By Saby Elemba
Emma George Eke, the managing director/ chief executive officer of Justy Confectionery and Foods Limited, has disclosed that the company has recorded a major breakthrough in the fight against food security in the country with the production of the Omimi Wonder Garri which is the first of its kind in the world of garri production.
Speaking at a one day sensitisation programme with the theme,“Omimi Garri ,a World Super Food”, held in Owerri, the Imo state capital, the foremost agricultural scientist/food technologist,said the breakthrough was exclusively achieved by the Justy Confectionery and Food Limited after 25 years of rigorous and meticulous research.
Eke,who is also the traditional ruler of Ishi Ubomiri in Mbaitoli local government area, Imo State, disclosed that the product had been adjudged as the richest food across the globe duly certified by the National Agency for Food ,Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) as fit for human consumption.
According to the award winning nutritional expert,the “Omimi Wonder Garri” which is the first of its kind in the world of garri product had been made a “Super Food with the capacity to regulate blood sugar, prevent the spread of cancer, tackle glaucoma disease and reduce cholesterol, increased fertility among men and women”.
He listed 13 reasons why the Omimi Garri is a wonder food to include: provision of complete protein, enhancement of pregnancy, boosting the immune system of the people of the state, prevention of various cancers and diabetes, increasing the memory and intelligence of the young and the elderly, managing menopause effectively with vitamins D, K, calcium, maintenance of healthy eyes and obesity with adequate levels of choline to prevent accumulation of fat in the liver.
Eke noted that intensive and extensive production of cassava with the support of financial institutions such as the Bank of Industry (BOI) would change the nutritional world , and in addition, enhance the nation’s agricultural potential.
He,therefore, tasked the three levels of government in the country to provide large acres of land for massive production of agricultural products especially cassava. This is as he has also urged the state and the 774 local governments councils in the country to establish garri factories as well as agricultural processing centres to boost food production and creation of jobs in the country.
Also speaking at the event, Anthony Ajuruchi,Imo State Coordinator of the Nigeria Export Promotion Council(NEPC) expressed delight at the birth of the “Omimi Garri” product by the Justy Confectionery Food Limited which he said has met the standard expected of it and has the capacity to make wave in the export market.
Ajuruchi assured that the federal government was doing her best to assist industrialists not involved in the oil sector to expand their business.
In the same vein, Ijeoma Onyia of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) who spoke in tandem with the head, Women in Agriculture, Imo Agricultural Development Programme, Elsie Emecheta who represented the general manager of the establishment, Jones Uzoka and the permanent secretary of the State Ministry of Trade and Investment Ebere Onyia, pledged the readiness of their establishments to partner with the Justy Confectionery and Foods Limited .in its mission to improve the lives of the people.
