Many African children were sold one lie or the other when they were young to prevent them from doing certain things adults did not want them to do. In school hostels, by adults, from fellow friends who were ‘victims’ from such lies and by those who were supposed to be trusted – parents.
Funny thing is, children always bought those lies and till date some still do. Some of these lies were steeped in strong cultural themes like respect and chauvinism. While some actually made a bit of sense, there were those ones which were so ridiculous, one wonders how they ever believed them!
Today we would be sharing 5 of these myths, which ones were you a victim of?
- Drinking GARRI (cassava flour) after eating MANGO can kill you: We are not sure about this one, and that is because we are yet to meet someone who was bold enough to try it!
- If you dream of FISH, someone close to you is pregnant: We’re not sure of the relationship between babies and fishes, shouldn’t it be storks.
- If you EAT straight from a pot, it will rain on your wedding day: if this were true, it would have been perfect to stage several ‘runaway bride/groom’ episodes. Rain falling on one’s wedding day also applied if you opened an umbrella indoors. A lot of people who cook eat from the pot when they taste their foods and we haven’t seen a viral video of rain messing up any wedding ceremony. Please let us know if you have seen any and we’d be sure happy to interview the couple.
- Eggs are not for children. If you EAT EGG, you would steal: This probably saved many parents the expense of buying eggs, and if it was bought, they ate it. We know right, why waste your money on eggs when you could have something exciting like….like yam and palm oil! But really, the egg deprivation is enough reason to drive any saint to steal – steal eggs.
- DON’T eat food that has fallen to the ground. It has been kissed by Satan! This was epic. When they poured out libations just before they drank alcohol, they’d pour some beverages on the ground and say it’s for the gods’. Now we are confused. This one was clearly to promote hygiene and healthy habits.
