Soji ADENIYI
Isiaka Abiona, popularly called Okun Poti, is the Secretary of the Amalgamated Commercial Tricycle and Motorcycle Owners, Repairs and Riders Association of Nigeria (ACCOMORAN),otherwise known as Okada riders, in Ila-Orangun, headquarters of Ila Local Government Area of Osun State. He swears, like many natives of the town,that palm wine is good for one’s health.
That sentiment resonates across the SouthWest with the saying “Emu l’ogun Ila” (palm wine is medicine to Ila people).
This reporter ran into Isiaka at his duty post in front of the Orangun of Ila Palace, where he oversees ticket fee collection for his association.
Courtesies over, the Agbondan Compound , Oke Ede,Ila Orangun-born Isiaka spoke glowingly about his passion for palm wine.
“I drink it like water because it does not only quench my thirst, it also cools my nerves and relieves me of my pains,” he said.
“You know I work in the sun that makes you tired all day, so I take palm wine as a reliever.”
Another Okada ride, Kamoru Oyeniyi, aka ‘Exco’ from Opeyakata Compound, shares Isiaka’s sentiments.
He said: “In those days, palm wine was used to cure various and serious ailments.
“Palm wine, on its own, is medicinal.But it is more effective when it is undiluted and laced with some leaves.
“Palm wine and ‘ewedu’ are a good therapy for a pregnant woman.
“If a pregnant woman takes boiled ‘ewedu’ and palm wine, delivery is easier. That is the power of palm wine combined with some leaves.”
But palm wine tapping seems to be going out of fashion in the ancient town.
There are not many youths tapping,processing and selling the stuff and the old generation of tappers is dwindling. Elders of the town are worried.
A traditional chief, Samuel Areajo, from Akeke Compound, blames the situation on education and civilisation.
According to him, many youths see no future in the business.
Areajo tapped palm wine for many years before he retired two years ago. He is not pleased that none of his children is engaged in the business.
Read Also: Mama Igosun opens a new front against Okon
“The youths prefer white collar jobs and we, parents, are not encouraging them because it cannot put food on the table,” he said. “When we were in the business, we could build houses, train our children in school and provide materially for our families.
“But today’s scope of social lives has expanded beyond what palm wine tapping can cater for.”
A major palm wine tapper and marketer in the town, Sulaimon Falowo, who runs a joint at Araromi, Oke-Jigbo area of the town, said though very few people are still engaged in the business, he and his wife, Risikatu, have little or nothing to complain about.
While Sulaimon taps and sells palm wine, his wife provides delicious bush meat and fish pepper soups for their clients at their Maje drinking joint after the day’s work.
Some of the many palm wine joints have added the sale of beer to their business.
They have also done away with gourds and calabashes to serve palm wine. Such have been replaced with glass/plastic cups and jerry cans.
The sitting arrangement at the joints have also been modernised with bamboo/wooden seats and tables giving way for plastic chairs and table.
Adeniyi Oyewole, a retired soldier and former tapper from Olumobi Compound, thinks drinking palm wine straight from the calabash is far more pleasurable than using a glass or plastic cup.
Lamidi Olajide from Awo Temileke Compound and an aide of the Orangun of Ila, Oba Wahab Adedotun, says although he stopped taking alcoholic drinks about three years ago on religious grounds, he still takes palm wine to ‘cure’ some ailments.
Leave a Reply