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Economy Palaver: Hosts Now Serve Garri, Fish At Owambes, Appetisers Disappear

Published

1 year ago

February 20, 2023

Editor

… Ewa-agoyin takes prime position

Some options chosen by Nigerians in their lifestyle, due to increases in prices of goods and services, have continued to bewilder many.

These lifestyle alternatives have also found their way into Owambe’s (a nickname for parties, especially those with plenty of food and drinks).

In Nigeria, hosts at Owambes usually see to satisfying their guests with varieties of food like semo, beans, plantain, rice, Amala, among others.

But the continuous increase in the prices of goods and services has depleted this tradition, as hosts now serve garri and fried fish at parties.

Garri (cassava flakes) were meals not present at Owambes, but is converted to eba, which is consumed with ewedu and sauce, or vegetable or egusi soups at Owambes, where the majority of the guests are from the Western part of the country.

However, eba has long left the queues of meals served at Owambes.

Garri and fish take over at Owambes

Mrs Kehinde Salami, a businesswoman, told Economy and Lifestyle that such food had to be added to the menu because of the economic situation.

She identified other foods, apart from rice, which was recently added to food menu in parties and projected further changes in Owambe menus.

“Garri and fish will be served in parties in such perilous times. Even the garri, which was once consumed by poor people, is now cherished by the rich. The price of one paint rubber of white garri is now N900, compared to N200 it was sold years back.

“Even served with groundnut, guests will eat it. Some people do come to parties for food.

“The economy is not friendly to anyone and not all persons that come to a party dressed up are well-to-do.”

Partygoers embrace delicacy

Mr. Rotimi Hassan, a chef said: “It was a funny view when I followed a friend to such a party and saw people drinking garri and fried fish.

“Some were served jollof rice. This was a naming ceremony.

“The thing is that many people are now dropping these fancy meals and opting for local meals which are affordable in parties.

“Those days when meals are used as criteria to define a well-planned Owambe are gone.

“We are in the period of managing resources, including money, else when you cook varieties of food in parties, hoping that some persons will support you with gifts of money (such as spraying money on the celebrant on the dance floor during the party) you might be disappointed.”

Appetisers disappear from menu

Mrs Medeyomi Mautin, a cook, said that even those small chops and chinchin used as appetisers in parties has also disappeared due to the high costs of flour.

She noted that Owambe meal menus, which usually consists of six to 10 dishes, now barely holds four and that some Owambes don’t even see the need for menus.

“I have been cooking in parties for long. Some of the meals are prepared on the spot at the parties. Such meals are amala (yam flour) and appetizers such as puff-puff, spring rolls, chinchin, and small chops, among others. While some, such as asun (fried meat and pomo (cow skin) smudged with pepper), pepper soup, and others are prepared outside the party venue.

“But the costs of flour, meat, and other ingredients had made most clients opt for one or abandon all.

“Owambe food menus are not also left out. These menus contain up to 10 varieties of food. But barely contain four now.

“Some hosts even choose rice and salad, some just semo and vegetable soup, others chicken pie or meat pie and the latest is garri and fried fish.

“Despite all these changes, guests consume these foods with love and try to enjoy themselves to the fullest.”

Ewa-agoyin takes prime position

Mrs. Grace Akintayo, a plastic ware seller, said she has served ewa agoyin (mashed beans with palm oil sauce) and garri at her father’s burial in Badagry.

“When I did my father’s funeral at Badagry in January, ewa agoyin and garri was among the foods served.

“I thought people won’t like it because a friend of mine who has eaten garri and fish in a recent party prescribed the meal when I complained about the cost of preparing semo, tuwo and soup, and jollof rice.

“To my surprise, many guest ate it because they preferred it to rice.

“It also helped me save the cost of cooking tuwo and semo with soups which was one of my father’s people favourite delicacy.”

Headline

Porn Star Testifies Against Trump At Hush Money Trial

Published

1 day ago

May 8, 2024

Editor

The porn star at the heart of Donald Trump’s historic criminal trial, Stormy Daniels, testified on Tuesday about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with the former president in a hotel penthouse suite.

Trump, 77, is accused of falsifying business records to reimburse his lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels on the eve of his 2016 election against Hillary Clinton, when the lurid story of marital infidelity could have sunk his campaign.

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger announced “The people call Stormy Daniels,” as Trump, who is seeking to recapture the White House in November, sat at the defense table in the Manhattan courtroom flanked by his lawyers, AFP reports.

What followed was detailed testimony about the sexual encounter Daniels said she had with Trump – his pajamas, his boxer shorts, the sexual position, that he did not wear a condom – all while the former president, sitting just feet away, stared on in silence, stony-faced.

Trump has denied having sex with Daniels, and his defense team sought, unsuccessfully, to have a mistrial declared.

The extraordinary courtroom face-off comes six months before election day when Trump will try to defeat Democratic President Joe Biden.

Daniels walked prosecutors through her difficult childhood in Louisiana, a stint as a stripper and her eventually joining the adult film industry.

The 45-year-old, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, said she met Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe where she was employed as a greeter by X-rated movie company Wicked Entertainment.

Daniels said she was 27 at the time and Trump was “probably older than my father.”

She said a member of Trump’s security detail told her the real estate tycoon wanted to have dinner with her. She was reluctant but agreed after discussing it with her publicist.

When she arrived at the penthouse where Trump was staying he emerged wearing “silk or satin pajamas which I immediately made fun of,” Daniels told the jury.

“I said ‘Does Mr Hefner know you stole his pajamas?’” she said in a reference to the outfit favored by the late Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner.

Trump changed clothes and they began talking about adult movies.

“He was very interested in a lot of the business stuff,” Daniels said.

Trump, who was married at the time to his current wife, Melania, suggested Daniels be on his hit reality television show, “The Apprentice,” she said.

Daniels said she went to the bathroom at one point and when she emerged Trump was on the bed in boxer shorts and a T-shirt.

“It startled me,” she said. “The intention was pretty clear.”

“I was not threatened verbally or physically,” Daniels said, although there was an “imbalance of power.”

She said they had brief sex on the bed “in missionary position” and Trump did not wear a condom.

“I felt ashamed I didn’t stop it, didn’t say no,” Daniels said.

Daniels said she met with Trump again on several occasions but cut off contact when it became clear she would not appear on “The Apprentice.”

After Trump announced his candidacy for president, Daniels said her publicist suggested she could sell her story and put her in touch with Keith Davidson, a Hollywood lawyer who testified previously at the trial.

“My motivation wasn’t money, it was to get the story out,” Daniels said.

She said she entered into a non-disclosure agreement in October 2016 on the eve of the presidential election negotiated by Davidson and Cohen for which she was paid $130,000.

“I couldn’t tell my story, he couldn’t tell the story,” she said.

After a lunch break, Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche asked Judge Juan Merchan to declare a mistrial, objecting to some of Daniels’ testimony, particularly her claim that she was threatened in 2011 by a man in a Las Vegas parking garage who allegedly warned her not to talk about Trump.

“It’s extremely prejudicial to insert safety concerns into a trial about business records,” Blanche said.

Merchan denied the motion, saying “I don’t think we have reached a point where a mistrial is in order.”

Trump is under a partial gag order prohibiting him from publicly attacking witnesses, the jury or court staff.

Merchan has already fined him $10,000 for breaching the gag order and warned Trump he may face jail time for future violations.

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Naira Abuse: Trouble Looms As Group Petitions EFCC, Wants Edo APC Candidate Prosecuted

Published

1 day ago

May 8, 2024

Editor

The All Progressives Congress candidate in the September 21 governorship election in Edo State, Monday Okpebholo, is at risk of being sentenced to six- months imprisonment in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria Act of 2007 as a coalition of civil society organisations under the aegis of the Network of Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria accused him of abusing the Nigerian currency, the naira.

The group lodged the complaint with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against Okpebholo in a petition dated May 2, 2024, and addressed to the chairman of the EFCC.

The petition was signed by the group’s National Coordinator, Victor Kalu, and National Secretary, Ali Abacha.

The coalition claimed the senator is guilty of the offence of naira abuse and mutilation, citing the CBN Act of 2007, which declares such actions as punishable offences.

The coalition said it is “disappointment that prominent individuals, including lawmakers, have violated this provision of the CBN Act.”

Meanwhile, they commended the EFCC for its “swift response in arresting and charging individuals who have been caught on viral videos abusing and defacing the Naira at social events such as the cases of Mr Okuneye Idris Olarewaju, popularly known as Bobrisky, and Mr Pascal Okechukwu, also known as Cubana Chief Priest, who have faced legal consequences for their actions.”

While praising the EFCC for its actions, the coalition demanded that all individuals captured in viral videos abusing the Naira should be promptly arrested and brought to justice, as no one is above the law.

They called on the EFCC and other law enforcement agencies to investigate the “viral video involving Senator Monday Okpebholo, who is seen engaging in Naira abuse and mutilation.”

They added that Okpebholo should be held accountable for his actions as a representative of the people.

They, however, warned that failure to address the viral video involving Okpebholo would result in the coalition taking further actions.

They threatened to mobilise their members, supporters, and democracy advocates for a peaceful protest against the EFCC, citing selective action and bias if the EFCC failed to address the viral video involving Okpebholo.

In his response, the senator refuted the allegation, saying it was false.

Okpebholo, in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, described the allegation as a hatchet job targeted at smearing his image ahead of the September governorship election.

He blamed his detractors and the opposition camp as being the brain behind the campaign of calumny.

While stressing that he has never been arrested by the police for any civil or criminal offence, the lawmaker insisted the man in the video circulating on social media was not him.

He said, “As a private and public person, I have never sprayed or mutilated the naira in my over 50 years on earth. It baffles me why these agents will fabricate fake news to tarnish my image ahead of the election. I therefore called on the IGP to investigate the faces behind the petition and prosecute them accordingly.

“They are scouting for fake news and non-existent things to blackmail me and lie to Edo people. Unfortunately, we know what they are up to. They are smelling the defeat already. Edo people have already decided, and no amount of State-sponsored intimidation will work.

“In Edo State, President Bola Tinubu-led APC administration is working. The federal government is reconstructing federal roads in Edo Central, Edo North, and Edo South. That is why Edo people must take sides with the APC and vote for me as the next governor of Edo State.

“We will bring the Federal Government closer to the Edo people. We have been isolated for too long, and it is time to end that alienation.”
PUNCH

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Mother Throws Disabled 6-year-old Son Into Crocodile Infested River [PHOTOS]

Published

2 days ago

May 7, 2024

Editor

A mother has thrown her disabled six-year-old son into a crocodile-infested river where he has reportedly been mauled to death by reptiles.

Savitri Kumar, 26, from Uttara Kannada, a district in Karnataka, India, had a heated argument with the boy’s father, Ravi Kumar, 27, who repeatedly ordered her to “throw the child away,” the Times of India reports.

Police say her husband allegedly questioned her decision to give birth to a child with a disability.

When the parents fought about their son again on Saturday evening, May 4, Savitri was “distressed” and reportedly threw her son into a waste canal that flows into the Kali river, which is infested with crocodiles.

Father of the son

Neighbours who witnessed this called the police, who deployed divers to search for the boy in the water, but to no avail, as it was dark.

They returned on Sunday morning, May 5, and found the child’s body, which showed bite marks all over.

The boy suffered severe injuries and was missing a hand, which a police officer suggested indicated that the boy was mauled to death by one or more crocodiles.

A post mortem has been ordered to determine the six-year-old’s cause of death.