Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to our members of the Christian faith.

Emi a se opolopo e o.

A ku odun o.

F. A

March is...

...For Ewa Riro
 this National Nutrition Month.

We are sticking with our
 proteinacious ingredient today 

- Beans - cooking and presenting it

 in a more recognizable form - Ewa riro.

Ewa riro, served plain and sweet!

If you are reading this post,
 the assumption is that you have 
a basic working knowledge of 
how to make ewa riro. 
We are simply showcasing it here for
 National Nutrition week 
and looking at different ways 
to take it up a notch or spice up the
 same old ewa riro into something spectacular.

Ewa ati agbado - Adalu

The choices of what to cook into it
 or add onto it as a side dish are limitless 
and up to your imagination.

 Sweet Corn (agbado), yam, 
green or ripe plantains, ede pupa (red crawfish) 
eja yiyan (smoked roasted fish) etc.

Ewa riro, served with dodo - fried plantain - my favorite!

 You could use palm oil
 as is traditionally usually done

 or use groundnut or vegetable oil.

Ewa ati bread.

  You can eat this for breakfast 

with bread - think burrito style, 
or with yam slices for lunch, 

or even with a side of rice for dinner. 
Anyway you serve it, it's a great source of protein and fibre and potassium.

Ok. I'm hungry now for that dish of ewa ati dodo...

Yummy!

F. A

March is...

...for Ewa Agoyin!

This is one I've truly never made, 

at least not the specialty sauce that goes with it.

 Legend has it that this is actually a 

Togolese( specifically Cotonou) dish originally that the Yorubas adopted 

and made their own. 

Add caption

Ewa Agoyin ati Bread Agege

Actually agoyin is a term used to describe 

women from along the west coast of Africa 

mostly from Ghana, Togo, 

the Benin Republic and Badagry near Lagos too. 

And ewa agoyin originally referred to 

 "beans like those Agoyin women make"

I don't dispute this idea 

especially since there are Yoruba people 

across many of those countries 

along that egde of West Africa 

so  the fact that other people 

who live outside Yoruba land

 might make it or something similar

 is not totally surprising.

To make the sauce I hear is 

a labour of love

 and an exercise in patience

 - Of the Supreme kind. 

You have to slow fry the onions for ever before you can even add the other ingredients.

If you know anything about Ghanaian cooking, this sauce would remind you of how they make shito - a sauce that can be kept canned for months, to use later, over and over again.

One day when I'm brave enough for the challenge, 

I will summon forth the agoyin woman in me 

and conjure up the agoyin sauce

 that makes this dish one of the 

natural wonders of the modern world,

 - my very best friend from Ghana will be on speed dial of course, 

guiding me every step of the way...

F.A

March is for Moin Moin!...

Otherwise known as
National Nutrition Month!

Good nutrition that is. 

Here at the Yodaai Blog, I thought we could 

highlight some of our
 traditional Yoruba nutritious menu items -
 Moin Moin, and the key ingredient 
used to make it, Beans.

Our humble ingredient - Black eyed beans.

Black eyed beans, white or red.
 I prefer the red kind, "ewa pupa",
 but either is fine.

A staple in the Southern diet for over 300 years, black-eyed beans have long been associated with good luck. A dish of beans is a New Year's tradition in most areas of the South, thought to bring luck and prosperity for the new year. 

Beans are high in fibre, moderate in carboydrates, fairly high in protein and low in fat content. If you are on a diet, you can do no better than to figure out how to add beans in a variety of ways to our meals.

 Our first menu item (below) shows these beans in a completely transformed way. 

The Mighty Moin Moin!

Moin Moin elemi meta - "the three - souled" variety. I made these the other day using those ramekins you use to make creme brulee.
 The "souls" are boiled eggs, ede pupa, (large red shrimps) and eja yiyan (roasted fish) - you can only see the boiled eggs here.

Other "emi's" you can include in the moin moin are boiled or fried liver, chicken gizzard,  fresh shrimps, corned beef, craw fish etc.

This post assumes you have a working knowledge of how to make moin moin, we are merely highlighting it here.

It is traditionally prepared in these 
leaves above for steaming.
Moin Moin can be served for
 breakfast with ogi  ("pap") or akamu.
 It can be served as an appetizer, 
as part of a main meal with Jollof or fried rice or as part of dinner with "Eko."

It can be made with palm oil so it has an orangey-reddish final appearance as shown above or it can be made with groundnut or vegetable oil in which case, its final appearance is lighter brown.

The outcome either way is yummy
-take my word for it.

Leave your comments below if you need a recipe.

F. A

Michelle Obama, a Yoruba man and I...

Duro Olowu, Fashion Designer.

You know you have "arrived" so to speak as a fashion designer when the first lady of the United States begins to wear your designs.

Mrs Obama in a Duro Olowu print dress.
Photo from Mrs-O.com.

 This is the story of Duro Olowu, another 

" one of us", born in Nigeria, based in London, that I'm claiming today...

Models in 2013 runway clothing from the designer.
Photo from "le catch" blog

Mrs Obama . Photo from Mrs-O.com

A lawyer by training, 

Mr Olowu started his fashion design house

 in 2004 and the rest as they say is history...

 His unique style mixes our

 bold African prints with the contemporary fabrics and patterns of the western world.

Mrs O in a Duro Olowu tweed coat.

To date, Mrs Obama has worn
designs by Duro Olowu more than a
 dozen times and counting.
Of all the designers
 she could choose, she chose him,
 over & over. Omo wa ni.

Mrs Obama in a Duro Olowu blouse at a "let's Move" event with kids. All Photos from Mrs-O.com except where differently identified.
Why is this relevant here at all
 or relevant to me? 

#1.Omo wa ni. 

Mrs O in an orange and black Jacket by Duro Olowu

#2. We are simply celebrating his success.

 More importantly I can now

 (and you too can ) have access

 to this international designer

 here in our backyard at 

your neighborhood J.C Penny store or online at JCP.com. J.C.Penny

 Yes, Mr Olowu has joined

 a long line of famous designers

 who are now making their 

once exclusive designs available

 to the masses like you and I...

Mrs O in a Duro Olowu Blouse

Excuse me 

while I make my way to J.C Penny

 to support my brother. 

Ooto oro ni mo so yen o.

 Eeyan mi ni!

To visit Mr Olowu's website:

Duroolowu.com 

Later folks!

. 

F. A

And the winner...

...of the proverb of the month of March 

is Mrs Alabi with proverb submission #109: 

"Igba ara la'n bu 'ra" 

 Meaning everything in its own time 

or you do things when the time is right for it.

Thank you for the submission. Other interpretations and practical applications welcome.

Submit your proverbs in the comments section below or directly to me in a private email, if you want to join the conversation.

F. Abolade, M.D.

Black History = Yoruba history part IV, 2013.

Who am I?

Black History = Yoruba History unless of course it really is about African American History! 

Were it not for a few twists and turns of history that brought her ancestors here unto slavery, this next iconic woman could have been my sister, or my aunt. Or my cousin. Or my neighbour.

This is the story of a little black girl born in the city of Decatur, Alabama to a carpenter and a school teacher who grew up to be a Stanford and Cornell graduate, a chemical engineer, a Physician, a Peace Corp volunteer to West Africa and oh yes, the first African American female to blast off into space on the Endeavour. 

Enough said. 

Kare o ja're. Omo Balogun. Akinkanju Obirin bi okunrin.

Omo onile ma a w'ole, ma a r'ora.

We claim you as one of ours, a native daughter of the soil. We celebrate you. 

But what is my name? Comments below pls.

F. A

Another Fine Yodaai Meeting!

Irohin ti kan mi...

The reports are in and it's all A+!

By all accounts, it was another successful gathering of like minded folks in Birmingham yesterday.

The social secretary and the host family pulled out all the stops...

First, January and February birthdays were celebrated for all

( mine is today and I'm sticking to my I'm only 27 story...)

Members showed up in full force from the tri city areas...

The Montgomery consortium above and below..

The Birmingham area consortium above and below

Our host family and guests...

The ladies showed up all in red themed attires to continue to high light heart health month

The President showed up in red too...

Even the babies and the mamas showed up in red! too cute...

Raffles and gifts for the ladies in red...

Some of the 2013-15 executives below...

 And  a great big thank you to our host family again, for bringing along the R.S.V.P. (Rice Soup Very Plenty). 

F. A

Black History Month = Yoruba History Month, Part III, 2013.

Who am I?
If there was a civil rights movement in post - independent Nigeria, then this now historical icon would be one of its founding fathers.

I was born the first of fraternal twins (1st clue to who I am!) in 1922, the son of a farmer, drummer and palm wine tapper. They called me Augustus. 


I trained initially in Nigeria as a teacher then served with the Royal air force as a navigator during WWII. I later studied History and Geography at the Universities of Manchester & London, England. I taught the Yoruba language at the School of African and Oriental studies while at the University of London.

I married an English Rose, & brought her back to my village in Nigeria - if I told you which village, you'd know this right away! - where she lived and died recently, herself becoming an activist for the common man in Nigeria. Together we engaged in many public battles, with the mostly military regimes that ruled Nigeria. When I published the treatise "The beginning of the end" after the Gowon Military government delayed returning Nigeria to democratic rule, I was arrested and imprisoned. Why? because I stood by the road side, distributing this document. It was the first of many such imprisonments.

I, along with others, agitated for free & compulsory education through high school & in 1956, I started my own secular school. Another clue: I took the name of my school from the ship that the pilgrims sailed to America on, in search of freedom from the tyranny of the then British King. At the school, we raised our own pigs, made our own cocoa from locally grown beans, harvested 3 seasons of corn instead of the 2 that the local famers did and we learnt technical skills by building our own class rooms and dormitories. Out of that school, came the first female engineer in Nigeria.

Behind my back, they called me a cantankerous old man. A radical. I prefer the title "conscience of the nation". Secular in my approach to life, atheist to my core. Self reliance was my guiding principle. Truth and fairplay were at the helm of my moral compass and the song of justice? - it became my rallying cry.

"I am the master of my fate, the captain of my soul". 

Name me if you will...Bonus points if you name my school and my village.

F. A

An ode to love...

A Serenade in Yoruba 

Wi fun mi, Olufe mi,
Iwo eni ti okan mi fe,
Fi ona ife re han mi,
Ki emi ma d'abi alaare,
 Ti o n s'ina kaa kiri,
Bi agbo ti o so nu,

Ereke re wu mi,
Orun re si dun wo pelu ileke,
Fi akara didun da mi duro,
Fi eso igi tu mi ninu,
Nitori aisan ife n'se mi.

Dide olufe mi,
Arewa mi kan na a,
Ki o si ja de, ka lo,
Adaba mi, je ki emi o ri oju re,
Nitori oju re si lewa,
Je ki emi gbo ohun re,
Ni tori didun ni ohun re.
Aisan ife nse mi, olufe mi,
Iwo eni ti okan mi fe.

Adapted from & inspired by the Songs of Solomon...

Happy upcoming Valentine's day,
to all great Yodaaites!

Translate single lines to English if you dare, below in the comments section...

F. A.

Black History Month = Yoruba History Month, part II, 2013.

Sooooo who do you think I am?

One can't give too many clues about this next famous historical Yoruba icon - without revealing the mystery man himself. So here goes with just the essentials...


I was born in 1909, the son of a peasant. In order to raise money for tuition, my entrepreneurial spirit came through working my way as a clerk, a produce trader, money lender, teacher, taxi driver and a newspaper reporter/editor.

I organized and led trade unions in the late 1930s like the Nigerian Produce Traders Association and the Nigerian Motor Transport Union. 

I studied law in London in 1944, and while there I founded the Egbe Omo Oduduwa (“Society of the Descendants of Oduduwa”), a Yoruba cultural society. I am the author of several books - if I told you one of them, it'd give the game away.

I advocated for a federal constitution for Nigeria and I was a principal participant in the struggle for Nigerian independence. I spent several years in federal prison on charges of Treasonable felony (Can't give you the details, it'd be too easy then!) and later became the leader of the opposition in the federal house of representatives.

I am often commemorated for building the first stadium in West Africa, the first television station in Africa, running the best civil service in Africa at the time (in the Western Region), introducing free health care till the age of 18 in the Western Region, introducting free and mandatory primary education in Western Nigeria, and coining the name Naira for Nigeria's currency (formerly known as the Nigerian Pound). 

I have said too much. 

Who am I?



F. Abolade, M.D. 

February is Heart Health Month!

Going Red For Women!

Yodaai ladies joined thousands of others nationwide today by wearing red....
 Why ? you may ask.
Be e la a n' bi ni.


 Today, February 1 marks the 10th anniversary of the 

American Heart Association's "Go red for women" 

with National Wear Red Day to highlight heart diseases in women. 
We are going Red on the Yodaai Blog to raise awareness for heart disease in women.

Sooooo,

From the plains of the city of Montgomery,

to the lush hills and green mountain sides of the city of Birmingham

Our able leader in this celebration...

As highlighted by our social secretary in her recent email to all, this is 

American Heart month

 And so too, through the academic halls of the city of Auburn,

From our enterprising business owners... 

to our hardworking mothers and sisters....

We join in the community and nationwide effort 

of raising awareness

 for the number 1 killer of women.

Watch a short 3 minute video to highlight this.
Go red for women video.

Be kind to your clicker!
Commit to eating a low fat, low carbohydrate 
(low sugar), low cholesterol, moderate protein and a high fibre diet unless directed otherwise by your doctor.

Maintain a safe healthy weight for your height.

Exercise your body to raise your heart rate & therefore increase your metabolism.

Get routine physical exams to check your blood pressure and heart rate.

Women have heart attacks too - it's in fact the #1 killer of women, so if you have unusual chest pain with discomfort down your arm, jaw pain, 
gas -like upper abdominal pains, sweating, nausea etc, see your doctor immediately!

For more information, visit the web site of the
 American Heart Association.

Go Red for Women. American Heart Association Learn and Life

Logo  and the "go red signs" are from the American heart association website.

The Social /Pub secretary has also asked that the ladies wear items of red in our clothing to our next meeting in Birmingham.

F. Abolade, M.D. 

Black History =Yoruba History Month, Part I, 2013.

It's baaaaack!

February is amongst other things, Black History month or as we like to translate it here: Yoruba History month! Just as we had last year, all month long, there will be fun mini history quizes with prizes for winners as usual. So here goes...

Who am I?

I am a pre-colonial Yoruba woman who eventually saved Ile-Ife from its' invading neighbors. A princess by marriage, I allowed myself to be captured as a slave by the invading Igbo & went underground to learn the secret to their fierce & fearful un-human like appearances  - they covered themselves, from head to toe, with dried grass and bamboo fibres -

which led to their success at  invading Ile Ife, repeatedly taking my people as slaves. 

I learnt the simple trick : 

Dried grass + bamboo fibres + fire = Defeat! Then I went back and helped my people use this knowledge to defeat the marauding invaders. 

I paid a heavy price for this victory, 

a son, given to the spirit of the river, Esimirin. 

What is my name?

Bonus prize if you also know my son's name.
Answers in the comment section below pls.

F. Abolade, M.D.

And the winner...

 ...of the proverb of the month for february is Prof Lekan Ayanwale. 

And the proverb is:

"Eyin ti aja fi 'n ba omo e sere ni fi bu u je." 

He provided a translation as well -

 "The same teeth that 
the dog uses to play with her child 
is the same ones

 he uses to bite in 
disciplining the

 child."

Any practical applications? Comments below pls.

F. Abolade, M.D.

Publicity Secretary.