Finding hope in a grain of rice

What is your part to play in this world? Many of us face this question during our lifetime, and it is one that Sunday Eze Ikeokwu, Bachelor of Legal Studies Cum Laude graduate from AIU’s 2018 class, answered for himself.

Originally from Nigeria, Sunday was raised in Germany. Having grown among the European industrialization and development, he took the knowledge acquired on his Bachelor's degree in Legal Studies and committed to better his homeland.

A dream of development

Nigeria has one of the highest poverty rates worldwide. Different factors, such as corruption and unemployment, keep close to 40% of Nigerians under the international poverty line -set at 1.9$ per day-, despite the country's mineral riches, which include oil.

The lack of industry diversity is one of the leading causes of unemployment in Nigeria. Most of the nation's workforce and investment focuses on oil, the main productive sector in the country.

However, in alliance with the government from Cross River -a state in South-South Nigeria with a 36.29% poverty rate-, Ikeokwu found an opportunity to aid his country's development. With his help, 18 new factories are working and producing in this state, and the star factory of this project is a rice seedling facility.

A Nigerian staple food, rice demand exceeds production year after year. Thus, making Nigeria the 4th country with the highest rice imports, a fact that negatively affects this country's already challenging economy.

Hope on the horizon

Opening the rice seedling factory increased the grain's production. The increment is enough to allow the Ayade Industrial Park in Cross River to meet the demand of the entire south of the country, contributing to reducing hunger in the African nation.

But the Ayade Industrial Park not only means rice for south Nigeria. The success of this seedling project has many followers, including the President of Nigeria. This effort set the whole country on a path aligned with the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The infrastructure and modern installations of the complex contribute to meeting the Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure goals for Sustainable Development and generating employment. Consequently, this helps reduce poverty and hunger and boosts economic growth, setting new lights on the horizon for Nigeria and Africa, the continent where -Sunday believes- lies the future.

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Tags:
Poverty, Africa, Nigeria, 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Unemployment, Hunger, Rice

References:
Sunday Eze Ikeokwu - Nigeria/Germany Atlantic International University - AIU 2019

2019 Poverty and Inequality in Nigeria
NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS
2020

The Poverty Capital of the World: NIGERIA
Borgen Magazine
2020 Principal rice importing countries worldwide in 2020/2021
2021