“This Kpekere sweet no be small. Christabel, are you sure these will be enough to go round? ” Jolaolu asked, pointing at the big tray of the unripe plantain, popularly called ‘Kpekere’, on the dining table as she grabbed a handful of the snack.
“Why won’t it be enough, Jola? Are we sharing it with the whole estate? It’s just for those of us here and now. This is just to keep the mouth busy while we gist.” Christabel replied.
The Salah break was here again and the girls were relaxing at her place for the holiday. We decided to gather at our usual spot under the ebelebo tree that Eid-ul-Adha morning; but we noticed that very early the men had taken over our corner. We then decided to take the ‘party’ to Christabel’s place. And as a ‘good Nigerian’, she chose to treat us to Kpekere snack. Nurse Cordelia and some others donated unripe plantain; while some others brought vegetable oil and fruit drinks.
“This men them sef, so them dey jealous us since? Them know say we go gather there today na im them no waste time at all rush go take over our spot. Thank God for this Kpekere,” Barrister Ada observed as she poured the freshly fried snack on the tray; even as Cordelia took the plates to the dinning.
“Ada, forget them! This our gathering go sweet pass them own joor. Back then in Warri where we used to live, Kpekere was a staple for us. I’ve not had for a long while now…thanks ladies for taking us back to the base,” Tamara said.
“Ehen, come to think of it sef, this Kpekere reminds me of an experience I had in Warri, where I met a very interesting character – a female ‘Robin Hood,” Lady P stated with a smile.
“Which one be that again,” Tamara asked, laughing. “Lady P, you done come o,” Jola added.
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“I met this beautiful lady once many years back when I was visiting a relative of mine in Warri. I remember sharing the Kpekere snack with her as we waited to board a bus to Rivers State because I had bought the last pieces from a seller.
“I call her female Robin Hood, although some may see her as a terrorist but I see her as a warrior. Her build was the first thing that attracted me to her – she had the frame of a world-class model that can also pass for an amazon warrior. We got talking and she told me she was a female Robin Hood, who belonged to a gang of so-called ‘freedom fighters’, fighting against those victimising those in Niger Delta. Not long after, I got talking with a relative and mentioned her and I was told she died not long after. But seriously, with all this bandit killings in the farming communities across the country, I often wondered if she was alive whether people like her would have fought against such terrorists.”
“That would be fighting evil with evil,” Ada noted as she munched on the snack.
“Indeed, the government needs a more proactive approach to resolving this banditry problem, especially in the farming communities. So that it would not subsequently lead to food shortage o,” Tinu interjected.
“Oya ladies, you can all come for your snack and drink,” Christabel urged.