My Kaduna experience…Changing the narrative.
As a southerner visiting Kaduna for the first time, I felt a lot of different emotions (as one would expect). I spent the weekend interacting with different locals (and foreigners).
A three minute read; The facts:
Kaduna was founded by the British in 1913 and became the capital of Nigeria’s former Northern Region in 1917. It retained this status until 1967. So it’s easy to understand why most of the power plan in Nigeria has roots in the State.
About 90% of Kaduna is actually peaceful (as opposed to what the media would have you believe).
DISCLAIMER: This doesn’t mean there’s never any crisis anywhere in Kaduna (or any other state or country). But for the most part, it’s a safe city.
Governor Nasir Ahmed el-Rufai is loved by many (and will win a second term easily). His policies are welcomed. However, a few locals disagree with how these policies are implemented.
My stay was dominated by the visit to the (really amazing) Tomato Jos farm. Tomato Jos is an agricultural production company that believes in the power of farming and processing local food products for local consumption. Their mission is to make tomato production a sustainable, profitable business for the farmers they work with. The Tomato Jos dream began in 2008, when Mira encountered her first tomato market glut in Northern Nigeria. Six years later, Mira finally decided to stop dreaming and start acting. Last week, I listened to Mira Mehta explain her perfect business idea.
PS: This takes us back to understanding one of the fundamental rules of life: Focus on adding value, the money will come :)
Read more on the Tomato Jos story here.
In summary, here are the lessons I learnt from my (short but educative) visit to The Center of Learning:
- The dangers of a one sided story as told by Chimamanda Achidie, is real.
- Nigeria is a blessed country. There’s so much untapped potential in the agricultural sector.
- Nigeria’s problems can only by solved by Nigerians. Foreigners can “help”, but ultimately, we are the solution.
- Great businesses are built by team work.
- The media (local and international) have misled us a lot more than we know.
- You can’t learn everything about Nigeria (we are just way too diverse).
Meanwhile, you might want to pay a visit to a few places of interest during your next visit to the State. I helped list some of them: Luggard Hall and Government Monument Bridge, General Hassan Usman Park, Man-made Kaduna, Nok Terra Cotta, Nok Village, Cultural Kaduna, National Museum Museum/Monument, Emir of Zazzau’s Palace, Zaria Cultural, Jakaranda Pottery.
Input for this article was also gotten from friends in Kaduna.
One clap, fifty claps? ;)
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