Nigerian Government Proposes Ban on ‘Ponmo’

The Nigerian government is proposing a ban on the consumption of cow skin popularly known as ‘Ponmo’ for lacking nutritional value.

This is contained in a statement by the Director, Nigerian Institute of Leather and Science Technology (NILEST), Zaria, Kaduna State, Muhammad Yakubu.

NILEST is the government agency responsible for the promotion of leather production in the Agricultural Research Institute Act of 1975. It conducts research on leather products and the use of local tanning materials in Nigeria.

According to Yakubu, “Nigerians are the only people in the world that overvalue skin as food, after all, Ponmo has no nutritional value,”

He noted that cow skin consumption was contributing to the downward slide of production in Nigeria’s leather industry.

Ponmo is a popular supplement used in preparing varieties of soups in many Nigerian homes especially in the Southwestern part of the country where families of different class use it as an alternative or together with beef meat and other proteins.

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