₦airaland Forum

This past few months, I have had the urge to tell my Dad's story. How his passion eventually contributed to his death. This event opened my eyes to the fact that there is always 2 effects to things, its either a Positive event or Negative event. I experienced the positive impact of Agriculture but unfortunately, my Dad's story was different. But he opened my eyes to the opportunities in Agriculture. I am a farmer because of him. Sit back and enjoy this short story about Pa Oguns as we loved calling him

My Dad was a jack of all trade, there was virtually nothing he couldn't do. His BMW car back then turned him into a Mechanic , it was such a problematic car for him but he loved the brand with all of his heart. He had a weakness for a White BMW salon car.

He was an Electrical engineer by profession who specialized in computer repairs back then. He was a very intelligent man

His journey into Agriculture started with him owning a Fish farm. We were his labourers unfortunately but we did it with joy. It was our first time seeing a live fish. It was such a thrilling experience especially when we had to grade the fishes and separate them into different tanks based on their sizes. Watching them feed was a task we all fought to do.

The business failed! The problem started with him being sold the wrong Species. They weren't growing as they should even though they were fed well. Just a few grew big, a lot remained the same size they came when we started the batch

Expensive fish feed nko? It was an eyesore. They were fed with coppens then, I don't know if it's still in the market. The feed smelt just like fish; it smelt delicious. At a point, he had to formulate his own fish feed, he got an extruder to shape them just to cut cost and make the business sustainable. The fishes would eat each other if they weren't fed well

Las las, nah we chop 80% of the fish o. We sold the few that were of marketable sizes. We grilled the rest on a charcoal stove and used it for personal consumption 😂

Next, he went into Broiler Business which I must say was the most successful of all the side businesses he did. The poultry was built close to the house, my mum and siblings managed it when he wasn't in. I was already in school at that time. I studied in OAU, Osun state. Everytime I call, I always heard good news about the poultry. Everybody was happy and positive. Whenever I came home from school, I was always happy at what I saw. Fat broiler chickens looking healthy and tantalizing 😂

The disaster happened when he was to sell those broiler. I don't know where he got his buyers, but he brought some people to the farm and they bought the chicken at ridiculous prices. Even at that, he still made profit from the business. Although, he would have made more if he actually had a business sense.

What I would have done if I have the opportunity to own that kind of farm is to sell those chicken directly to final consumers. More like a point and kill format. Or better still, open a shop in town, get a deep freezer and sell the frozen chicken to final consumers. He would have built a sustainable business model if he had done it that way.
Instead, he was ripped off by Middlemen

Cedagrochemical:
Next, he went into Broiler Business which I must say was the most successful of all the side businesses he did. The poultry was built close to the house, my mum and siblings managed it when he wasn't in. I was already in school at that time. I studied in OAU, Osun state. Everytime I call, I always heard good news about the poultry. Everybody was happy and positive. Whenever I came home from school, I was always happy at what I saw. Fat broiler chickens looking healthy and tantalizing 😂

.

Abeg come quick and update this part oh. Imagine having fat fat broilers and one week to Christmas danger struck!
Kai,dis 2025 I saw shege sha ohhhh

Ride I'm with you. But I no go buy anything oh!! incase it ends up as a neolife, gnld, agricultural seminar, ebook, or training thread.

😂😂😂, don't worry, I no dey sell anything. I just felt the nudge to share my dad's story

Jakarta:
Ride I'm with you. But I no go buy anything oh!! incase it ends up as a neolife, gnld, agricultural seminar, ebook, or training thread.

Hmmm, something similar happened to my sister. The chickens were doing well until it was time to sell. They all died. She cried shege, she couldn't be consoled

stanvesco:
.

Abeg come quick and update this part oh. Imagine having fat fat broilers and one week to Christmas danger struck!
Kai,dis 2025 I saw shege sha ohhhh

Story continues o, my dad was a kind of man that was always trying things, new things just to make money to feed his family. He was always very happy to try new things. There is no business he can't do for the sake of his children. Everytime I think about his life and how he died, I always cry and I feel sad for the rest of the day.

I would have really loved to appreciate him if he was still alive. He actually opened my eyes to the untapped potentials in agriculture

I really didn't know those that were always advising him on this business ideas. But what I remembered is, he came home to tell us that he wanted to try Mechanized cassava and maize farming. My mum was like, we can still continue with the broilers, it's not as if it wasn't profitable at all. We learnt our bitter lesson about middlemen, we could have tried a different way of selling the chicken. But my Dad refused o, he was hell bent on doing mechanized maize and cassava farm at Ede, Osun state. We lived in Ogun state

Before we could say Jack Robinson, he already sold his plot of land and took all the money to start the Farm. It was a large farm, running into hectares. He leased the land for the farming

A few months into his farming, he invited me over to come see the farm. I schooled in Ile ife, so it was very easy to travel to Ede. When I saw the farm, I was so proud of his decision. The maize were looking all lush and green. He explained the processes to me, I could see the cassava intercroped looking all healthy and promising

When I returned to school that week, virtually my whole department knew that my Dad was now a mechanized farmer 😂😂. I would tell anyone that cared to listen

I was really so proud of him

He harvested the maize which was used to cover a part of his production cost. The cassava were looking all good until disaster struck

Interested in this story.

When he started the farm, he had to relocate to Ede. He lived not too far from the farm.

He went for his usual farm inspection to see how his farm was doing only to see the farm has been completed destroyed by Fulani herdsmen

Ah!!! That was his last hope and that hope destroyed him. He managed to return home from Ede to narrate the sad story. He suddenly had insomnia, he couldn't sleep anymore. I mean, the natural ability for a human to sleep was snatched from him.
We would hear him crying at night, every night according to my mum

After about a month, the sleeplessness advanced into Hallucinations. He would scream through the night saying 'some people were after his life' and sometimes say 'he was seeing strange creatures' more like a buffalo trying to break through the wall into his room.

It was a period of depression for the whole family

Then he collapsed, he was rushed to the hospital. The doctor mentioned that his organs were collapsed according to my mum. All these times, I was in my final year in school. I couldn't come home but I got updates from home about what my Dad was going through. My hero was falling and I couldn't help as I was helpless

Doctors tried their best but not much could be done. He lost his eyesight

Cedagrochemical:
😂😂😂, don't worry, I no dey sell anything. I just felt the nudge to share my dad's story

Cool, then I mount here, oya tegwolo bring the pop corn, and cold water from fridge.

My Dad's younger brother asked for a change in environment to see if that would help. He was taken to live with his younger brother

When I was on holiday from school, I went to visit him and I could barely recognize him. He was partially blind and walking with a stick. We had a long talk but what he kept repeating were his regrets. I kept reassuring him that everything is going to be fine, he just have to forget the past. I saw him on a Friday, I promised him that by Monday, I would send him some money.

I never knew that would be the last time I would see him alive or talk to him

I got a call from home on Sunday night that my Dad had passed

Early on Monday morning, I rushed back home. He was already tied up according to Islamic burial rites as he came from a Muslim family.

He was wrapped in white material and tied with a rope. I couldn't even see his face. I was too scared to enter the room he was placed in. He was buried on the same day

It's close to 15 years since he passed, but the experience remains so fresh in my heart and memory

Did his experience stopped me from being a Farmer? No!
I graduated as an Architect but I am currently a full time farmer. I learnt a lot from his mistakes. He actually opened my eyes to the potentials in Agriculture. It's what I do now. I am so sure he is proud of me wherever he is now.

My story on how I entered farming is for another day entirely 😂😂 but trust me, it's an interesting one which I don't mind sharing

So sorry for for your loss. 13 years after Fulani herdsmen still remains a menace to Nigeria farmers. Who do this country this thing?

You know I forgot to add a part of the story where after my dad passed, myself and my mum decided to visit the farm to see if anything can be salvaged.

We met those herdmen on the farm with their cows. They had to make sure the farm was 100% destroyed. Myself and my mum spent the whole day crying. It wasn't funny at all

Jakarta:
So sorry for for your loss. 13 years after Fulani herdsmen still remains a menace to Nigeria farmers. Who do this country this thing?

May his soul rest in peace.

Did farming really break him? I doubt. Seem like spiritual angle.

Jakarta:
So sorry for for your loss. 13 years after Fulani herdsmen still remains a menace to Nigeria farmers. Who do this country this thing?

Let everybody continue to keep quiet and do nothing,

Only in this country that this rubbish is allowed to continue

All other countries have strictly gone the modern ranching way. Only Nigeria that practice of nomadic herding is allowed to continue even after PBAT created ministry of livestock for them.

No compensation at all for the family
What a shame to the herder that trampled and destroyed this family business, and shame to our country for allowing this travesty to keep happening over and over again.

CodeTemplarr:
Did farming really killed him? I doubt. Seem like spiritual angle.

You have a point. How does loss of income lead to organ failure and partial blindness. Depression, Insomnia; Yes. But not that kind of rapid sickness. Well, he seems like a good man. May he keep resting.

I really enjoy the trend...but if I may ask what kind of farming can start yeilding profit in a space of a year..and can 1m start farming

Cedagrochemical:
Did his experience stopped me from being a Farmer? No!
I graduated as an Architect but I am currently a full time farmer. I learnt a lot from his mistakes. He actually opened my eyes to the potentials in Agriculture. It's what I do now. I am so sure he is proud of me wherever he is now.

My story on how I entered farming is for another day entirely 😂😂 but trust me, it's an interesting one which I don't mind sharing