Dog tails from Nigeria

Source - bbc.co.uk

The famous reverse news headline "Man bites dog!" is old news to some restaurants in Nigeria's capital, Abuja. "Welcome to animal kingdom where man pikin dey show dog pepper," says Chibuzo Eze in Pidgin English, meaning: Welcome to place where the son of man is giving dogs a hard time. Mr Eze then hungrily gets back to tugging his chunk of dog meat. He is standing under a mango tree in "South Africa", the name of an open-air restaurant hidden behind the living quarters of a Western construction firm in Abuja. "It is called South Africa because behind those high walls you'll find rich Europeans and outside here is Soweto, where we, ordinary masses, struggle with dog meat," Mr Eze explains with a smile playing on his face. 'Improves your
sex life' Mr Eze says he eats dog meat because "e dey protect person from all those nyama-nyama disease them" - it gives you immunity from different diseases. DOG MEAT TERMINOLOGY

404: A dog is also called 404 after the French-built Peugeot pick-up van, a tribute to a
dog's ability to run fast Headlights: A dish with the eyes of a dog as the most prominent component
Gear Box: Dog's liver, heart and kidneys (usually more expensive than ordinary meat)
Tyre: A dog's legs. Mr Umoh claims that eating a 'tyre' makes you a fast runner
Telephone: A dog's tail
Sentencing: The act of clubbing a dog to death
rather than slaughtering it

A few yards away Bassey Umoh, South Africa's owner and chief chef, pokes at larger chunks of sizzling meat barbecuing on wire gauze over an open fire. Mr Umoh, or Oga Bassey (oga is Pidgin English for boss) - as the "South Africans" fondly call him, says he has been selling dog meat since he completed a two-year apprenticeship in the business some 30 years ago. He also eats the meat he sells. "Eating dog meat gives you a special protection against the most potent juju (charm)," he claims, reeling off the benefits of dog meat. "Dog meat also improves your sex life. And if you eat dog meat, you cannot be poisoned." But not everyone is convinced by Oga Bassey's arguments. "The very idea of eating dog meat is absolutely disgusting," says Mary Iroanya, an office worker in the capital. "The talk about dog meat curing diseases and giving
protection against charms and the rest is mere superstition. "People who eat dog meat only use
those excuses to convince themselves that what they are doing is okay." Her colleague Adeola Osinuga is also less than convinced by such claims. "Besides, I cannot eat dog meat
because dogs are like pets," she says. Easy target Oga Bassey, however, says his cuisine is in high demand although his business is not doing so well because dogs are becoming scarce now in Abuja. "Everybody is eating dog meat openly now, that is why dogs are scarce," he says. Many Abuja dog owners complain that their dogs have gone missing, probably ending up in the likes of Oga Bassey's big dog pepper soup pot. Eaters of dog meat claim there are many benefits

Most Nigerians keep dogs not as pets, but as guard dogs. And instead of keeping them in kennels, the dogs are usually left to wander about freely, making them an easy target for people to kidnap and sell to restaurant owners like Mr Umoh. But Mr Umoh says he does not buy stolen dogs. He, however, admits that it is often difficult to tell whether some of the dogs sold to him have been stolen. "We have heard of people stealing dogs to sell. Our policy here in 'South Africa' is that we do not deal in stolen merchandise. So, we normally quiz our customers to be sure they are selling their own dogs," he explains. "Moreover, 'South Africa' is not the only dog-meat joint in Abuja," Mr Umoh adds. Indeed, there are three popular dog meat joints in
this district on the western edge of Abuja alone. Also as a rule, there is always a dog-meat pepper soup joint in every army or police barracks in Abuja. Dog meat is not any
different from any other meat. The claim that it cures malaria is definitely not true

Dr Yakubu Nyandaiti

Nigeria's riot police seem to have a thing for dog meat too as a popular dog-meat joint called Obalende sits in the middle of their barracks in Nyanya, another Abuja suburb. Another popular dog-meat spot is "Zimbabwe", an open-air joint next to a small river on the outskirts of Abuja. Unlike "South Africa", "Zimbabwe" is, however, notorious for its gamblers, pick-pockets, prostitutes and bootlegged spirits. Culture Another dog-meat eater, Beke Nnkwo says he was introduced to the cuisine as a cure for malaria. Oh la la! You don't know what you are missing.

Beke Nnkwo
Dog-meat lover

"People who eat dog meat have no business with malaria," Mr Nnkwo says. "So, I was introduced to the meat as a cure for malaria and I can testify that it works." Medical opinion, however, seems to differ. "Dog meat, to the best of my knowledge, is not any different from any other meat. The claim that it cures malaria is definitely not true," says Dr Yakubu Nyandaiti a consultant at Nigeria's University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital. "It cannot be true either that it boosts human
immunity," he says. For Mr Nnkwo, however, an Igbo from south-eastern Nigeria, eating dog meat is a question of culture. "I hear they eat frogs in certain parts of the world. But I tell you, no
matter how you cook or dress a frog, I can never eat it. "But dog is different. So, eating dog meat is a question of culture for me." Dog meat is also eaten in Plateau and Gombe states in the north and it is becoming quite popular in other parts of the country including Kaduna and Adamawa
with Abuja as the newest entrant. Asked how tasty the meat is, Mr Nnkwo beams and says: "Oh la la! You don't know what you are missing."

When tradition clashes with administration

To implement the rule of law and eliminate certain inadmissible cultures, the administration is increasingly “interfering” in traditional practices

Before now, the kinsmen or some group of people in every culture in Cameroon had the full autonomy to choose, sometimes “in collaboration with their gods or ancestors”, their rulers, their queen mother, etc. They also reserved the total rights to sack and exile or even molest or kill anyone of them who failed to respect the rules.

But, increasingly, the rule of law and globalization and modernity are greatly turning things around. It does not suffice today to molest or kill exile, sack or choose some person simply because the gods or the ancestors said so.

Sadly, conflicts between the administration, who go by the rule of law and modernity and globalization or even by some interest, and the traditionalists, who hold firm to the spirits of their lands, have sometimes burst into sheer animosity and outright antagonism.

Recently, tradition clashed with administration in sop, a remote village in the northwest province of Cameroon. The administration intervened when traditionalists there, with authority from the Fon of Nso, Sen Mbinglo III, took a decision to “sack” their queen mother – “Wirba – accused of witchcraft and having caused untold horror and havoc. A native of that area confirmed she is a witch and has killed people.

But, for the love of his wife, the traditional ruler there took the matter to the gendarmerie in Jakiri and with instructions from the gendarme, the ban on the “Wirba” from coming back to the chiefdom was removed and she was reinstated, against the will of the people. But the Nso fon, who did not welcomed the idea, immediately ordered that the traditional ruler be “washed” of his traditional title and escorted into exile.

Though the whereabouts of the traditional ruler and what he was intending to do was not known it is clear that but he could still be reinstated by the administration if he deems it necessary.

Similarly, an attempt by the administration to impose an exiled ruler on the people of Babanki still in the North West province some two years ago resulted in the brutal killing of the ruler and a chain of court cases and arrests and detentions. Recently too, the installation of an imposed lamido on the people of Sabga met with stiff resistance. In fact such cases are rampant.

Yemti Harry Ndienla Esq
Senior Journalist,
P. 0 Box 494 Buea,
Southwest Province Republic of Cameroon,
West Africa.
Cell; 237 772 52 03
mcyemtih@yahoo.com