Boki, the Canaan of Nigeria

Boki land . . .

A place I call Eden in Cross River State, Nigeria

Boki land . . .

Where the clouds kiss the mountains in an endless romance

A land so innocent, you can still see virgin forests with lovely unpolluted streams flowing with crystal clear waters.

Boki land . . .

The link to the breathtaking Obudu Cattle Ranch. The air is so fresh and clean and the environment is peacefully quiet, only punctuated by sounds of nature. I had the feeling of remaining there and not returning to the noise, odour, and pollution of the urban jungle resulting from an endless rat race. I prefer this natural jungle.

A land so far from any higher educational institutions but the natives can understand Queens English in their churches, even the elderly people.

A land where you can drive through deep forest roads without fear of robbers or kidnappers even at 2 a.m.

I will always come back, but not alone again.

You need exposure and exploration, not exploitation.

You are richer than several nations; You can feed this nation.

I was in Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria to do a series of economic empowerment seminars organised by the Men’s Ministry of the Assemblies of God Church, Nigeria, Boki District.

I got to Okundi by about 9 p.m. on Wednesday, the 22nd of October. We left on Thursday morning for Wula in Eastern Boki, close to the border with Cameroon. We had to go southwest to Ikom before going north again in nearly a full circle—a distance of about 156 km because a link road that would have taken about 45 minutes is still under construction.

It was as if I was in another country.

The road to Wula also leads to the picturesque Obudu Ranch that I visited during my last missionary journey.

What struck me was that the clouds just settle over the mountains that are all around you. There were giant trees everywhere, even very close to homes.

Ironically, there was none I saw that was used for a shrine despite their giant sizes. I learnt that white missionaries of the Assemblies of God Church from America came there many years ago and evangelized that area.

The fertility of the land is such that you don’t need fertilizers. Truck loads of bananas are loaded daily from Wula to the cities.

There is the smell of cocoa everywhere. Anywhere you turned, one would see cocoa seeds either being transported from farms to the villages or spread in the open in preparation for export to the cities.

The yams here are giant sized. Oranges were extremely cheap. Honey is like in the promised land; in fact, I came with some.

There are forests that are so dense that the forest floor has very little undergrowth.

I was told that with a little sum you can be adopted into a community. After your induction you can be led to a virgin forest over 100 years old and told to cultivate as much land as you want. Palm trees, plantains, cocoa, and any tropical crops do well here.

Logging is prohibited here and mountain gorillas here are protected. With good hotels, which are virtually none existent here, this land would be a tourist haven.

I must not fail to mention New Jerusalem which is some distance from Boki, where the males speak one language and the females another language in the same town and in the same household. Imagine speaking a different dialect from your sister. Because of the multiplicity of dialects, Pidgin English is the lingua franca.

I plan to be back next year—my 5th missionary trip.

I plan to go back next year with other agricultural experts to teach on Bee Keeping, poultry, and piggery.

I came back with bush meat . . . . NO MONKEYS.