Primate Elijah Ayodele of IESC Worldwide has predicted a rise in the price of okra, linking the increase to potential medicinal use of the vegetable. The cleric shared the prophecy during a recent Facebook broadcast, explaining that researchers are likely to extract compounds from okra for pharmaceutical purposes, which could impact local market prices.
“Note this: okra may be expensive a bit because there is going to be medicinal use. Researchers will take something inside okra that will be used for medicine,” Ayodele stated. He suggested that the increased demand for the vegetable’s medicinal components could push up retail prices in local markets.
According to the cleric, even small quantities of okra could experience significant price hikes. “People will just say, ‘Ah, maybe two okra they will be selling it for 100 naira,’ but it may go to 500 naira thereabout. That is just that,” he explained, highlighting the potential economic effect of medicinal research on everyday consumers.
Ayodele emphasized the intersection of agriculture, health, and economics, indicating that natural resources and common crops may increasingly be harnessed for medicinal and scientific purposes. This development, he suggested, could have broader implications for local food prices and household budgets.
While the cleric did not provide a specific timeline for when the price changes might occur, he encouraged Nigerians to anticipate the shift and plan accordingly.
Primate Ayodele concluded by urging awareness of the ongoing scientific and medicinal developments in agriculture, noting that these changes, while beneficial for health research, may also have economic repercussions for ordinary citizens.
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