FOOD DIARY: SHOULD THE GOAT/COW SKIN POPULARLY REFERRED TO AS "PONMO" BE BANNED?

     So I heard the federal government wants to place a ban on the goat/cow skin popularly referred to as "ponmo" , and trust me , I had to pen this down ***winks***

   

    By all means, the nkwobi joints must not be driven out of business, it is also core component in Edikaikong and efo riro, Remember???.

   Already, the process of dollarisation of cassava by which farmers are enticed to concentrate efforts on producing for export so as to earn dollars is making the by-products – garri, lafu, fufu and so on — inaccessible in the market. Thus, garri is threatening to be beyond the poor man’s reach. Now it is ponmo’s turn, no thanks to the frenzied craze for the almighty dollar.

●Certain Nigerians can go to limits to have this.

      I have nothing against any policy geared towards the
enhancement of the nation’s ability to earn foreign exchange. The worry comes in when government and its agencies create the impression that it is all that matters: the welfare of the citizens is sacrificed on the altar of money and placed on a subordinate level.
     Also being cautious  of the government’s claim on food security. It pretends to be concerned about hunger among the populace and what it entails vis-a-vis the overall national security.

●Ponmo is also referred to as the poor man's meat

    For several years, ponmo has been a delicacy; however, its continual existence may be threatened by the Federal Government’s plan to place a ban on the sale and widespread consumption of the product.
    The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, made this known at the third joint anniversary of the Animal Science Association of
Nigeria and the Nigeria Institute of Animal Science, held at the University of Ibadan.
     He said that “I also commend NIAS for its advocacy and enlightenment programme on radio and television that promote value addition in livestock, as against sale and consumption of primary products alone, particularly with the issue
of curtailing the widespread consumption of of hides and skins as ponmo , which ought to be tanned into leather for a very high dollar return to the farmer and tanneries.
“I expect that competent regulations acceptable by all stakeholders will develop so as to give credibility that our set standards for food safety are being implemented to boost value addition.”
    If this statement is anything to go by, then we should begin to expect that a few months or years from now, we may wake up to the reality that ponmo has become a ‘delicacy in the past.

●For some , ponmo is a delicacy , a constant in their menu.

    Since I don’t eat ponmo because medical experts claim that it lacks nutritional value, but this opinion was challenged at the summit by some other experts, who I guess are leader dealers, who claim that ponmo is good for people who have such health issues as diabetes.

●Ponmo they say is not nutritious,  but has been proved to help people with health issues such as diabetics

    ’For many, ponmo is a delicacy, a constant in their menu. There is the argument that it has no nutritional value. But, surely, it gives the eater the psychological feeling that his meal is not naked. Do we want to deny him that too?

●Imagine , what Nkwobi and Efo Riro would look like without this.