SHOCKING: Farmers Shun Fertilizers, Rely On Sacrifice For Land Fertility

Cultivating a fertile soil is certainly the secret to yielding a jumbo harvest by farmers. As such, fertilizer is overly used by all and sundry to enrich the soil for bumper harvest, but farmers in Kigbe, a community in Yebu ward of Kwali Area Council of the FCT make do with bumper harvest even without fertilizers.

The residents are among the few that cling to culture, which many communities have abandoned in the face of modernized farming.

While other farmers thronged for fertilizers to enhance their farm produce, all Kigbe farmers need do is to prepare a sacrifice of a duck fowl and pounded yam.

The traditional ruler of the community, Yusuf Adamu, who made this revelation to Aso Chronicle recently, said the cultural land fertility process was inherited from past generations. He stated further that the sacrifice is connected to a masquerade, ‘Gbunu’, noted for its power by the residents.

He said the sacrifice, usually carried out during rainy season, is done by a group of elders. According to him, the duck fowl will be slaughtered and the pounded yam prepared in a shrine. As part of rites, before the elders proceed to the shrine to slaughter the duck fowl, they appear half naked and trek to fetch a Fadama soil, which will be added to some concoction. Thereafter, they will proceed to the shrine to slaughter the duck fowl to appease the gods. The concoction is taken to a spot where two road paths meet.

The elders alongside the masquerade will now come back to the shrine and cook the duck fowl with a pounded yam at the shrine in which after some days, all the farm land in the community becomes fertile and suitable for farming.

“It is after the sacrifice you will see that all the farm land in this village becomes fertile as farmers will now go to cultivate their farms and at the end, we make a bumper harvest without bothering to go and look for fertilizer. Beside I can’t remember the year any farmer in this community set his eyes on fertilizer,” he said.

The traditional ruler, who also spoke on some of the challenges facing the people of the community, however identified lack of access to good road network as one of the major challenges especially on the abandoned Kwaita-Yebu road.

He said the Kwaita-Yebu road is one of the roads that link the community to many neighboring communities in both Kwali and Kuje area councils, but has been abandoned for years by the FCT administration under the satellite towns’ development department.

He called on the authorities of Kwali Area Council to come to the aid of the community.