Is there anything stopping Nigeria’s agriculture minister from launching a National Bitter Leaf Production Programme?

Ayo Akinfe

[1] As a people, we are yet to come to terms with the concept of agribusiness. I believe the day they we do, it will become the backbone of Nigerian manufacturing and the biggest source of government revenue

[2] Unfortunately, neither the APC or the PDP have any coherent agricultural policies, so food processing has just refused to take off. Just imagine how many jobs we would create nationwide if every one of our 774 local government areas had at least six agribusinesses that converted farm produce into finished goods

[3] Take bitter leaf for instance. Nigeria is the world’s largest producer. However, we do keep records of annual output and have never come with a coherent marketing plan to turn it into a cash cow. Vernonia amygdalina, popularly known as Bitter Leaf is a potential gold mine. Locally, it is known as Ewuro (Yoruba), Etidot (Ibibio), Onugbu (Igbo), Ityuna (Tiv), Oriwo (Edo), Chusar-doki (Hausa). It is both a food crop and a cash crop

[4] For starters, bitter leaf is a staple vegetable in soups and stews of various cultures throughout equatorial Africa. We should be processing and exporting millions of kilograms of this vegetable in frozen and dried packages

[5] Do you also know that the leaves of bitter leaf are also used in place of hops to brew beer. We should be supplying breweries worldwide with this ingredient

[6] It does end there. Do you know that the twigs and sticks from this plant are used as a chewing stick for dental hygiene and that the stems are used for soap in Uganda

[7] In Ghana, the young leaves rather than the old, have gained credence for its potent anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory activity

[8] In Northern Nigeria, bitter leaf has been added to horse feed to provide a strengthening or fattening tonic called Chusar Doki in Hausa

[9] Do you know that in the wild, chimpanzees have been observed to ingest bitter  when suffering from parasitic infections? Does this mean it can be a cure for infections? Why are we not examining this in laboratories across Nigeria? Can someone please explain to me why one Nigerian university has not undertaken to examine this

[10] Researchers say eating more of bitter leaf soup could be the panacea for diabetes, cancer, liver damage, drug resistant microbial infections and promotes safe childbirth, to mention but a few. The roots and leaves of bitter leaf have been shown to increase uterine contraction and motility for safer childbirth. Now, Nigeria has the highest incidence of deaths from birth in the world, yet we are the largest producer of the plant that can make a drug to prevent it. Sometimes, I wonder if we are fully human!

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