Anambra Governor Lied About $5 Million Vegetable Export

SaharaReporters have reported that Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State “orchestrated a false and misleading campaign when he recently asserted that his state had earned $5 million by exporting vegetables.”

Governor Obiano, recently in Abuja, said his government had boosted agricultural exports and was selling millions worth of vegetables, mostly to Europe. Reports also said that these exports earnings are from pumpkin leaves and bitter leaves.

According to SaharaReporters, Governor Obiano used images allegedly from Anambra farms depicting luscious produce, including red tomatoes. 

The governor’s public relations stunt has been circulating on Internet platforms featuring photos of tomato farms said to be producing “European standard” tomatoes.

However, when the images were reversed-searched, it was revealed that the photos being circulated by Mr. Obiano’s government, were lifted from other websites but deceptively identified as photos from Anambra farms. 

For example, an image of young vegetable plants actually comes from an Internet page from August 13, 2014, titled “Irrigation Practices in West Africa.”

Another photo circulated by Mr. Obiano can be traced back to a 2010 blog post by an American named Chris Courtin, who had taken the photo during his fellowship in Nyumbani Village in Kitui County, Kenya. 

Chris Courtins Blog

In his blog post Mr. Courtin wrote about the tomatoes saying, “they grow mostly tomatoes in the greenhouses and they were the biggest tomato vines I had ever seen” and “aside from picking tomatoes I also picked cow peas.”

Reports say that, as word began to spread that some photos released by the state government may have been taken from other sources, his team swung into action to create a series of photo events to demonstrate how well Anambra’s agricultural sector is doing. 

Woman seen using her tear to tear "Europe bound" leafs

The desperate attempts resulted in several photo ops featuring rural farmers standing around a modest pile of leafy greens and in front of an Anambra State banner stating “Anambra State Government Agriculture Export Programme” and “Willie is Working”. 

Follow the rest of the story on saharareporters.com