ARTICLE 25: BITTER KOLA

By S. Olanrewaju Disu .

In Lagos Area Markets, bitter- kola is commonly called by its vernacular name, “Orogbo,” or “Orogbo kola-nut”( from the Yoruba name). The scientific name is “Garcina kola, Family Guttiferae”.

The bitter-kola is found in some Lagos Area Markets all-year round, though in relatively limited quantities compared with other farm products. Because of its bitter taste, not many inhabitants of the State patronize or sell it.

Bitter-kola is usually found cultivated around villages in Southern Nigeria, often in wet situations- i.e. in riverine and swampy areas e.g. the Badagry Area of Lagos State. Ironically, the seeds are traded well beyond the area where they are cultivated. Bitter-kola is used as masticatory, having a bitter, astringent and resinous taste. This is followed by a lingering pepperiness.The bitter-kola is also used to enhance the flavor of local liquor.

Usually, the bitter-kola is eaten raw and not in prepared food. Despite its bitterness, it has some medicinal attributes – mastication will relieve coughs, hoarseness, and bronchial and throat troubles. Bitter-kola is taken dry as a remedy for dysentery and is said to provide an antidote against strophantus poisoning. The bitter-kola is also known to be vermifugal.

In spite of all these medicinal attributes of the bitter-kola, our “orogbo” in local parlance, many residents of Lagos do not patronize it because of its bitter taste! The main market where it is sold on whole-sale and retail basis is the popular “Mushin Market” in Lagos State.


A--- Bitter-kola fruits.

B--- Bitter-kola on sale at the “Mushin Market” in Lagos State.

ARTICLE 24: COCONUT

By S. Olanrewaju Disu .


The coconut is a unique agricultural product in Lagos State. It is the fruit of the coconut-palm whose outer fibrous husk yields “coir” and whose nut contains thick edible “meat” and coconut “milk”. The coconut palm is a tall pinnate-leaved tropical palm, knowm botanically as “Cocos nucifera”, and they are extensively available in Lagos State.

Coconuts are found in Lagos Metropolitan markets chiefly among market women who sell fruits. Traders who sell fresh vegetables hardly sell coconuts! Fresh vegetables are perishable items that must be sold within 24hrs of harvesting. But coconuts do not perish easily. They have hard “outer-coats” that help them have a long shelf-life. Hence, coconut can be purchased in our urban and sub-urban markets in Lagos all-year round.

The coconut palm is probably the best known palm in the “palmae” family.This tree has a tall simple stem that is seldom straight, and terminal crown of large fan-shaped leaves. The coconut fruits are found in bunches, as illustrated in picture{A}.

Coconuts are of immense commercial importance locally in Lagos State. The following are derived from this large nut :

(a) “coir” --- a stiff coarse fiber from the outer husk of the coconut. It is used to make rope and local foot-mats. Local craftsmen make a decent living out of this.

(b) “copra” --- dried coconut “meat” yielding coconut oil, which is used in soap-making, cooking and as fragnance in jelly making.

Coconut cakes and snacks as well as “tapioca” are popular by – products of the coconut fruits. Moreover, people use coconuts’ hard outer coats to make local bon-fire.

Finally, mention must be made of the “coconut milk”. It is reputed to be an excellent cleanser and a “natural anti-biotic.” In the case of a drug-overdose, people are advised locally to drink coconut-milk to neutralize the side-effects.



PHOTO’S:

A---- Coconut-fruits on a coconut palm.

B---- Harvested coconuts on sale at “Isolo Market” in Lagos State.

ARTICLE 23: MANGO FRUITS

By S. Olanrewaju Disu.


The mango fruit is an annual delicacy in Lagos Area markets. The mango fruit, or simply called “mango”, is a yellowish red tropical fruit with a firm skin, hard central stone, and juicy, aromatic, sub-acid pulp. The fruit is variable in shape, 2-6 inches long and can be sometimes greenish or reddish in color. The botanical name of the mango fruit is “Mangifera indica”.

The mango tree that bears the mango fruit is a large evergreen tree [mangifera indica] of the “Sumac family”. It grows up to 90ft and sometimes with spread up to 125ft. Its leaves are lanceolate, 6 – 16 inches long, rigid, deep green and almost glossy. When flowering, its flowers are pinkish-white. When in season, the matured mango tree produces large quantities of mango fruits indeed.

In Lagos Area Markets, the fruits are good thirst-quenchers during the dry-season when the trees bear their fruits. In addition to this, however, the mango-tree is very useful to the populace all-year round. Its massive frame with very wide branches-spread provide canopy and shelter against the burning tropical sun and heat.

In addition to this, the leaves and bark of the mango tree are of great value to traditional medical practitioners. They are said to contain tannins, resins, glycoside and flavonoids. Hence they are locally used to treat bronchitis, anaemia,diabetes and malaria fever.

The mango-tree grows extensively in this part of the world so much so that its fruits are extremely plentiful when in season. Many of them go bad due to poor storage facilities. The large populace simply cannot consume this bountiful produce of nature. Therefore, a couple of fruit juice industries have sprung up; packaging mango fruit juices in addition to other citrus fruits.

Hence, we can say that the mango fruit is of good value economically and industrially.


Photo’s :

A--- Unripe mango-fruits on a mango tree in an orchard in Lagos State.

B--- Freshly harvested mango fruits on sale at the “Agege Market” in Lagos State.

ARTICLE 22: "AGBALUMO"-Star Apple

By S. Olanrewaju Disu


The “agbalumo” fruit, also known as the “star apple”, is an annual popular fruit in Lagos State.The botanical name of the fruit is “Chrysophyllum albidum, Family Sapotaceae”.

The fruits are sub-spherical in shape, about 3cm in diameter, usually 5-celled and contain an edible, sweet fruit-pulp. When in season, it is often an item of market trade.

Women retail-traders sell the fruits both inside our markets and along our streets, especially adjacent to school-gates{school children love this fruit dearly!} and bus –stops. Young girls hawk them in large trays on top of their heads. This has to be so because the “agbalumo” fruits cannot be kept for too long after harvesting.

Medicinally, they are good remedies for sore-throat and tooth-ache. They are also useful for constipation.

Culturally, the seeds are threaded as anklets in dancing. Also, young people, especially boys, use the seeds to play a peculiar out-door game.



PHOTOGRAPHS:

A----- the “Agbalumo”—the “Star Apple” on sale at “Ogba Retail Market” in LAGOS.

B---- “ Agbalumo” seeds.

ARTICLE 21: BROOMS

By S. OLANREWAJU DISU.

The word “ broom” generally connotes sweeping and brushing ; but in this part of
the world , brooms serve more than a dual purpose. Apart from sweeping, brooms
are also used as a special utensil in the cooking of a vegetable which is locally
called “ewedu” and is botanically known as “Corchorus olitorius of Tiliaceae family”.
In the western industrialized world , brooms are made from synthetic fibers bound
together on a long handle. However, our own brooms are made traditionally from
the leaves of palm-trees.
Lagos State and, indeed, the whole of southern Nigeria, lie in the tropical rain forest belt.
This belt is blessed with climate and soil that support the growth of palm-trees.
Therefore, there are always raw-materials for broom-making and sales in Lagos area .In our markets, wholesale and retail marketers of brooms abound all the time. Street-hawking of brooms is a common feature, too.
As it is depicted in the accompanying photographs, brooms are made from the main veins of palm trees. Some brooms are 2ft. 10ins long. Some range 2ft to 2ft 4ins long. Brooms that are used for chopping certain vegetables while being cooked in pots barely measure more than one foot in length.
In addition to above, brooms are also attached to long poles in other to clean ceilings and rid them of cob-webs and other unwanted objects like birds’ nests on our windows and roof-tops. Indeed, broom-making and selling provide a steady stream of income for enterprising inhabitants of the State who dare venture into it. Nature is so kind to us !

PHOTOGRAPHS
A--- Broom-making and selling at the boisterous “Mushin Market”.
B--- Brooms on display for wholesale and retail sales.

C---Street hawking of brooms in “Ejigbo”- an urban dwelling area in Lagos State.

D---A palm tree whose leaves are used in making brooms.

ARTICLE 20: SUGARCANE

By S. Olanrewaju Disu .


In Lagos State, sugar-cane is commonly grown in domestic gardens for casual cutting and chewing, and any surplus taken to market for sale.The botanical name of sugar-cane is “Saccharum officinarum, Family Gramineae”. It is a perennial clumped grass, very polymorphic with canes of various dimensions : e.g. 1.5cm to 6cm in diameter; 5cm to 25cm node-length; and 2.5meters to 6meters in height.

Consumption and other uses of sugar-cane in Lagos Area far outstrip its cultivation in Lagos Area gardens and farms.Therefore, sugar-cane is massively brought into Lagos from the hinterland, especially from the north, where it is cultivated on a very large scale.

In Lagos metropolis, sugar-cane is chewed for its sweet sap. Chewing the cane promotes salivation.It is a laxative. Some ethnic group living in the state traditionally use sugar-cane in poultice.The sap is sometimes used in cooking ( for making sweetmeats );sweet drinks and sometimes alcoholic drinks. In the pharmaceutical industry, the sap of sugar-cane is used as a sweetening agent, while in agro-allied indusries it is used in food processing.

Culturally in Yorubaland, including Lagos Area, the Yoruba’s invoke the sugar-cane for the sweet satisfaction of being victorious over an enemy.

In our markets in Lagos, we have thick canes which are distinguishable from the thin canes. The thin canes yield sweeter sap, and they are reputed to be of greater benefits to sugar-producing industries - yielding better raw molasses and crystalline sugar.

Since there is no sugar-cane milling factory in Lagos State, most of the sugar-cane sold in our markets are on retail basis. Interestingly, we have street-hawkers roaming the metropolis with wheel-barrows filled with chopped sugar-canes for direct human consumption. These hawkers get their supply of sugar-canes from whole-sale sugar-cane markets, e.g., near the “Alaba-Rago” ram market along the Badagry Expressway in Lagos State; as well as the “Oke-Afa” area of the metropolis- a swampy section of the state that supports sugar-cane growth year-round.


PHOTO’S:

A---- Sugar-cane grown domestically in a garden in “Gbagada Area” of Lagos.

B & C---- Sugar-cane hawker selling the commodity at the entrance of “Ejigbo Market”.