Bassey Inyang in Calabar

Thousands of smallholder farmers in Etomi, Etung Local Government Area of Cross River State last Tuesday took to the streets of the community with placards bearing various messages in protest against alleged plans by the state government to privatise the cocoa estates located there.

With the placards bearing inscriptions such as ‘We say no to plan privatization of our cocoa estate’, ‘Do not deprive us of our rights’, ‘We won’t accept privatisation of our estate’, and ‘Our cocoa estate is not for sale’, the protesters, comprising elderly men and women, and male and female youths, called on the state government to cancel its plans to privatise the cocoa estate in Etomi community.

Speaking on behalf of the aggrieved protesters, an Etomi community leader, Mr. Mbek Agbor -Tangban, cautioned the states government not to deviate from the content of agreement which it entered with their grandparents before they made the land available for the cultivation of the cocoa estate.

“Government ought to have consulted us as the landlord community given the expanse of land we donated to them, because whatever that is going to happen with the estate, when it full becomes operational, we are the first people that will be hard hit.

“We saw a publication in the state government’s owned newspaper, The Nigerian Chronicle, dated June 25,2025, that the Privatisation Council of Cross River State had advertised tenders. That those who are interested to bid for the privatisation of our estate should indicate interest.

“We became so agitated because the government wants to privatise, notwithstanding the earlier agreement with our grandparents, and we should have been the first people the government ought to have consulted.

“The agreement is very clear that if the government wants to privatize or sublet, he ought to consult first with the landlords. We should be the first bidder, and in a situation where we are unable to bid, then they can advertise as stated in the agreement.”

Also speaking, a Women leader in Etomi, Ntunkai Mary- Ndum, said that if the state government was no longer interested in the small holders farmers scheme that is cherished by the community residents, the government should transplant their cocoa and vacate their land.

A youth leader of the Etomi community, Mr. Abang Shikina-Oji, urged the state government to have a rethink rather than privatise the farms.

Shikina-Oji said that right from inception their grandparents who donated the land to the (Michael) Okpara ‘s administration in 1957 had an agreement to accommodate the small holders farmers,  stressing that if there is anything that they are afraid that the proposed privatising of the cocoa estate will place the community at disadvantage.

They youth leader called on the state government to have a re-think and reverse the  decision to privatise the cocoa estate in Etomi, saying half of the community youths would become unemployed.

“We are okay with small holder farmers’ scheme we used to enjoy. If our farms are taken away from us, it means the government is going to leave us empty,” he said.

Reacting separately to the protest by the cocoa farmers, the state Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Johnson Ebokpo, and the state Commissioner for Information, Dr. Erasmus Ekpang, said that the state Governor, Senator Bassey Out, has the interest of the people at heart, and will not do anything that will be against the interest of the people.

They appealed to the aggrieved protesters to remain calm, promising that the state governor will address every issue they have raised.

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