Acquiring an All-Star Agronomist

The Cleveland Cavaliers have LeBron James. The New York Yankees have Alex Rodriguez. The New England Patriots have Tom Brady. Golf has Tiger Woods. Tennis has Roger Federer. All of these men have 1 thing in common. They are all-stars in their respective sports and highly sought after for commercial advertisements. To bring them into your organization is to raise the level of productivity beyond any previous expectations.

INTERCEP (Intl. Centre for Peace, Charities & Human Dev.) needs Ebenezer Udofia to run our farm operations in northeastern Nigeria (Maiduguri). Ebenezer is the son of a retired proclaimer of the good news from southeastern Nigeria. Ebenezer currently runs the RNT farm operation in Damaturu, Yobe State which is 1 1/2 hours west of Maiduguri. The RNT farm operations consists of guava, mango, orange orchards, thousands of broilers, and thousands of layers. RNT farms breeds cows, horses, chickens, rams, goats, sheep, fish, mills grains, squeezes fruit into juices, and grow numerous vegetable crops.

Ebenezer has completed a graduate degree in animal production technology and has written a book on "A Guide to Raising Rabbits." He is currently being pursued by the largest commercial farm in northeastern Nigeria owned by a state governor who is promising to pay him more money that he could imagine. The RNT farm that Ebenezer manages is 1.5 miles by 1.5 miles giving him the responsibility of managing 30 workers in fruit, livestock, milling, and vegetable operations. Ebenezer is a committed believer but those who are seeking his skills could care less about his religious orientation because he can generate enormous revenue. For the past 2 years, I have visited with Ebenezer at assemblies in Damaturu causing my interest to grow as his gifts and humility are obvious.

Recently, Ebenezer assisted INTERCEP in Maiduguri with a proposal to Healing Hands International (HHI) for 100 broilers, 100 layers, rams and rabbits to enhance our current vegetable production through drip irrigation. Dave Goolsby from HHI was so impressed that he recommended that INTERCEP hire Ebenezer away from RNT farms to serve in Maiduguri. At first, I wondered how in the world that INTERCEP could afford one with Ebenezer's talent when we barely can afford to pay a secretary and farm caretaker. I set up an appointment to meet with Ebenezer for lunch in Damaturu and explained to him how we needed people of his caliber. When I first mentioned the possibility of Ebenezer serving as the administrator of the INTERCEP farm, he was obviously thrilled.

However, nothing could prepare me for his response after I asked him concerning his salary need. He replied: "Brother Brad, there is no amount of money that you could pay me to work for God. I know that I will receive double my reward in heaven for doing this work. Don't worry about the money. God will provide. If it is God's will, I will work to see that the INTERCEP farm in Maiduguri is producing enough to satisfy everyone for God's glory." Arewa Aid will labor to pay Ebenezer's salary through INTERCEP until the farm is self-sustainable and we would be blessed through your partnership.

Drip Irrigation Promotes Big Dreams

When the Blake family moved to northeastern Nigeria (Maiduguri) in July of 2005, we immediately felt the August vegetable scarcity. We had lived in central Nigeria (Jos) for 4 years enjoying an abundance of sweet corn, green beans, lettuce, green peas, and broccoli. God blessed Jason Williams to visit us in August of 2005 with my mother, Carolyn Blake. Immediately, Jason perceived that Maiduguri would be a ripe candidate for a drip irrigation project through Healing Hands International. Jason went back to the College Hills church and Healing Hands preaching the need for growing veggies in the desert.

I was eventually invited by Healing Hands along with two believers in Maiduguri to attend a drip irrigation conference at Dakar, Senegal in March 2006. When we got back home to Borno State, we started composting at a piece of abandoned property. We began to secure that forgotten propety in western Maiduguri throughout 2006 with a perimeter wall. God brought $10,000 into that project to "build the wall" around this 2 1/2 acre sandy soil plot in 2006. This set the stage for our 2007 project to turn at least half of the field from a desert into a beautiful garden.

Our 2006 compost heaps were well-preserved providing a foundation for us to begin envisioning plant growth. In 2007, we began raising plant beds to test the viability of composting and drip irrigation. Parcels containing various types of seeds began rolling into our post office box allowing us to experiment with the compost and drip method. This set the stage for a bumper harvest of zucchini, squash, sweet corn, cucumber, and sweet corn in July of 2007. As our first food security workshop was launched for the Borno State Agricultural Ministry, they were deeply impressed at what could be done.

The Nigerian NGO (non-governmental organization) under whom we serve is INTERCEP (International Centre for Peace, Charities, and Human Development). INTERCEP in Maiduguri is now known as the organization impacting people at the grassroots with sustainable farming. Farmers have depended on rainy season crops like sorghum, guinea corn, millet, peanuts, and watermelon for centuries. This always proved risky because the rains only fall in northeastern Nigeria for 3 months a year at best. Now that the word is out on the street that vegetables can be grown in the desert people are excited.

Arewa Aid is our USA-based 501c3 non-profit organization that provides INTERCEP in Maiduguri with the tools that it needs to progress. Phase 1 of our vision is to help promote a sustainable agricultural project for local poor farmers. Phase 2 of our dream is to initiate a skill acquisition center that will train local unemployed youth with marketable skills like sewing, auto mechanics, electrical work, plumbing, and masonry. Phase 3 of our long-range plan is to mobilize a rural clinic on wheels that will travel to the poorest villages in northeastern Nigeria with primary health care. In phase 4 we foresee that a primary school targeting the poorest children with options in arts and computer skills will bless children with no options.

Would you become part of the Arewa Aid family in providing humanitarian empowerment to those the people of northeastern Nigeria?