By ODIMEGWU ONWUMERE

For a very long period of time, I have never eaten a solid food in the morning, given the information we were passed on to, suggesting that breakfast should be light food.

A few days ago, I ate Akpu (Ndigbo understand what I ate) by 9am. I started the journey of the day with a long walk. I needed over N4000, should I have engaged the services of okada for every appointment.

When I left the house, I found myself so strong and agile, unlike in those days, it was light food. I walked boldly and full. Except water, I can’t remember taking anything till I returned to the house in the evening.

A fortnight ago, when I explained my joyful experience to one of my sisters – Okwy, who is a medical worker. She opined that my choice of food that day was up to me, but argued that Akpu should be avoided in the night instead of morning. I totally agreed with her.

It is saddening that we In Africa do everything the West says. One researcher would be in one corner in the West and suggest to us in Africa to wear a coat and even wear a tie, not minding the intensity of the hot weather here. We buy the idea without question and call it “corporate attire.” We rather give ours bad press as “Native wear.” Whoever invented those descriptions.

They even tell us that their research suggests that taking a bath every day is not good for our skin, and I wonder why nature provided us with water in the first place, in this hot clime.

Our weather here is not clement except on some rare occasions. Imagine one going through days without a bath because one Western scholar suggested that. Ahoy!

We are told that our carbohydrate foods are dangerous, yet they are inventing microwaved foods, and have not closed shops. They even tell us that the firewood we use in cooking is dangerous – contributing to climate change. They won’t apologize to us that all the cars in a place like Germany outnumber all the cars on the continent of Africa. What of industries? Africa contributes just 3% of world emissions, and you wonder where 97% of climate change contributions come from.

I don’t want to wonder between my nature-given cassava and junk food, which is better. They also tell us how our bush meat and organics are detrimental to our health, yet, they have not shutdown the cigarette industry upon that they write “poison” on the packs of cigarettes.

Our body chemistry in Africa and the type of assiduously works we do are different from what obtains in the West. Our bodies needed heavy food to sustain us throughout the day, just as my Akpu helped me all through that day without looking for a bite till I got back to my house – satisfied.

•Odimegwu Onwumere writes from Rivers State.

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