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Delta State, Nigeria was founded on the 27th of
August 1991, however, the land mass within its geographical boundaries has
existed since the world began. Human beings just gave it a name. All things existed
before we were all born and will outlast us. Egusi cannot be created nor
destroyed but can be transformed from one form to another; and this has been the
case throughout the ages.
The thing that hath been, it is that which
shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done:
and there is no new thing under the sun.
Egusi soup is curated in 38 million pots in Nigeria daily
and up till now my participation in this activity has been to eat. However, on
the 14th of March 2025 I took a giant leap into destiny and made my
first pot of Egusi soup. I call that beautiful pot my first born.
Like all births, there was a conception that came before as
the hands don’t act unless the mind has been impregnated. What happened was that
I bought a small plastic bowl of egusi for £13 and it was only 65% full. It
contained more pepper than resided in the whole of Cameroon and right then I made
up my mind to start cooking my own branded Egusi soup.
Unfortunately, I had no clue about what to do next as eating
a thing for decades will never give one the skill in producing it. (Consumers
are well known to be useless in production).
At this point I want
to take a commercial break and big up all the women who have been cooking what
we do not know how to cook for us in this Nigerian ecosystem. Una well done
o!!!
So, I rang a friend who was a guru in kitchen matters (my egusi mentor) and she went through the
process in a step-by-step manner and I took notes. I told her I did not know if
the shop I frequent in Birmingham sold Melon seeds or ground melon seeds. She
warned me about ground melon as she has noticed sand in a brand she had bought
before. So, I bounced to the store with my shopping list and discovered that
the store had packs of melon seeds on display. I had walked past these products
a hundred times in the past!
Back home I followed the recipe and made the soup. I decided
to add some ‘anointing oyel’ in for blessing on my first fruit pot followed by overzealous
palm oil additions. The soup ended up watery and oily. I snapped the final
product – Eba and watery egusi – and posted it on the family group. The next
day I looked into the pot and there was thick congealed crude oil wonderous
supernatant on the top of the soup. I rang my egusi mentor and she told me to
cook another pot without oil and mix both pots. I went for more Egusi and Ugu
vegetables in the supermarket and started the process with boiling some chicken
and crayfish. The aroma in the house was nice and I relaxed in my favourite
chair ‘pressing phone’. The smoke alarm alerted me to the task at hand from which
I had become distracted. I raced to the kitchen to salvage what remained of the
burnt offering. Smoke everywhere! I started on another pot, cooked an oil-less
egusi then merged the old school Friday Egusi with the new school Saturday
egusi and by the time I finished I was exhausted. I packed up the soup in plastic
bowls and put it in the freezer. A friend asked how it tasted and I said I was
too tired to start making pounded yam.
So, this is how women suffer eh?! Shopping, cooking, child
care, serving food, washing up plates and more child care. Then they will collapse
on the bed at night and one man will approach their chest. Chai!! Ladies, don’t
fight him. Just ring me and my thugs. We will bring the violence to him.
Epilogue
My first born Egusi pot of soup was born on the 14th
of March 2025, however, the Majestic Melon seed has existed since the world
began. Babawilly just gave it a name: First born Egusi pot of soup. All things
existed before we were all born and will outlast us. Egusi cannot be created
nor destroyed but can be transformed from one form to another and taken from
one kitchen to another. This has been the case throughout the ages.
Babawilly4President
Dr Wilson Orhiunu
