Gwom Rwei Kuru Passes at 80

Da Patrick Mandung, late Gwom Rwei Kuru

Da Patrick Mandung Kwis was the Gwom Rwei of Kuru. Kuru is one from a cluster of communities that make up the eleven districts of Beromland. The Berom is one of the largest ethnic groups in Plateau State.

On Monday, 24^th July, a young woman visited Dara Mandung, seeking financial help that concerns her tuition fee –the royal father was passionate about education.  He requested her to return the next day. When she did, he kept his promise and gave away all he had that day. About an hour later, the royal father passed away.

The gesture of handing over all he had to a woman that wasn’t intimately related to him, other than the fact that she is also Berom and a subject of his domain, was an act of kindness for which he was famous in Beromland.

Before his death, Da Mandung was one of the longest-serving traditional rulers in the whole of Plateau State, having served for thirty-seven years. When he celebrated his thirty-fifth-year anniversary as a royal father, there were financial gifts from wealthy individuals. The traditional ruler shocked everyone by giving away all the donations to St. Dennis Catholic Church Kuru, where he was a member of the laity. The money was used to roof the church whose construction was on-going. As an act of giving-in-return, the church ensured it completed work on the cathedral in the three weeks before his funeral.    

Da Mandung radiated the humility of a child, greeting everyone he met, young or old, tall or short, not minding his own lofty standing in Kuru and Beromland.  As if that wasn’t enough, he formed the habit of taking part in night security patrols, until his subjects prevailed on him to withdraw, saying: it was for them and not for him to go out in the dark and eerie setting of nights for the sake of protecting the people.

To say the funeral of the Gwom Rwei was majestic was to say the least. On the penultimate day to his entombment, the corpse was taken round the towns that make up Kuru community, before it was left at his home for a night. This was in respect of his order that he should be given, at least, a day to enable him bid farewell to the people.

Mandung belong to everyone. There was the church but also traditionalists with Kuru overflowing with people like sand on the seashores. There were civil servants, serving and retired. There were royal colleagues from all corners of Beromland and beyond.  There were politicians, business people, miners and just everyone.

Kuru is set in a picturesque enclosure of towering rocks that compare to anything else like Gulliver compared to Lilliputians. The palace where the royal father and his council sat is, in itself, set in a ring of some of some of the topographic prominence that is the face of Plateau State. Traditional Berom warriors, not leaving anything to chance, stood at the peak of the mountains, for a vantage view of the surrounding areas.  Down below and beside the palace, the Gwom Rwei was buried in a mausoleum that exemplifies skill and craft that is deserving of a man of his regal standing.

Da Mandung’s successor will inherit a couple of challenges that include how to end a nasty culture of youths dropping out of school to pursue mining, how to end the culture of partying into late nights in an environment replete with endless episodes of horrific and tragic night killings, and how to end the reckless and regrettable sale of lands by subjects.

Dara Mandung was born into a royal family in Kuru on April 12^th, 1943. He attended the Roman Catholic Mission –RCM– Primary School, Kuru, after which he went to St. John Vianney Seminary, Barking Ladi, hoping to become a priest, but –according to his son, Martin– his dad didn’t end up a priest. The tide of life reshuffled events so that his dad ended up with a mining company, despite having completed his course at the seminary.  He later left to join the Nigerian Army, serving in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kaduna. With time, he resigned from the Nigerian Army –where he worked in communication and intelligence– to join Shell Petroleum.  In 1985, though, he bowed to the authority of the Kuru traditional institution, when a delegation paid him a visit, requesting him to become the District Head of Kuru.

He left behind nine children.

 

Review of Caine Prize Shortlisted Stories for 2023

 Story:  Souls of Small Places

Author: Mame Bougouma Diene and Moppa Diallo

Country: Senegal

Woppa and Mame
Credit: Caineprize.com

For me, the French-speaking West African nation of Senegal resonates in my mind only when there is a political regime change or music superstar –Akon– is the subject of the conversation, or Sadio Mane – the football superstar – is the subject.  Now, A Soul of Small Places, a short story that is shortlisted for the 2023 edition of the Caine Prize for African Writing is the reason why Senegal is resonating in my mind, once again. 

A Soul of Small Places is a short story written by the duo of Mame Bougouma Diene and Moppa Diallo.  It is a story that is set in the pristine Senegalese hinterland. It is a story of a rural town that suffers a horrific ritual of rape that targets girls of elementary school age.

When Woppa was born, her mum, conscious of the danger she faces, decided to protect her. But the protection itself comes with extreme sacrifice –the girl will exist, but would actually belong to the spirits. Woppa has a kid sister by the name of Awa. So, in the real, the mother actually has one daughter.

Woppa’s ancestors, stretching back to her great-great-grandmother are flesh-eaters, coming in their spiritual form to devour anyone they deem fit. When provoked, their spirits rise to attack victims, targeting their hearts. To the flesh-eaters, blood is as tasty as cappuccino would be with us today. This is exactly what Moppa inherited, albeit without knowing.

Woppa is held late by a romantic outing. She, knowing she isn’t human, says it is more of a lustful relationship. As she and Awa walk back home, she felt Awa’s hand slipping out of her grip. She is prompted by the whispers of her ancestors. She swings into defensive action. The result is a scene that is crimson-red with gory remains of human bodies and scattered bits of human flesh.

In the process, Moppa becomes unconscious, bouncing back only after nineteen days. She is made to believe there was a stormy rain that unleashed a flood, wreaking havoc on the community and throwing her into a coma.

Back in school, there is a girl that wears a fetish pouch around her neck and sees beyond the ordinary, as a result. She is able to see that Woppa is a flesh-eater. She uses innuendo to refer to Moppa’s powers to Moppa’s and other kids’ hearing. Woppa confronts her parents. They can help but admit the truth to get over it, once and for all. From then onward, Moppa is fully conscious of her powers and her duty to protect little girls from rapist herdsmen.

Woppa continues to defend the girls in her village and the neighboring villages. One day, three herdsmen tried to gain entry into a house next to hers.  She is hinted at by a chorus of voices, as usual. Swiftly, she comes out, unleashing her powers at the men. She returns home as swiftly as she had come, without anyone noticing. The commotion draws the attention of men on patrol, but also her mum, who reaches the scene before the patrol team. The patrol team arrives and mistakes Moppa’s mum as the killer. They descend on her, taking her life. 

Woppa’s father, devastated by the circumstance of his wife’s death and the implication, –if people believe she killed the men –commits suicide less than twenty-four hours after his wife’s passing.

Awe is left alone, but does not trust anybody –among her close relatives– to raise her. Her sister’s spirit stands and watches the funeral of her parents. She whispers to birds who in turn whisper to the wind, relaying a message to Awa and hinting her to come over. Awa walks to the spirit of her sister who assures her that she will be going nowhere and will be there to protect her, forever.

Mame Bougouma Diene and Moppa Diallo’s innovative writing style delivers prose with embroidery of poetry in a manner that is breathtaking. It announces their arrival so astonishingly that we can’t help but notice.

The Soul of Small Places is a story with a strong chance to clinch the 2023 edition of the Caine Prize for African Writing.  

 

Story: Weaving

Author: Yvonne Kusiima

Country: Uganda

Yvonne Kusiima
Credit: www.caineprize.com

Thomasina –the younger– and Jessica are little girls born and raised in Kampala by a wealthy mother who suddenly dies. The two girls are compelled to move to rural Uganda to live with a granny in a two-room shack.

Jessica cried the day Grandma told them they will be weaving with her. For her protest, she is exempted. Thomasina finds herself weaving plastic mats with grandma, every day. The task is difficult and Grandma is harsh, flogging Thomasina with every single mistake. As a rookie knitter, it takes Thomasina a whole year to weave a single mat, while grandma’s experienced hands finish more than a dozen within the same period.

It is time to market the mats and Thomasina is made to sit under a hostile sun trying to woo buyers. It is a Herculean –most that come only watch and move on, never buying.

An American boy, whose mother’s charity work brought them to the village, approaches and buys everything to please Thomasina. He gets talking to ten-year-old Thomasina about what seems like romance to her. While she thinks that love is in the air, the American boy has lust in his mind, only interested in a hit-and-run.

In the evening, an American boy walks her to the woods carrying the mat he bought from her. He puts her on it, stealing her virginity. But then he turns back to his real love, a girl with fully matured hips that is unmistakably adult. Thomasina is devastated. Devastation is only a small fraction of her woe as she ends up pregnant.

Jessica and Grandma are divided on how to deal with the pregnancy. While Jessica wishes that her sister be allowed to keep the pregnancy and the baby, eventually, Grandma is against it because it would mean an additional burden.

Grandma, however, had her way, forcing Thomasina to take a native mixture that terminates the pregnancy.

Yvonne has a humble, disciplined, and charming writing style that is sure to win her fans across the continent. Through branches of her story, she is able to let us feel the mood of rural Uganda: the modest understanding of rural people, the poverty, gossip, superstition…

With her shortlist for the Caine Prize for African Writing, Yvonne has pulled herself from behind the horizon. With or without the prize, though, she has come and would shape conversations on African literature as long as she stays in writing.

 

Story: Daughters, by Our Hands

Author: Pius Ekemini

Country: Nigeria

Pius Ekemini
Credit: www.Caineprize.com

The story, Daughters By Our Hands, written by Pius Ekemini, finds root in an imaginative theory that a woman who can’t breed can reverse her condition if she meets another woman who is willing to donate or sell her nail. The nail is attached to that of the barren woman. After three weeks, there is a mix of genetics. Once the hybrid nail is inserted into a worthless womb, it magically reverses its fortune.

A mother, Eme, sells nine of her ten nails. The sole nail in her kitty gives her a much-cherished daughter, Aniema, who is cherished partly for the mundane benefits Eme expects to get from her nails.

But the Aniema has her own opinion as to how she intends to use her nails –they will not be sold. She prefers to donate them to poor sterile women who wouldn’t have been able to afford the nails. But Eme still hopes her daughter will cave in.

One day Aniema returns home with three of the nails gone and without money to show they had been sold. The mother confronts her daughter who said she had donated the three to a poor woman she met on a bus. Eme is badly hurt by her daughter’s decision, a situation that hurts deeply their relationship.

The poor recipient of the nail pays a visit to her “egg” donor three years after their accidental meeting. She came with three beautiful triplets, reminding Aniema who she is and thanking her for her generosity.

Daughters, by Our Hands, is “clean” and makes for speedy reading, as such.  The writer shows an amazing descriptive power that opens the reader's eyes to possibilities he may not have believed existed.

Any story that makes it to the shortlist of the Caine Prize has a chance. A lot of times, judges often complain about how tricky it is to come to a decision on who should take the prize. Having read the other stories, I think that the judges will again have to crack their heads to come to a conclusion as to who takes the prize. 

Review

                                          Caine Prize for African Writing 2023 Stories

Title: The Tangible Thing

Author: Yejide Kilanko

Country: Nigeria

Yejude Kilanko
Credit: www.caineprize.com 

The Tangible Thing is yet another powerful entry for the 2023 circle of the Caine Prize for African Story. It is scripted by a Nigerian, Yejide Kilanko.

This Tangible Thing is a story of a Nigerian man who travelled home with his daughter that was born in Canada but never visited Nigeria. She is a girl with an identity crisis, given the racial bias, she suffers in Canada, where her schoolmates refer to her as “a joke” –her name is Ajoke. At the same time, she is a girl who never travelled to Nigeria to understand the culture and feel Nigerian.

Father travels home to Southwestern Nigeria with his daughter. A mistake that led to the late arrival of luggage compels dad to return to Lagos. The daughter is left with granny. While they await the return of the father, Grandma uses the chance to get her granddaughter conversant with the Yoruba culture through folktales, a history of the family, and everyday family rituals of the Yorubas.

The story plays the Yoruba firmness of upholding the culture and a strong family discipline that is typical of educated Yoruba families.

The author creates imageries using simple words, albeit in a very creative manner. However, it is common for an African to take a child home to enable him to learn about his roots. It happens a lot of times. Thus, it introduces a tone of ambiguity between fiction and reality.   

Review

                                            Caine Prize for African Writing 2023 Stories

Title: Peeling Time

Author: TloTlo Tsamaase

Country: Botswana

Tlotlo Tsamasse
credit: www.caineprize.com

Peeling Time is a short story that is shortlisted for the 2023 edition of the Caine Prize for African Writing. It is written by a Botswanan author, TloTlo Tsamasse.

Motsumi is a failed video producer who has, against the odds, refused to call it quit. He resorts to the use of Muthi-tech to help him defy whatever forces frustrating his success. Muthi is actually black magic that helps you achieve your goals. In West Africa, it would have been called Juju-tech.  In this case, it involves a brew that, when taken, enables the separation of body and soul. Through this, Matsumi enters the body of women, sucks their essence to recharge and build the power that enables him to succeed as a movie producer. But the women will experience problems in their lives such that anything they do fails. Eventually, they end up on life support that drains the finances of relations. In the end, relations cut off the life support so that everyone finds relief. 

Motsumi believes that, given the sophistication of Muthi-tech, he is immortal. The victims of Muthi-tech grow into a nation. They are able to find a basis to believe that Motsumi is mortal. They team up and decide to fight him. Sewela is the most used of the victims. She leads the others to fight and overcome Motsumi.    

The author likens the story to a song. Thus, the plot is broken into intro, pre-chorus, verse, and so on. If a verse discusses Motsumi for instance, it is said to feature Motsumi.

The story draws the strength of its fiction from Muthi-tech, which is delusory or a conspiracy theory of sorts. The author’s creative use of words comes with a monstrous girth and depth.

A previous winner of the prize, Tope Folarin, believes the Caine Prize for African Writing is the best short story competition in the world. It is believed that the prize has recorded a level of success a thousand miles beyond the dream of the founder, Sir Michael Caine.  It is stories like this that give credibility to this belief.  Of the five shortlisted stories, only one stays visible on the radar of history. The judges of the Caine Prize wouldn’t want this story to be forgotten.  

 

Home Remedies for Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Sexually transmitted infections have become wider than they used to in the past decades. When one gets infected, it ruins not just his/her sex life, but he or she lives with the physical and, sometimes, emotional pains that come with an infection.

Predictably, people would get treated by taking over-the-counter antibiotics. The problem with antibiotics is the side effects of taking them, plus the fact that some cost a lot of money. Nothing can be as beautiful as eating and getting cured of the foods one eats.

You will be surprised by how effective foods are in curing bacterial infections. It leads to the question of why can’t they be researched and documented formally so that we can know what exactly cures what. There is a conspiracy theory that, should that happen, a multi-billion dollar industry will collapse. So, the major drawback of using foods to cure bacterial infections is knowing exactly what cures what. It makes it easier to reach for a particular meal to cure your known problem.

 It isn’t rhetorical when it is said that foods can heal many of these bacterial infections. This is important to build confidence in people so they can go for food when the need arises.  

 Without wasting much time, these are the foods that are known to be curative:

Dates Fresh dates (dabino in Hausa) are known to cure certain bacterial infections. Most times, people just tell you that dates can cure certain infections, without stressing that they have to be fresh. The problem is that fresh dates are seasonal. In situations where you can’t find your fresh dates, you then opt for orthodox treatment.

 Ginger/Garlic:  Ginger and garlic combinations are known to heal certain bacterial infections. It is common to see people selling juices made from crushing ginger and garlic. In some drinking parlors, it is easy to see this juice sold alongside alcoholic beverages. Drinkers often like to mix them with their alcoholic beverages.

Moringa. Moringa is sometimes referred to as a magic plant because of the broad range of infections it cures. Luckily, it is a common plant that one can find around him. All it takes is spreading the leaves on a tray in your kitchen (not under direct sunlight).  When dry, it can be crushed into powder. The powder is added to drinks like tea, kunu or ordinary water.  In supermarkets, one can find moringa teas that can serve the same purpose, but the homemade powder is preferred since it is self-made. Indoors, it takes a mere three days to dry.

Clove. Clove is another wonderful spice that is known to have antibacterial properties. It is known to cure E-Coli, a bacterial infection that has become resistant to antibiotics. It takes pounding it into a powder. The powder is then added to any drink and taken. Some prefer to pour the powder into bottles of water and allow the extracts to be extracted in a few days. The liquid is added to any drink. It is very easy to take in teas because of its high aromatic property.

Cabin Biscuits. Cabin biscuit cures a stubborn form of yeast infection (Candida amblicans) that has been said to be impossible to cure.  This form of yeast comes with a hangover-like weakness that makes it difficult for one to get up in the morning, a weakness that is very similar to hangovers from drinking alcohol. All you need is to buy cabin biscuits and just eat normally. A pack with probably about fifty pieces of biscuits eaten within 72 hours should do. You can also add yogurt, but it is not a must.

 Olive. Olive is also known to have curative properties for certain bacterial infections. The problem is that there are species of olive plants and the fact that olive plants are seasonal. But it cost nothing to just buy and eat olives when you see hawkers along the street.

Green Tea. There is a resilient form of yeast infection that gets women scratching until they bleed. Women suffering from it leave behind odor when they walk the street. For men, you experience itching as well as a severe headache when infected. It is highly resistant to over-the-counter antibiotics.  

 Yogurt. Yogurt is also another powerful antibacterial remedy that can be bought and eaten to heal certain infections. Yogurt is good because of the probiotics it contains. Probiotics or bio flora are bacteria that are present in our guts naturally and help protect us against germs. Even though they are present naturally, certain situations can sometimes lead to their depletion, making one vulnerable to harmful bacteria.

 Cabbage. Cabbage is known as an effective remedy for ulcers. In the hospital, your doctor could prescribe omeprazole to heal your ulcer. But the chemical substance that omeprazole brings is naturally present in cabbage. You could blend the cabbage and drink the juice. Blending crushes the leaf thereby allowing the chemical to be maximally extracted.

In conclusion, it is advised that, when you have a defiant infection, form a habit of eating these foods.

THE IGNORANCE OF HATING GWOTE AND KARKASHI

Gwote. Source:https://eatwellabi.com

Gwote is a semi-solid meal of crushed cereal and vegetable salad.  The cereal could be maize, guinea corn, rice or hungry-millet, while the vegetable mix draws its sources from spinach, cabbage, lettuce, garden eggs, spring onion, sorrel leaves, carrots, beans, ginger, garlic, etc. The leaf sources could also be wild, but edible.

Gwote is native to most northern Nigerian communities. In Plateau State, it is native to the North, mostly. When people from the central and southern Plateau migrate to the north of the state, they often look at gwote with scorn.  It is the same with Nigerians from the south.

Traditionally, it is prepared without adding salt. This is the fundamental reason why people find it difficult to eat it. Cultural reasons could also be why people could find exotic meals unattractive. What makes a meal great? It is the taste, nutritional content and freedom from taboos. The cereals like maize and guinea corn are universally eaten. The leaves mentioned are also universally eaten. So, there aren't any taboos!  And, as mentioned before, gwote is porridge of cereal, infused with vitamins from a salad. Thus, if you like a salad for its nutritional content, you should also like gwote. Moreover, it is not a must that it is taken without salt and oil. There are common variants that incorporate oil, salt and even meat.

During festive periods, like Christmas, when oily meals are all over the place, people eat a lot of oil-free gwote to clean up oily (and thus) morbid stomachs, thereby restoring cravings.

In Plateau State, it is mostly taken at lunch. Thus, it is the most eaten meal on farms. A colleague from Central Plateau told me that where he comes from, gwote is considered a token of poverty. So, I asked him what they eat when they go to farms in their regions. He replied that they prefer to take kunu. This underscores the irony. Tell me, between gwote and kunu, which one symbolizes poverty? It is kunu, which is merely a suspension of powdered cereal. Thus, this view of gwote as a sign of poverty smacks of illiteracy.

So, strangers ask, "how will I take a meal without salt or sugar?"  It takes just getting used to it. Though salt isn't added, some flavouring make up for its absence. The flavouring comes from sorrel, which gives a subtle sour taste. Sour flavour also comes from garden eggs.

Another northern meal that strangers find exotic is sesame leaf soup. In Hausa, it is known as karkashi. It draws just like okra, but the elastic property can be lost if the cook is not careful, just as in the case of okra. The soup can be eaten with any carbohydrate swallow such as tuwo, akpu, amala, etc.

In Nigeria, tribes that find karkashi exotic are mostly Igbos and southern minorities, especially the South-south. The irony though is that it is a meal that is very nutritious and medicinal. It can cure certain illnesses and prevent others. Thus, it helps in cases of hepatitis, typhoid and malaria.   

ECWA ANTHEM - Oh God be Glorified

Verse 1.

Love for the dying and the perishing;

A call to save the lost we heed;

Through the raging storms and all uncertainties;

Our lives we freely give…

 

And through ECWA Your name be glorified.

Oh God be glorified.

 

Verse 2.

The Bible our authority, mission our identity,

Touching lives with what we preach.

In life and speech, faithful we shall be,

Drawing hearts of men to Christ

And through ECWA Your name be glorified.

Oh God be glorified.

 

Verse 3.

Help the poor and homeless, clothe the weak and cold;

Giving all we have for Christ.

Our strength and substance we will not spare,

We shall draw all men to Christ.

 

And through ECWA Your name be glorified.

Oh God be glorified.

 

Verse 4.

The vision of our fathers will not die in our hands,

Like a candle in the dark, we shine.

Breaking every stronghold till the end of time,

Till our Lord and King we meet.

 

And through ECWA Your name be glorified.

Oh God be glorified. (2x)

 

 

 

Song Written by: Mr. Godfrey Alphonsus

Adopted by: ECWA in February 2019

Edited by: Rev.Romanus Ebenwokodi