I acquired small land.

The type of farming I am doing, Suleiman, is not actually for commercial purpose.

Like I told you, the interest is there. When you talk of gain from farming, if you are on the lower level, there is no much gain.

If you as a beginner, you want to go into farming…

…with profit in mind…(the wife cuts in)

…that, at the end, you are going to make a lot of profit, you may be discouraged.

But for people who are retired like myself, I use it to keep myself busy.

Like I always put it, I call my farming sustainable exercise. Sustainable in the sense that I go there, do my physical fitness in the farm; at the end of the day, I get something out of it for myself and for my family and I still have a little to sell.

The 'Nigerian apple,' bell-apple tree in bloom

Talking of profitability of agriculture at the low level, how do you think the problem can be addressed so that small holders can actually benefit from agriculture?

Yes, the problem there is marketing. Marketing your products, having people to buy products from you.

If you produce cassava and the price is so low. The production has its own problem but you can manage that. Where the real problem is for the low level farmers is the market. The middle men and women are the ones actually gaining it. They come to you as a low level farmer and buy products from you at very cheap rates….

A section of the orchard

Let's go into specifics now. What are the different segments of agriculture that you are into now?

I am not a commercial agriculturist. That is one…

…but you are in between subsistence and commercial farming…

Yes, you are correct. Why I am saying that is that…what I want to go into now is cashew farming. I have actually developed an area that is almost five acres in one spot. I have in other spots for cashew. That is the area I am focusing on now.

I want to do others at a lower scale. I have about 120-palm tree plantation; I have cassava farms in the region of two and three acres.

Even the cashew farm land has cassava in it since the cashew trees are still small.

Cashew plantation in the making

I also have plantains too.

I am aware that you used to have a fish pond. What is the status now?

Yes, I used to have a fish pond but I have left that two years ago.

Why did you abandon fish farming?

Yes, fish farming problems: location, …

…availability of water (wife helps out).

…My pond started leaking and eh, eh others too…

…supply of good stocks…(Madam chips in again).

I have other problem concerning marketing. In this location, you discovered the villagers don't have the ability to buy from you and taking it out to the nearest place like Auchi, you already have big farmers there, so, I decided to handoff, though I was doing it on a very small scale.

Why did you not continue with it for family consumption?

Water problem, leaking of the concrete pond…

Why did you not sink a borehole in this your executive farm house, because I know you can afford?

[General laughter] I can if I so wish. There is plan for that, but not now.

Agbelonews stands close to one beehive

I know you are also into bee keeping, though on a small scale. Tell us how you came into bee keeping.

It was Albert who actually introduced me into it. He worried me over it for a very long time, before I agreed. So, I asked him how much it would cost to make a beehive, he said one thousand, five hundred naira. I gave him the money.

Luckily enough, the very day he brought the beehive into this my compound was the day bees entered it! And that was what just ignited my interest in bee keeping.

When was the first hive brought to you?

November 2015.

How many active hives do you have now?

I have five.

Do you produce honey for your consumption alone or do you sell?

I sell.

And is it profitable?

Very, very.
Very, very profitable, if you can have more hives and you are lucky.

I am also aware you rear snails here.

We have eh, what do you call that type of…eh…[general laughter]…

…the wife comes in here…

…it is not even for consumption; it is just there for the fun of it.

Plantain plantation

Yes, we have.

When I walked in this morning, I saw geese. When did you acquire them?

We bought them in March 2018. They are not for commercial purposes. They are just there as pets.

“And they also perform security duties,” the wife added.

But is it not edible?

Yes, it is edible, but our own is not for that.

Okay, me I wan catch one chop o!

[General laughter]

You see my orchard behind my house. I have ducanuts; I have two trees of cherry; I have Nigerian apples….

…Is the Nigerian apple producing now? I remember seeing them when they were still at the nursery stage.

They are producing; we have started eating them.

Haaa, I don miss o!

[A round of laughter]

I have coconut trees; I have avocado pears…as I always put it, I plant anything plantable.

That is very good to hear.

Anywhere I go to and I see anything agriculture, any fruit…let me tell you that the Nigerian apple, bell-apple, that is the real name, but we call it Nigerian apple, they were brought to me all the way from College of Agric, Umudike, Abia state, and I planted them here.

What advice do you have for those who wish to go into agriculture based on your experience?

I may not have a good advice for those who want to go for commercial agriculture, but for the retirees who want to keep themselves busy instead of staying idle and to have that physical fitness, I think they should go into agriculture if the land is available for them.

I actually planned my own. I started acquiring land here because I planned to settle right in the village.

Are there still other aspects of agriculture you may want to go into in the future?

No, since I am not a commercial agriculturist…

…but as still part of your interest….

Actually, like poultry, we were doing a bit of poultry….

Aha, yes, poultry, I now remember. What happened to your poultry?

What we now do is free range, since we don’t go into commercial, still the same problems affecting every other aspect of agriculture I told you about.

What we do now is to buy a few and release them in the compound since I have a very big compound. I had eight before, but there are now seven remaining for my personal consumption.

You are also into yam farming

Yes. I have about an acre of yam farm for my personal consumption as well. I don’t sell yams.

Madam, I also know that you do process some of these farm products. Can you tell us about them?

I process gari. I have learnt to do that. I process palm oil. I did about three and a half gallons about two weeks ago.

This tree produces the black berry-like fruits used to process azeze

I also process the one we call azeze. They are like berries, I don’t know the English name for it. I make syrup or sweetener from the berries. I think it is a very good alternative to honey. I think it is good for the body. I also process that.

I processed quite a number of litres last year and we are preparing for the new season. They are just beginning to fruit, so, once they start ripening we also start the processing.

I also understand that the processed black syrup, let's just call it that for want of a proper name, does not go bad, it can stay for years.

Yes, just like honey, it does not go bad. We had some that we used for over a period of two years or so. I still have the one made last year.

Are the processed products just for family use or also for sale?

Well, well, for family use and for friends….