Sir: The afternoon breeze vibrated with the buzzing sounds of the flies that shuttled between the roofless toilet and garri stands. The toilet was a jerry-built improvised by the market users and sat wobbly nine metres from the garri displayed in different sizes of bowls. The flies held her gaze: they rose in thick, green swarms and perched in formation on the dingy slab of the toilet.
After two horrific hours of studying the situation, she noticed that what doubled their number at the stands was the effort made by the market users, who occasionally threw a broom at the flies each time the users visited the toilet to defecate. As her curiosity grew, she went closer to the building and saw that it’s full to the brim, with wet wastes practically oozing through a crack at the back.
‘So, this is what I’ve been eating in this Lagos State’, Adanna, a medical practitioner in her late 30s, revealing a diastema, lamented as gentle tears of disbelief dripped down her healthy cheeks. She sulked as she dumped the N2,000 garri she’d bought that afternoon and went home. That happened two months ago.
Garri, otherwise called cassava flake in English, is staple food in Nigeria and its unavailability for three months can result in massive deaths. Sadly, the poor hygiene practised by its dealers/makers makes it look as if garri is something to be mixed with cement and gravel for building construction. At most markets, garri is left in care of dust and flies by the sellers, who fail to reason that it’s for human consumption. Poor quality garri high in cyanide, which people eat without any complaint, abounds in Nigeria.
Poor hygiene isn’t abstract science, but daily reality in Nigeria. From Moshalashi through Post Office in Akure to Effurun in Uvwie and Oil Mill Market down to Elelenwo in Port Harcourt, it’s a similar tale of poor hygiene. More disgusting is the slew of garri sellers comprising mainly graduates and dropouts that have emerged from the Mile 1,2 and 3 axis of Port Harcourt down to Ada George, then Rumuosi and Rumuokoro.
Really, most girls in this category ignore cleanliness and beguile buyers by wearing garish make-up. At Rumuokoro, the garri displayed at different locations is infested with disease-carrying agents. With feet and proboscis laced with viruses and bacteria, the flies swarm out of the drainage and feast on garri and other cooked foods meant for sale. Under the watch of the sellers who don’t bother chasing the flies away until a buyer appears, the flies attack the stands till nights.
For safety, therefore, consumers should follow these useful tips: Ensure the environment in which your garri is processed and displayed is clean. Buy quality garri that tastes, smells and looks fresh. Insist on garri displayed in a showcase or covered with cellophane, otherwise buy the one in the bag. If you’re in doubt about the safety of your garri, do make eba with it, using screamingly hot water so as to kill the pathogens in the garri. Finally, try educating garri dealers/makers on the harmful effects of cyanide on the humans’ eyes.
In conclusion, whilst it’s our responsibility to sensitise garri dealers/makers on the benefits of good food hygiene, it should be stressed that NAFDAC and relevant stakeholders also should wake up.
More importantly, doctors like Adanna, who have an eye for food hygiene, should be consulted, appreciated and emulated. This columnist too, who once volunteered to donate cellophane to garri sellers in his locality but the sellers said that ‘disease doesn’t kill an African man’, should be emulated. The cost of garri today doesn’t seem to bother me as does the disease swallowed with this Nigeria’s staple.
• Aladesohun Sola wrote from Port Harcourt.
