The Costus Spectabilis farmer

Hey Enviropreneurs!!!

This year, we’re starting with someone who has been in the environmental space for almost two decades.

Amazing! Let’s read along and know who he is and gain one or two things.

Thomas Emmanuel, is an Urban planner by training and he specializes as a Landscape planner. He also partly studied Environmental Science and resource management at the National Open University.

Largely he self taught, studied books in botany, horticulture, floriculture and plant science.
He started his personal plant research, which involved studying traditional African medicine and collection of plants mainly rare and obscure plants for conservation and production.
One of such plants is the national plant of Nigeria “Costus spectabilis” which he has researched for fourteen years, developed two domesticated varieties and cultivated over 30,000 seedlings mainly in Lagos and three other States, and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja respectively.

From inception in 2005, the garden has been cultivated on organic principles. He makes his own organic plant food, bio pesticides and other biological plant products. Over 16 years he has collected 56 rear plant species across Nigeria and conserve them at his Lagos’ garden.

In recent times, due to the incessant observation of people littering public spaces, he started documenting the occurrence by making videos of the act with the hope that people will become cautious not to be embarrassed by being seen online littering public spaces.

He also has started the process of creating garden clubs in public and private schools to teach students about the green environment and to make them aware of the consequences of environmental abuses.

He makes products out of his plant collections, some of which he sells. This is to provide a model for others, to make them aware that environmental projects could impact social life and lead to clean economic gains for the nation.