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A Review of Oyin Oludipe's "Ìkọ́kọrẹ́ # Water-yam Porridge"

By Timothy Olanrewaju Fatukasi

"Comrades, you have heard already about the strange dream that I had last night. But I will come to the dream later. I have something else to say first. I do not think, comrades, that I shall be with you for many months longer, and before I die, I feel it my duty to pass on to you such wisdom as I have acquired. I have had a long life, I have had much time for thought as I lay alone in my stall, and I think I may say that I understand the nature of life on this earth as well as any animal now living. It is about this that I wish to speak to you." --Old Major Pig in Animal Farm

"In the sedate corners of the swamp
We shall have entrails of ruptured
Shells, marking the apartheid of battered
Graves, a blanket of sweetened flesh
Rinsed in invocation of seasons to
Grace the deity tongue. In every corner,
A humid tempest shall ground itself
Against a debris of tendril bones, treasure trove;
Half-sinking, half-revelling , yet in bond
With Time's passage, together with every
Ruin she shall reincarnate into Ruby"

A critical look at this densified piece of literally artwork gave me a goose of pimples.
Ìkọ́kọrẹ́ - a local dish of a unique tribe in the my beloved county Nigeria. This is one of the food in Ijebu land enjoyed at its peak when eaten with a day old and cold èbà.
'In the sedate corners of the swamp, we shall have entrails of ruptured Shells' summarizes the habitation of Ijebu land. A combination of swampy areas surrounded with the lagoon waters.
"Epe Alaro Omo Ogunmodede" - the fish basket of Lagos State

Ìkọ́kọrẹ́ is a dish with diverse ingredients which be prepared in various ingredient quantification depending on the salivating throats in question. Ingredients mostly include: Water yam, Dry fish,tomatoes, Onion, palm Oil, Knorr bouillon chicken seasoning, Salt, thyme , curry and Water. Other expensive additions range from chicken parts, porks, snails, crabs, crayfish and so on.
All major and minor ingredients can be gotten within the reach of the ijebu land- WHAT A BLESSING

"So let fish be ripped from head to tail
For fish's sake; the tusk of aged salt
Impaled for essence intense ; let tuber
Be carved to extinction, like the vassals
Of Ancient Rome; its skeleton drowned
By water from the rivers of Babylon
Let pepper roam the swamp as fugitive
From a nervous land , and exiled limbs
Of chicken and snail heave a signpost for
The forbidden of the earth. In those
Sedate corners , a strange justice shall
Ascend, and Ìkọ́kọrẹ́ shall be served."
"Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success."
Diverse in usage and importance;Water yam, Dry fish,tomatoes, Onion, palm Oil, Knorr bouillon chicken seasoning, Salt, thyme , curry , water ,chicken parts, porks, snails, crabs, crayfish all united to make the Ìkọ́kọrẹ́ as delicacy of great value and importance. Ìkọ́kọrẹ́(Water-yam pottage ) as illustrated some virtue qualities needed by human and humanity to ensure continuity of existence.

Dynamic and Valuable principles from the poem

UNITY

'United we stand, divided we fall’. Wherever we may be, we must try to be united, give up our selfishness and co-operate with each other. We must realize that dissension spells disaster. We need strength to successfully live on this earth. There are various means to be powerful. Unity is one of them. So, it is said that unity is strength.

PEACE

Peace is essential but can only be achieved where Justice reigns. Justice, it will be found, needs the calm waters of Trust for its achievement. Sharing alone is remedy for our ills. Sharing alone will bring men, trusting, to the table where Justice will be achieved and Peace assured.

TOGETHERNESS

The power of being together gives you unmatched strength. Togetherness can control the two faces of tears one in happiness and another one in sorrow. We are grounded as we have unity and the bond we love to cherish. When people come together for the right purpose and under the right leadership, what results is sheer magic. Right values are necessary if togetherness or unity is to yield the right results.

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TOLERANCE

This is definitely the broad theme of the poem "Ìkọ́kọrẹ́
Tolerance is one of the conditions of good manners. Intolerance leads to the worst disaster which tends to riot and invariably leading to war. So, we put so much importance on tolerance. We can do justice if we are tolerant to hearing the different views of others. If we are tolerant we can make the due assessment of the views of others. There is not doubt in it that tolerance is the most necessary quality of our every day life. If we culture tolerance we will be free from all the pain of envy within ourselves. Then our soul will live in peace and happiness.

"Is it not crystal clear, then, comrades, that all the evils of this life of ours spring from the tyranny of human beings? Only get rid of Man, and the produce of our labour would be our own. Almost overnight we could become rich and free. What then must we do? Why, work night and day, body and soul, for the overthrow of the human race! That is my message to you, comrades: Rebellion! I do not know when that Rebellion will come, it might be in a week or in a hundred years, but I know, as surely as I see this straw beneath my feet, that sooner or later justice will be done. Fix your eyes on that, comrades, throughout the short remainder of your lives! And above all, pass on this message of mine to those who come after you, so that future generations shall carry on the struggle until it is victorious."

SAY NO TO RACISM

SAY NO TO DIVISION AMONG HUMAN RACES

UNITED WE STAND , DIVIDED WE FALL

Original poem @el-bossaa-schs

Ìkọ́kọrẹ́ #Water-yam Porridge

How to prepare Ìkọ́kọrẹ́ # Water-yam Porridge @ayomikun

"Ìkọ́kọrẹ́ # Water-yam Porridge" - Step by Step preparation method

Logo coutersy @gbenga