By JOHNSON ETOP

March 7, 2018: The day Akwa Ibomites heaved a sigh of relief as availability of meat and dairy products would no longer be a problem in the near future. The hope was built on the assertion by the Udom Emmanuel-led administration that 2,000 PREGNANT Mexican cows were in quarantine and would soon be enroute the state.

Hear the Commissioner for Information and Strategy at the time – Sir Charles Udoh: “Those cattle are female. They are coming with pregnancy. With that we are expecting 4,000 cattle after their delivery in the state. The cattle will arrive from Mexico. These cattle are not regular ones we have in the country. The species we are bringing can produce meat and milk. In the ranch set up by the state government for the cattle, there will be meat, milk and yogurt processing plants; and we will be self-sufficient in meat because we can produce what we need.”

As if he had problem convincing the people, he continued: “The cattle are already quarantined in Mexico and they will arrive the state once we have sufficient food to feed them. We have planted their feed in Uruan LGA and the area fenced so that the wild cattle in the state will not go and eat the plant.”

Udom Emmanuel’s commissioner was so sold on the idea of the Mexican cows that he didn’t care if his lies were believed or not. “Once the plant grows to maturity those cattle will arrive. We don’t want a situation the cattle will run short of food within two weeks of arrival. The land for them to stay is ready, the cattle are there and set to come to the state but they cannot come until we have what to feed them which is what we are working on now,” the commissioner had stated.

The sigh from the citizens was either out of exasperation or disbelief, since nearly a year had passed since the governor himself had at, a flag-off for an improved cassava stem plantation in Okobo on April 27, 2017, announced the establishment of a ranch in Uruan to accommodate 2,000 cows imported from Mexico – https://akwaibomstate.gov.ng/governor-emmanuel-flags-off-100-hectares-cassava-plantation-farm/.

In case the above link vanishes, in this report on Channels TV, the governor stated that the ranch HAD BEEN ESTABLISHED and was ready for the cattle: https://www.channelstv.com/2017/04/28/akwa-ibom-govt-commissions-100-hectares-of-cassava-plantation/

How the 100-hectare cassava plantation at Ikono-Offi/Nsie Community of Okobo is fairing is a matter for another day.

Back to the main meat of this article, according to available information on the “stranded Mexican cows”, the plan was to have San Carlos Farms, part of a Mexican group of Agro Allied Investors – San Carlos Group – known for large scale commercial farming, to build ranches for rearing of the expected cattle. The initiative was expected to result in availability of enough beef in the state and was supposed to be produced under the highest international standards, as well as milk for dairy companies.

As far back as December 5, 2016 Governor Emmanuel had received the San Carlos Group, led by Mr. Carlos Cabal and a Memorandum of Understanding was signed for the ranch to be located at Adadia in Uruan Local Government Area.

Again in 2019, the project resurfaced, but this time, with a twist… The cows were now reported to HAVE COME from Brazil…

Four to six years down the line, the cows must have given birth a couple of times, yet, Akwa Ibom people are yet to see, not to talk of buying the expected meat and milk.

The questions are:

Where is the ranch?

Was it even constructed or built?

Has the project failed or is it still “in the works”?

What has the land of the Uruan People been used for? Or was it left to waste for all these years?

How much of our state funds was put into this venture? Is it all for nought? (The expenditure was in the 2017 budget! N40 million) https://akwaibomstate.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/2020-REPORT-OF-AUDITOR-GENERAL.pdf

Did the cows even leave Brazil, Mexico, or wherever?

Time will tell… Let’s keep connecting the Dots!

Ku’ubò Idiök Enö!

The Star