She says to do this, the skin is soaked in hot water and stirred for some minutes to make it tender. The hair is then scraped off the skin before being boiled for a further ten minutes. Unlike ordinary cow skin, pomo is tender and robust. Outstripping beef Over the years, large numbers of Nigerians have been discarding beef for pomo. One pomo seller, Monsuru Kasali, attributes the trend to the rising cost of beef.
Many people can no longer afford to buy beef because it is very expensive.
They have now resorted to eating cow skin. If beef was cheap, nobody would eat cow skin. At the workshop of the Federal College of Chemical and Leather Technology, in the northern city of Zaria, students are trained for a career in the leather industry. Dr Samuel Achi is provost of the institution. He is concerned that those who eat animal skin pose a threat to the leather industry where his students are supposed to find jobs after their graduation.