Myths and taboos are a common
phenomenon in Africa . Many of these
myths and taboos are however
gradually giving way to newer beliefs .
But in Chukunku community in the Kuje
area of the Federal Capital Territory , it
still remains a taboo for the people to
fry bean cakes popularly referred to as
akara in local parlance.
The Nation was told that even though
people do eat the delicacy in their
respective homes, it is a taboo to do so
in the open or even attempt to fry and
sell it on the streets of the community .
Why is this so? Engr . Joseph who
resides in the community told The
Nation that when he first came to the
community , his wife wanted to start the
business of frying akara for sale .
According to him, they were
immediately warned against doing so
with the excuse that it offends their
culture. Many residents of the
community would not speak on why it
is a taboo to fry akara in the
community . Some of those who chose
to speak only did so in camera ,
explaining that it is a tradition that has
been with them for several decades and
from the inception of the community .
There are two versions however to the
origin of this taboo , but the two had
similarity which is to stop witches from
operating and killing people in the
community . One version had it that the
frying of akara was stopped in the
community by the founding fathers to
stop witches from using the oil used in
the frying of the akara to perpetuate
evil and kill people at night. The other
version had it that it was stopped to
prevent the witches from using the
smoke from the process as a channel
to enter the community to attack
people at night. Even though some
residents offered to speak on the issue,
their friends and relatives would not let
them speak for fear of offending the
gods of the land .
Investigations revealed that all those
who are interested in venturing into the
business of frying and selling akara
either have to go outside the
community or relocate from the
community where they can easily find
cheap accommodation .
Although Saturday Nation could not get
the Village Head, to speak on the
tradition and why people in the
community are banned from frying
akara , those close to him said they
cannot go against the tradition which
was handed down to them by their fore
fathers. One of them who pleaded not
to be named said : “For many years , we
have never fried akara in this
community . We grew up to meet the
tradition which was started by our fore
fathers. It has been part of our culture
that nobody living in this community
fries akara . I don’t know why it is so ;
but that is just the way we met it .
Anybody who want to eat akara here
will have to go to Gwagwalada to buy.
Interestingly, while the community still
dwells in this old age tradition, it is
suffering from what appears to be total
neglect by the government . Even though
it is a few minutes drive from the
University town of Gwagwalada, one of
the commercial centres of the Federal
Capital Territory , it is still stuck in this
old tradition. Engr , Joseph who claimed
to have lived in the community for
several years said he is yet to
understand the rationale for the ban .
He said : “I came in here and was told
about it and I just have to respect their
laws . It has nothing to do with us. I
know that one can do the frying inside
one’ s house and no one will know about
it unless you announce it . ”
Although residents of the town are not
ready to willingly talk about this taboo ,
they are quick to tell you that the
government has neglected the
community , even though they play an
important role in bringing the
government to power . Many of them
still depend on the River in the area for
water while those who can afford it , are
at the mercy of water vendors who rely
on privately dug boreholes to get water
which they sell to members of the
community . The town lacks some basic
amenities like good roads, pipe borne
water and electricity . Investigations by
The Nation revealed that children in the
community still defecate in the open ,
thereby creating a potential health
hazard in the community . Mohammed
Musa, a resident of the community told
The Nation that wealthy individuals
who reside in the community have
taken advantage of the lack of potable
drinking water to sink bore holes in the
community where they sell water. He
stated further that even the promise
from government to ensure that they
have good drinking water has not
materialized. The government , through
the Minister of State for the Federal
Capital Territory Olajumoke Akinjide ,
had promised to channel water to them
through the stream in the village , a
promise that is yet to be fulfiled. As he
said : “ Since 2011 , the minister had
promised that our river here will be a
source of water for us but up till now ,
we have not received any feedback from
her . She came here with our chairman
then . We need government to distribute
water to our different villages” . They
are also not happy about power supply
to the community which they said is
very epileptic as they can stay for
several days without power supply and
this has affected economic activities in
the community.
One other interesting thing about this
community is the fact that even though
they seek modernity , children in the
community still go to the several refuse
dumps which liters the community to
defecate , creating health hazard in the
community . Surprisingly , The Nation
was informed some parents actually
take their children to the refuse dump
to defecate not minding the likely
implication and the health hazard
associated with the action . Yakubu
Musa who resides close to the
community said that it is clear that
many of these parents are not even
aware of the heal implications of
allowing the children to defecate in the
open and on top of the refuse dump , an
action which exposes them to several
diseases including cholera and other air
borne diseases. Unfortunately , the
children do not wash their hands after
defecating and health workers are
worried that if nothing is done and fast ,
the community might have an outbreak
of epidemic soon , especially
considering the fact that they lack
quality drinking water

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/abuja-community-frying-bean-cakes-taboo/

http://www..com/2015/01/strange-abuja-community-where-frying.html

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chai this people will never get to know what dis almighty combo tastes like Akara+bread,,,,,,,,,in btw which kind taboo be dat 1

Akara,and ogi+ milk,best combo ever.