The Nation Newspaper

Tag: soursop

  • Soursop capable of generating forex for Nigeria

    Soursop capable of generating forex for Nigeria

    Mr Sylvester Danjuma, National President, National Soursop Producers Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria, says soursop fruit has forex potential if well harnessed in Nigeria.

    Danjuma expressed this view while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of commodities stakeholders meeting on Tuesday in Abuja.

    According to him, with good investments, adequate resources for cultivation of seedlings and enabling environment, the commodity will thrive, while thousands of youths will be employed across the value chain.

    “In exploring the value chain in soursop industry, from the value chain to the producer, processor and down to the marketer is an income chain.

    “You will find that a tree of soursop can yield about 75 to 80 fruits; that same number of soursop fruits can make juice drinks; it can be processed into tea and used for medicine.

    Read Also: The magic of soursop

    “Imagine you sell a piece for 1000 naira and maybe you have ten trees in your compound that yields 75 to 80 fruits; you will be making millions of naira without going anywhere and that alone is capable of boosting the economy.

    “People are suffering from different kinds of illnesses but if you take soursop, everything about the fruit from the leaf down to the root are medicinal.’’

    He said there were some other things produced with soursop like the soursop tea, soursop cake and even soursop supplements.

    “Soursop is capable of stopping all kinds of illnesses like malaria but the research is still ongoing and after the research it will be produced and we want other private sectors to come in so that we can grow the sector.

    “This is because it is a very viable sector that everyone needs to invest in; soursop is a tree that can be from within your compound.’’

    He called on the government to give the industry conducive environment to thrive and become a major source of forex for the economy; stressing on the need for government’s intervention on provision of antifungals and chemicals

    According to him, soursop needs antifungals and chemicals to help the seedlings grow.

    “The industry is a very good one for everyone to come on board; we are saying this so that we will have lots of people to come and invest in soursop and enjoy the inexhaustible benefits,” he said.

    (NAN)

  • The magic of soursop

    The magic of soursop

    “Hello ladies! I see you are all looking sweet,” came Christabel the Fashionista’s greeting, interrupting Ada who was explaining how she stumbled into a fruit market somewhere after Iyana Ipaja.

    “I was accompanying my friend to Command and explaining to her how AY, a mutual friend of ours, got rid of her cancer cells through a magical fruit,” she was saying when she was rudely interrupted.

    “What fruit are you talking about Barrister Ada,” I asked, urging that she return to the gist at hand.

     “Sorry Ada, no vex…Evelyn no vex…Ladies, guess who I have here…,” voiced an excited Christabel, forcing our attention from Ada’s gist. And for the first time, we all noticed the lady standing some few metres behind her.

    “She looked familiar but I can’t place her face,” Sexy Jola said.

    “Could it be her sister in Port Harcourt?” interjected Tamara.

    “Please, join us…,” Ada urged.

    “Come… Seat,.. Mummy Yinusa…Mummy Fawaz, please add two extra plates of fruits…we have a visitor and Christabel is back,” Ada hollaed.

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    And just as the light bulb went off in my head, Christabel suddenly said “Remember that woman at the heart of the family planning wahala, whose husband disrupted our party at Agbado? Meet Munachi!”

    “Welcome Muna..,” came the reception from the Women’s Corner gang. It was a cloudy Saturday morning and we were in the mood for revelry. We were having a healthy party, as Ada put it. She and Tamara had bankrolled it. Everywhere was calm and quiet.

    “Shhh, don’t let them hear. They haven’t forgiven her and her husband for what they did to our party, o,” Jolaolu shushed Christabel.

    “She seems like a nice person,” Tamara whispered as Muna sat next to Christabel who had taken her seat close to Ada.

    “Let me start by apologising to you over the mess that happened last time,” began Muna.

    “And her English sounds good, too. Does it mean she is educated…Evelyn I don’t understand,” whispered Tamara again.

    I turned and gave her a warning look that she should leave me alone. “Can you just let me concentrate,” I muttered loudly…too loud for my own good as my words caught the attention of others, including our guest.

    “Na Jamb question wey you need concentration abi na quadratic equation, wey you want solve,” Christabel teased, “Please, Muna continue …”

    “I wanted to thank and inform you. personally that I have got myself a teaching job. So, after you last visited, I decided to return the visit. I got inspired, seeing the humility and support from progressive minds like yours. Your words and support came as a balm for me and my family. Other women would have judged us…many actually judged me, but your encouragement made me strong. Thank you all…” Muna said and bursted into tears. And as is our tradition, we quickly circled around and built a wall of comfort about her. She calmed down, took her seat; we took ours, too, and Ada continued: “Muna, it is our pleasure to support you. Do not allow anyone to judge you. Everyone has their own demons to fight. Before you came I was sharing with the girls about a magical fruit that fights cancer – soursop. I’m not a doctor and this is a disclaimer before somebody goes to quote me wrongly, with due respect to our journalist in the House (laughs).

    “If you know the fruit, you’d agree with me that it looks rough and rugged on the outside. One can easily be deceived to think that the inside is the same. But it is made of more – the inside is soft and very tasty. So are you. In you, I see the magic of soursop.

    I am happy you have evolved to become the beautiful you. Let’s celebrate this African Queen who has returned to her passion – teaching!”

    “Go Muna”…”We are proud of you”…”That’s our girl…” We greeted her.

    “Oya lovely ladies, serve the fruits with soursop as main course. Let’s make it a staple in our homes,” advised Ada