“People said these mango trees were planted by Sir Ahmadu Bello and since then, no individual or government has shown any concern over them.
school and stack food on the table but with the government chasing them from their trading posts along the streets, many have been forced out of business.
Kaltume Ahmadu, 72, has been selling mangoes at Barakallahu for many years. She agrees with Abigail on the best trading season, saying, “The business is more profitable during a season like this (the off season) because you find only the good species in the market that last for three to four weeks with no single one perishing. Another reason that makes it profitable is that there are fewer people selling the fruits. A consignment you get at N10,000 could sell at N13000 to N15000.”
Despite the huge wastage they incur due to non-existent storage facilities, she has been able to accomplish something tangible from her trade.
The mango trees at Kanta Road were reportedly planted by Nigeria’s Premier of the Northern Region, Sir, Ahmadu Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto along with other government officials at the time.
Our correspondent visited these trees and was told by residents that the fruits of those trees are bounties for people who troop to them in mango season.
Muhammad Sani Funtua, a petty trader nearby, told Daily Trust that people often come with their bags to cart away the fruits.
“Nobody stops people from eating the fruits, including children who pluck them in large numbers. Both residents, people passing by, women, children including the ones coming with bags to lug the mango to the market and sell,” he said.
“A lot of the fruits is wasted because hundreds of thousands of fruit drops on the ground and litter the street,” he added.
Musa Ibrahim, a guard at Kanta Road said, “People said these mango trees were planted by Sir Ahmadu Bello and since then, no individual or government has shown any concern over them. Every mango season, children especially Almajirai, girls, women and young men keep visiting the street for mangoes.”
Despite the numbers trooping to cart away the fruits, he believes that about half of the fruits are left behind to rot, leaving residents of the area with an environmental crisis.
Investigation by our correspondent shows that mango is not part of the agricultural priority value chains selected by the state government for its agric enhancement projects during the launch of the World Bank assisted project on Policy Alignment and Collaboration in the Implementation of AgroProcessing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support Project (APPEALS) last April.
Former Kaduna state Deputy Governor, Arc Barnabas Bala Bantex, who doubled as the Chairman of the State Steering Committee of the project said, “It is not by accident that Kaduna State selected dairy, ginger and maize as it’s priority value chains for the project. Let me reiterate that the choice is deliberate. Maize is selected to promote food security, ginger is for its export potential and dairy is to improve livelihood. These will support our drive to create jobs, improve standard of living and attract investment into the economy of our state.”