On today's episode of "Stories that touch the heart and inflame the liver...."
I am one of those people that used to eat "swallow" (garri/soup) with fork.
It's a habit I picked up mainly because I'm kind of a messy eater and my family members could no longer bear sharing their food with me. 😋
😁
So one day I'm in the cafeteria having a late lunch after having quite a day at work. On this particular day there was no soap at work to decontaminate my hands, just water and my hand sanitizer. I wasn't feeling too comfortable eating 'swallow' with my hands so I requested for a fork.
Halfway into my meal this guy comes up behind me and exclaims "Who is this one eating eba with fork"?
I let out a tired smile and shut my eyes willing him to go away so I could grub in peace.
I open my eyes and he is seated opposite me and has launched into a monologue of how we Nigerians are losing our culture and embracing the white man's culture (case in point, my using a fork to eat eba. Sacrilege!)
He further went on to lament how the Akwa Ibom people have now let the Ibo's take over business in the state and how we are now marrying outsiders who will now come and dilute our culture.
He was particularly upset that the younger generation are not being encouraged to speak their native dialect which puts it in danger of extinction.
Mind you the entire time he was talking, he spoke only in Ibibio, some things he said were lost in translation. When he was done he now asked me what I thought of all he said (Now it was my turn to watch him eat)
I started speaking in English and the look he gave me could have turned me into a pillar of salt..
Fast forward to yesterday, I overheard the cab driver saying that " Thank God Anambra state is now producing rice, so that when Buhari finally scatters Nigeria, we in Biafra would eat our rice and the rest of you will eat your crude oil"
Moral of this plenty story ?
Since that fateful day, I have not eaten swallow with fork again, and it's not for lack of trying.
I feel concerned. Have I been bewinched?
I am one of those people that used to eat "swallow" (garri/soup) with fork.
It's a habit I picked up mainly because I'm kind of a messy eater and my family members could no longer bear sharing their food with me. 😋
😁
So one day I'm in the cafeteria having a late lunch after having quite a day at work. On this particular day there was no soap at work to decontaminate my hands, just water and my hand sanitizer. I wasn't feeling too comfortable eating 'swallow' with my hands so I requested for a fork.
Halfway into my meal this guy comes up behind me and exclaims "Who is this one eating eba with fork"?
I let out a tired smile and shut my eyes willing him to go away so I could grub in peace.
I open my eyes and he is seated opposite me and has launched into a monologue of how we Nigerians are losing our culture and embracing the white man's culture (case in point, my using a fork to eat eba. Sacrilege!)
He further went on to lament how the Akwa Ibom people have now let the Ibo's take over business in the state and how we are now marrying outsiders who will now come and dilute our culture.
He was particularly upset that the younger generation are not being encouraged to speak their native dialect which puts it in danger of extinction.
Mind you the entire time he was talking, he spoke only in Ibibio, some things he said were lost in translation. When he was done he now asked me what I thought of all he said (Now it was my turn to watch him eat)
I started speaking in English and the look he gave me could have turned me into a pillar of salt..
Fast forward to yesterday, I overheard the cab driver saying that " Thank God Anambra state is now producing rice, so that when Buhari finally scatters Nigeria, we in Biafra would eat our rice and the rest of you will eat your crude oil"
Moral of this plenty story ?
Since that fateful day, I have not eaten swallow with fork again, and it's not for lack of trying.
I feel concerned. Have I been bewinched?
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