₦airaland Forum

mrvitalis:
Equsi is not even unique to Nigeria to start with

Igbos make several meals from equsi outside the soup... I my place we mKe a cake like thing used to eat African salad Uzu mixed with a special mushroom 🍄

The origin is not clear obvious but quoting a 1900 book for a food consumed for over 1000 years is funny

All pointers indicate that the word is Igbo or at least Eastern in origin. Only Ondo Yorubas traditionally ate it whereas all Igbos eat it.

Afonja44:
The same Ajayi Crowther that was a fulani slave when Igbos were already trading oil palm with the British at Onitsha? Lol

There was no known Igbo business/businesnessman until amalgamation of Nigeria.
At the time Ajayi was captured, numerous igbos were also being captured and sold by Efiks & Ijaws in droves.

Raf4:
1970s & 1980s igbos barely ate egusi as soup. Your soup was mainly leaves based. Likewise meat. They only ate dried fish then and if at all they must put meat, they usually cut them into size of agbalumo seeds.

Why are you lying?

Ogbono soup is leaf-based? Ofe nsala is leave based? Ofe akwu is leaf-based?

Check the way Ogbono and (Igbo-made) Egusi soups are made. They are quite similar. Can you compare your own version to how any other Yoruba soups are made?

Raf4:
There was no known Igbo business/businesnessman until amalgamation of Nigeria.
At the time Ajayi was captured, numerous igbos were also being captured and sold by Efiks & Ijaws in droves.

Lol
Ever heard of Jaja of Opobo (1821-1891)?

The richest man in the entire British-Nigeria, so rich and powerful that he was taxing British traders, enrolled his children in UK schools and employed British teachers in his Opobo school

He was Nigeria's first exporter, shipping palm oil directly to the UK from here. The British crown had to personally assaasinate him.


No Afonjah till date matches him.

Ngozi123:
All pointers indicate that the word is Igbo or at least Eastern in origin. Only Ondo Yorubas traditionally ate it whereas all Igbos eat it.

Who knows, but I know it's either Igbo, Edo, or middle belt

mrvitalis:
Who knows, but I know it's either Igbo, Edo, or middle belt

True.

Ngozi123:
All pointers indicate that the word is Igbo or at least Eastern in origin. Only Ondo Yorubas traditionally ate it whereas all Igbos eat it.

Yorubas don't only eat egusi as soup, we also use it to prepare numerous foods and snacks (eg robo, alapa/jogi etc) it is also being used to prepare sacrifice to some certain gods like Obatala, Ogiyan since centuries ago.

Raf4:
Yorubas don't only eat egusi as soup, we also use it to prepare numerous foods and snacks (eg robo, alapa/jogi etc) it is also being used to prepare sacrifice to some certain gods like Obatala, Ogiyan since centuries ago.

Did I say that Yorubas only eat Egusi as soup?

mrvitalis:
When people talk about history I laugh

Igbos started Bronze works 100s of years before Ife and Benin

One of the first place to start using iron is in Igbo land

We practiced democracy before Greeks

In Nigeria now it seems the fastest ways to get attention from people in power is to attack or be anti Igbo

But I love it, I was never an Igbo man till APC happened I was just a Nigerian of Igbo origin
Thanks to APC the Igbo identity have never been this strong

Our language which was in danger of being extinct is now back in full gear

You are beating your chest too hard son, watch out You may damage your chest

LivingSage:
Keep quiet there and prove it.

Egusi has already been proved as Yoruba word, disprove it or shut up

Always chest beating... u guys can't live without thinking Igbo ... Igbos are not competing with u guys cos they know they are better...na una de kill una sef wey Igbo man de

LivingSage:
I was asked a question about the origin of the word Egusi by a Nigerian of Southeast origin. After my innocent response, I have received a barrage of insults, abuses and threats.

Please find attached an entry from the book Dictionary Of The Yoruba Language: English-Yoruba, Yoruba-English. This a 1913 edition of the book previously published in the Nineteenth Century by the Church Mission Society, an agency of the Church of England.

The book is also available online, from where I got this page.

Please find the word Egusi highlighted in red. I vow to pay ₦10 million to those who have been insulting me if they can show me an Igbo dictionary predating this book, which has an entry for the word 'Egusi' or 'Egwusi'.

The Igbo lexicon contains many Lukumi words in Igbo because the first book in the Igbo language, which incidentally was a dictionary, was written by a Lukumi man named Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther. It is titled Isoama-Ibo: A Primer, published in 1857. Bishop Crowther introduced several Lukumi words into the Igbo language.

Answering a question posed to me on the origin of the word Egusi does not mean that I hate Igbo. History is history. It does not love or hate anyone.

Truth is hate only to those who hate truth.

My documentary on the Igbo origin of Tobagan patois spoken in Tobago was aired on television. Can a man make a documentary to validate a people he hates?

Thanks again, and may God bless you.

#TableShaker

These people don suffer. Reno has seriously bruised their egos.

LivingSage:
Dear Ugwo,

Thank you for your feedback. Actually, Egusi is not an Igbo word, and it is not Egwusi. It would help if you understood that I have travelled to almost everywhere in the world where Lukumi Yoruba and Igbo are spoken. I am not just engaging in guess work. Name the country, I have been there. I can show you ticket stubs, passport stamps, and photographs.

I do not go there for tourism. I went for research. Did you not see my documentary in Tobago, where I taught them the Igbo and Efik origins of their patios? For example, they call witchcraft Obeah, which is gotten from Dibia. They refer to their music as Calypso, which is derived from the Efik word Kaiso, meaning move forward, because that is what Calypso is: Dancing by moving forward.

I study etymology, which is the study of the origin and evolution of words.

Egusi is a Lukumi Yoruba word that evolved from the phrase È gun si, which means grind or pound it in in English. The word for grind or pound in Yoruba is gun.

In the olden days, the Lukumi had mortars, sometimes known as odo, with which they ground the melon that is the main component of the soup.

The word's literal meaning is to grind or pound it and put it in the pot.

That is how you know the origin of words. Etymology is almost as precise as science. It is through the study of etymology that researchers were able to break down the origin and meaning of the words Akara and Akamu.

Akara or Acara means 'I count' (Aka or Aca), and then 'I buy' (ra).

It is short for Acarajé, which is the name the Yoruba Lukumi in Brazil still call it. Acarajé literally means 'I count' (Aka or Aca), 'I buy' (ra), and 'I eat' (je), hence the name Acarajé!

Nigeria's Lukumi (Yoruba) just shortened Acarajé as they shortened Omo-ti-Olu Iwa-bi to Omoluabi and Olofin-Orun (Lord of the Heavens) to Olorun.

Likewise, Akamu or Acamu simply means 'I count' (Aka or Aca) and 'I drink' (Mu). The reason is that Akamu used to be sold in cups.

Some non-Lukumi people who settle in the Southwest and are from other parts of Nigeria often conflate Ogi with Akamu. Actually, they are different things. The Lukumi word for corn is Agbado.

When Agbado is milled and fermented in water, it is called Ogi by the Lukumi. When Ogi is made into a pap by boiling it with water, it is known as Akamu. When Akamu solidifies and is cut into solid blocks, traditionally wrapped in Banana leaf, it is referred to as Eko.

If you ask an Igbo speaker to break down Egusi, Akara, and Akamu etymologically, they will be unable to because they are not Igbo words.

The reason you have a good number of Lukumi words in Igbo is because the first book in the Igbo language, which was a dictionary, was written by a Lukumi man named Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther. It is titled Isoama-Ibo: A Primer, published in 1857. Bishop Crowther introduced several Lukumi words into the Igbo language.

Thanks again, and may God bless you.

#TableShaker


Dear Ebube,

Thank you for your feedback. But how can this make sense to you? You initially said Egusi was an Igbo word, and I showed you documentary evidence from 1913 proving that Egusi is a Lukumi word. Now, you are forced to admit that the word is Lukumi, but you are introducing a new claim that only the soup is Igbo. How does that even sound to you?

You, Ebube, can you give birth to a child whose name you do not know, yet your neighbour knows the name of the child? Come on, Ebube, let us not act as if our brains are for decoration.

Thanks again, and may God bless you.

#TableShaker

Reno, have mercy on this people naah. This is getting too much naah.😝😝😝

Ngozi123:
Even Yoruba people know that the word "Egusi" doesn't originate from them. There's about three different words (according to the dictionary shown here) they use for "melon" but the Igbo only have one.

If this guy had any background in linguistics then he would know what that means.

One word can mean different things depending on the context. The same things happens in English.

cr7lomo:
Always chest beating... u guys can't live without thinking Igbo ... Igbos are not competing with u guys cos they know they are better...na una de kill una sef wey Igbo man de

Na una people de start am naah. Reno talked about Aso Oke and Egunsi and you people went ballistics. 😝😝😝😝😝🤡

nothingspoil70:
You are beating your chest too hard son, watch out You may damage your chest

Imagine them. They like saying things that doesn't exist. Chest beaters like you rightly said.

paramakina202:
What belongs to Yoruba is the name egusi not the soup.Yoruba did not introduce melon to ndi Igbo what we adopted is the name egusi just like many Nigeria nigerians have adopted Ugu vegetable... .

Are you now trying to lay claims to the soup even though it's eaten all over west Africa and even in Congo?

mrvitalis:
Who knows, but I know it's either Igbo, Edo, or middle belt

A non Yoruba speaker gave you concrete evidence but you still won't stop arguing. 😝😝😝😝😝

Afonja44:
Lol
Ever heard of Jaja of Opobo (1821-1891)?

The richest man in the entire British-Nigeria, so rich and powerful that he was taxing British traders, enrolled his children in UK schools and employed British teachers in his Opobo school

He was Nigeria's first exporter, shipping palm oil directly to the UK from here. The British crown had to personally assaasinate him.


No Afonjah till date matches him.

😝😝😝😝😝 Dick measurement don commence.

Ngozi123:
All pointers indicate that the word is Igbo or at least Eastern in origin. Only Ondo Yorubas traditionally ate it whereas all Igbos eat it.

Why don't you stop all this lies 😝😝😝😝😝😝 Can you provide the pointers? Only Ondo Yoruba eat Egunsi? Who did this to you?😝😝😝😝

trutharena:
Reno, you are doing a great job.

I swear!!!

LivingSage:
Thesame Fulani slave authored your first ever Igbo dictionary.

Who's the real slave

I laugh when people say that Ajayi Crowther wrote the first Igbo book, a language he never spoke

To this day, nobody has seen the so called book 😆 🤣 😂 😹

Another thing is that Ajayi Crowther was not an Olukumi man, he was an Oyo man

Afonja44:
Please Wikipedia wrote that not me
Channel your fruatrations to them


Slavery tribe
Always enslaved by another tribe or race

Another tribalist who is a product of a faulty Wesleyan colonial education. The burden of proof is on you!

Thank you Chinedu.
However, Egusi Melon Soup originated from Yorubas, not Igbo

cr7lomo:
Always chest beating... u guys can't live without thinking Igbo ... Igbos are not competing with u guys cos they know they are better...na una de kill una sef wey Igbo man de

Nobody you said? Just speak for yourself, maybe you should research and read further.


Meanwhile, tell us the difference between Olukumi man and Oyo man

gidgiddy:
I laugh when people say that Ajayi Crowther wrote the first Igbo book, a language he never spoke

To this day, nobody has seen the so called book 😆 🤣 😂 😹

Another thing is that Ajayi Crowther was not an Olukumi man, he was an Oyo man

Reno is dumb,many Igbo today won’t even touch Yoruba food with a very long pole,how then did Igbo take Yoruba food?
how can Igbo copy from Yoruba but don’t add stew to ours like Yorubas do
Many Yoruba restaurants now in Lagos have started adding vegetable to their egusi which they didn’t use to do,their egusi was usually naked like this ijebu egusi below

LivingSage:
Thank you Chinedu.
However, Egusi Melon Soup originated from Yorubas, not Igbo

Inferiority complex, low self esteem is really dealing with u and ur people mercilessly.... no future ambition

Raf4:
1970s & 1980s igbos barely ate egusi as soup. Your soup was mainly leaves based. Likewise meat. They only ate dried fish then and if at all they must put meat, they usually cut them into size of agbalumo seeds.

Funny thing I have seen today . Do you Igbos and Yorubas know that egusi is also an important crop for most ethnic groups in nasarawa and other Northern States?

Ngozi123:
All pointers indicate that the word is Igbo or at least Eastern in origin. Only Ondo Yorubas traditionally ate it whereas all Igbos eat it.

Only ondo yorubas traditionally ate egusi Like are you serious??

Please what other name do we yorubas call melon apart from egusi

Gustavowhite:
Reno is dumb,many Igbo today won’t even touch Yoruba food with a very long pole,how then did Igbo take Yoruba food?
how can Igbo copy from Yoruba but don’t add stew to ours like Yorubas do
Many Yoruba restaurants now in Lagos have started adding vegetable to their egusi which they didn’t use to do,their egusi was usually naked like this ijebu egusi below

So is only igbos that eat vegetables??

Sometimes you just wonder if most of you reason at all.

You just stay in your enclave an spill rubbish with confidence about something you nothing of.

We have efo elegusi....spinach with egusi
Ela elegusi......okoro with egusi
Gura elegusi....water leaf with egusi
Eledu elegusi...... spinach with egusi

So better read and learn before spilling rubbish.....no be only una dey eat vegetable.

Bobodee09:
Only ondo yorubas traditionally ate egusi Like are you serious??

Please what other name do we yorubas call melon apart from egusi

It says it in the dictionary the Op has provided.

Ngozi123:
It says it in the dictionary the Op has provided.

It is big shame if you educated honestly.

Because everyone knows egusi are of different types.

Seunmsg1:
Why don't you stop all this lies 😝😝😝😝😝😝 Can you provide the pointers? Only Ondo Yoruba eat Egunsi? [/b]Who did this to you?😝😝😝😝

Only Ondo Yorubas [b]traditionally ate egusi soup among the Yoruba. That's what I've been told by your fellow Yorubas on Nairaland any time I bring up the fact that it's an Igbo dish.