“Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one CAN go.” T.S. Eliot
What is the answer? After thinking for 20 years and tinkering with many ideas, an answer has presented itself. What is the question? I’ve found the fastest way to make millionaires out of our youth. I’m not sure who, but some dead philosopher might have said something like: “If you think long enough about an issue and work hard enough, you would find the answers.”
And the answer isridiculously simple: Give a youth cooperative society 1,000 guava trees to plant and monitor the hell out of that cooperative. At least that is the short version of it.
However, since charity begins at home, we want to do this in each of the 25 local government areas in Niger State to reach 25,000 trees.
But our ultimate aim is to plant a quarter of a million (250,000) trees planted in 10 states of the North.
Our estimates show that each tree will yield N35, 000 per year. Although a boss in Abuja told us that we should lower our estimation. So we’re willing to go as low as N10, 000 per tree. The longer the trees live, the more fruits they produce, because they would be studier to carry more weight.
If this new estimate holds, a thousand trees would make 10 million naira, while 25,000 trees would give us 250 million naira.
If each cooperative has 10 members, that would be 250 individuals doing guava business or 250 millionaires. By the time we move to other states, we should have 2,500 millionaires. That’s quite huge. I don’t know how many millionaires even the government makes in four years.
This is doable.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but fruits are getting expensive in Nigeria. Recently at a mosque, a fruit hawker offered to sell me the variety of mango called “Binta Sugar” for N15 each. If you know this mango, it’s very small. However, most of what we are planting is called “Jumbo Guava” which sells for between N50 to N100.
But like Adre Johnson of the TV show “Black-ish” said, “It takes team work to make the dream work.” Therefore, we need you.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
The following frequently asked questions should address the queries that may be collecting on your mind right now.
Who can apply?
Women and youth cooperatives. Youth associations and the associations of people living with disabilities can also apply but they must have a cooperative.
What are other requirements?
The cooperative should have 2.5 hectares of land, access to water (well, dam, etc.), can protect the trees from animals (goats, cattle, etc.), access to fertilizer (mainly cow dung, kashinshanu or bullsh*t).
Also, write us a brief information of how you’re going to take care of the trees – not more than 200 words.
Why trees?
With the right tree, the major investment is the initial investment, from which you would continue to reap for many years. Trees are also oxygen factories. They breathe out oxygen and consume or breathe in the carbon dioxide humansbreathe out, so trees are good for the environment. They’re good for us.
Why guava?
I grew up among guavas. As a teenager, my first book, “Formidable Kingdom” was written while hanging on guava trees. This sentimental attachment aside, there are more practical reasons why this interesting tree was chosen.
It’s prolific. With good care, it produces all year round. Good care here means, watering every day and application of kashinshanu every three months. How many fruit trees have that credential? So it is easy to care for.Further, everybody loves guava, maybe because it is easy to eat – unlike mango for example.
Have you done a pilot project?
Yes. We gave some mango trees to individuals in Bida, but it is too early to tell whether that is successful. However, we donated a complete orchard of many different trees to a school in Abuja. The guavas started producing fruits in about one year. The mangos after one and a half years. Only papaya trees (eight months) produced fruits faster than guava.
What are the benefits of engaging youth in this venture?
It distracts them from unproductive ventures. With something to do and income of their own, politicians can’t sway them into pointless political activities. It gives them hope, something tangible for which to look forward. It also makes entrepreneurs out of them. Whether the venture succeeds or fails, they would have learned some business skills.
Additionally, this gives our youth access to capital. And as we know from the time of Marx, access to capital is a huge deal – a big advantage.
We’ll also be harnessing cooperative use of labour to realize economies of scale, which may unite and encourage the cooperatives to try other businesses.
Market?
We have three targets. Major food producers such as Dangote Dansa, Chivita, small-scale fruit juice producers and street hawkers – those who sell on trays and in wheel barrows.
We’re also considering teaching ourselves how to make fruit concentrate for easy storage and preservation. We are also not ruling out opening our own fruit juice factory.
If all else failed, the youth would eat the fruits as food to satisfy hunger.
Who are the promoters?
The main organizations promoting this initiative are Prof. Brainy Consulting, Dooba Foundation and 2Goals.
Funding?
The funding is mainly through donations. One local government or 1,000 trees at N200 per tree including transportation, will cost N200, 000.We want to give two cooperatives per local government. Each will receive 500 trees. We hope this would engender competition and improve productivity.
How much can you contribute?
We are adopting the beggars’ mantra: “no amount is too small.” N1, 000 can buy five trees. To us, that’s a lot. But more importantly, imagine how many lives you can improve by one day worth of recharge card. And according to the principle of sadaqatuljariya, you’d continue to receive reward even after you’re gone. So plant as many trees as you can – especially in this month of Ramadan. Email or call me to donate.
Is this model based on any science?
Yes. It’s based on a synthesis of many tried and true principles. Contact me for more information.
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