Growing up, I heard several stories about the Nigerian economy and how it was an agricultural export based economy in the sense that the economy deals with the export of agricultural products to other countries.
While I was in primary school then, my agric teacher will at some point or the other make mention of crops like rubber, cocoa, cotton and the likes as the backbone of the economy. That the economy was never one based on the export of crude oil to foreign countries. At some point, he referred to the Nigerian economy now as 'Oil-nomics'
Most times when these stories of an agric based economy is talked about, I almost find it very hard to believe considering what i met while growing up. How on earth was it ever possible that a country now solely into the export of crude oil in massive quantity was never like that and also looking at the fact that this crude oil is refined into finished product like petrol, diesel, kerosene, gas and the likes. These products are used massively around the world 🌍 and producing and exporting it should actually make sense to any government without the government looking at other sources to finance it's economy.
The so called Oil-nomics I met didn't help my conviction in any way to believe that things were never like this before and that agriculture was the backbone of the Nigerian economy and even these products were actually produced in massive quantity and exported abroad. Infact, I was having doubts that these products ever existed or where planted in the country
As time goes by, there was this subject called geography that shed more light about this crude oil of a thing and how it was discovered in Nigeria. Then all the pieces start to fit and make abit of a sense to me. Crude oil was never around as at the inseption of Nigeria, that the country existed before the discovery of crude oil and it's use, that even the cars and other heavy duty engines that make use of the refined petroleum products were not always around.
But even with my mindset changing a bit as a kid then, the fact that the so called agriculture produce that were the backbone of the economy were things I had not seen with my eyes and I was still thinking it was just a myth.
I had this mindset that even if these farm produce are no longer serving as the country main export that these products should still be seen around. The fact that my parents were farmers and I grew up going to farm that I should see some of these produce be it rubber, cotton, cocoa or any other. But no, I never saw any and this made me still have doubts.
Well, I was still young and naive if I should call it that. Over the years though as I grew up I was beginning to make sense of this little mystery of mine and I was having this conviction from listening to news about these produce in other countries and I was like maybe this produce just vanished but gradually. If they exist in other countries then they might have surely existed in Nigeria at some point in its history and that probably they still exist in some parts of the country but I have not been privileged to visits and see such.
Fast forward to 2019, I was a 25 year old man serving as a youth corps member in ogun state. While taking a walk one day I stumbled upon a farm. In that farm I saw several trees 🎄 on it and from my observation, these trees were actually cultivated for some kind of product. I was curious, what produce is the owner of this farm getting from these trees. While still close to the farm, I saw an elderly man working in the farm and without hesitation i approached him and after greeting him I asked about the farm and what the tree is for and behold it was rubber tree. Basically the tree produces a sap like substance that is later converted into rubber. I felt excited and enlightened at the same time and my curiosity and mindset changed that day. I was like so these produce do exist at some point because for me to see a farmer still planting such then it was around in the country at some point. I was happy that day though to say the least.
Its 2024, and almost five years from when I first saw a rubber tree. While at my farm today, I was tired and decided to take a walk round other farms and I made a discovery just like five years back. I saw a tree with it's fruit. But then this fruit looked like something I have seen in my agric text book before so I took a picture of it and upon searching it online I discovered it is cocoa.
I was excited to see that this is something that has always felt like a myth to me and I am practically seeing it with my own eyes, I could touch and feel it with my own hands. I was like whatever I was thought in Agric science while growing up then actually was true and had been planted in the country before and has also served the country in a massive way before.
My Agric science teacher wasn't wrong after all 😀
Well, this is how far the country has come and even the world also
Thank you all Hiveians for taking out time to view my post❣️❣️