Naija People, Twins and Food

The other day I was surfing the television channels – absolutely bored and desperately needing a great watch as I was taking a 20 minutes break from burying my head in books. Suddenly I stumbled on a South African Television Station called E-TV and they had this “Did you know” segment running. What captured my attention was this: “The Country with the Highest Rate of Twin Births in the World is Nigeria.” Now that really got my attention considering Nigeria is one of my favorite topics in the world – rating top of the list. I quickly turned on my laptop and got busy on the internet – researching the truth of that statement and things only got better and better. I discovered that one particular group in Nigeria tops the rest and Yoruba people took the trophy home all the time!
My grandmother used to tell us when we were growing up that if you want to have healthy babies in the future, learn to eat well. Now the saying goes that men need to eat well and eat certain foods to be able to produce good seed – correct me if I’m wrong but from my research on the internet, there seems to be some truths in that fact.
Personally, I think the Yoruba people too have some very tantalizing meals. It is either that or I just happen to come across Yoruba only recipes on the internet. I’ve realized that they have more yam related accompaniments to their soups than to the rice that the Igbo people prefer (I stand to be corrected oo!). I learned that Agida or yam apparently contains a natural hormone phytoestrogen which may stimulate the ovaries to produce more than one egg which can be fertilized. Now the locals claim that Agida eaten with Okra leaf soup does the trick anytime any day.
With such powerful information and my desire to have a set of twins in the near future, I’m set to start loading up on plenty of Agida and Okra leaf soup (by the way, I recently tried cooking Okra leaf soup with pumpkin leaves instead of spinach). So what did I eat it with? Pounded plantains (or Matoke for my East African readers) and it was heavenly!
On a final note, I hear there is a community in South-West Nigeria called Igbo-Ora (Land of Twins) and I’m thinking that I wouldn’t mind paying them a visit when I finally make my trip to Naija! Who knows I may just land myself a ….
Until next time I remain yours truly,
K-Naija Sista
Suzan Mwadime
CEO, Kivuli Holidays and Conferences
www.kivuliholidays.com

Agida, Matoke, Nigerian Food, Okra leaf soup, Twins, Yam