THE FUFU THEORY

Of the many wonders that were birthed, from innovations to improvisations, I can't help but be marvelled by the techniques used by our local craftsmen (or should I say, engineers). From improvised hybrid (saloon/limo/pick-up-like) cars used by rice smugglers (there's honestly no name for these cars) to improvised tricycles (I say this in Uyo when a ban was placed on motorcycles) to distilleries and refineries (a petroleum refinery actually), the list is endless. The fascinating thing about this group of people is that they have no formal education. They've never seen the four walls of a university, no BSc., no PhD., nothing at all! I can bet they've never heard there are laws of motion or thermodynamics, talkless of understanding the concepts behind these phenomena.

_{image credit: Vanguard Nigeria}

I was on a bus today going for CDS (honestly I can't wait to be done with NYSC). The journey from Iyana-Ipaja to Oshodi, was a long one, because of the usual traffic, trust me the hold-up no be here. I was considering whatever I saw by the road and something struck me. I saw a tire patcher (vulcaniser: the term is debatable) using fufu to seal the bead of the tire with the rim! For our non-African friends that may not know, fufu is a whitish semi-solid food made from cassava, that's ingested by first dipping into a suitable soup and swallowing.

_{Fufu. Image credit: Myself
A typical vulcanizer shop. Image credits: Wikimedia Commons, public domain}

The spirit of science in me couldn't shake off the thought and I began to wonder and kept asking WHY? Like I said earlier, these guys have no formal education, so if I asked him why he was doing that he'd say it's meant to gum the rim to the tyre or something close. I thought about the myriads of physics and chemistry practicals these guys do every day without knowing the chemistry behind it. I still came back to the fufu application, checked the Internet and found nothing, save a post on wiki how that showed how to patch your tyre. Like others, it had nothing to do with the application of fufu. The post on wikihow, however, didn't mention any need to seal the bead and the rim again. These craftsmen wouldn't do this for no reason. I believe there's a purpose for the use of fufu.
I came to the conclusion that our #science gurus in @stemng and @steemstem could help explain this improvised technology. I know sey una no de carry last.

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I want to use this opportunity to thank and dedicate this post to a kind patriot who softened my heart today by giving me a lift. It had started to drizzle and I was running to find shelter. I was wearing my Corps uniform, I guess that's why he was so kind. The first time I'll get free service for being a Corps member in Lagos.