10 Nigerian Foods You Should Taste

10 Nigerian Foods You Should Taste

Jollof Rice 

 

What it is: Jollof base ingredient is always rice, fresh tomato and/or tomato paste, pepper, onion and scotch bonnets. It can be customized according to your preference by adding mixed vegetables if you want (please don't). Best enjoyed with piping hot dodo and chicken.

Akara

 

What it is: Delicious protein deep fried bean cakes garnished with onion and pepper.

Bean and Plantain Pottage

 

What it is: A pottage made of beans, palm oil and plantains. It is most commonly made with yams (Nigeria is one of the top producers of yam in the world). This variation balances the nuttiness of brown beans with the natural sweetness of plantains, and the palm oil adds a rich smoky taste to it.   

Suya

 

What it is: Skewers of intricately spiced cuts of meat, grilled to perfection over an open flame. Often served with chopped onion, tomato and cucumber. It is a specialty of the Hausa people of northern Nigeria and Niger. 

Moi Moi

 

What it is: A (vegan!) dish made of peeled Nigerian brown beans ground together with onions, bell pepper, vegetable oil and spices, and steamed in banana leaves (or other vessels). Based on preference you can add any combination of extra bits to it: flaked fish, slices of hard boiled eggs and/or ground beef.

Edikang Ikong soup

 

 

What it is: A "dry" leafy vegetable soup from the Cross River region of Nigeria. The iron-rich greens are a mixture of a fluted pumpkin leaf and water leaf. In places where these leaves are unavailable, people substitute spinach. People also use a mix of meats and seafood, and periwinkles for authenticity. Served hot, with pounded yam.

Pepper soup

 

What it is: A thin, very spicy soup or broth, filled with assorted cuts of meat or fish and scented leaves. Based on preference one can add boiled plantain or yam. The spices used vary depending on the region; every ethnic group has its own unique take, making use of local scented leaves and spices.

Dodo

What it is: Pronounced "doh-doh", these are deep fried plantains, cut in slim diagonal slices, circles or cubes and deep-dried. Some people like to sprinkle some salt on before frying, but that's down to personal taste. It can used as a main meal or side dish.

Banga soup

 

 

What it is: A palm fruit-based soup that is most commonly associated with the Delta region, and particularly Urhobo ethnic group. There are variations across the country but they all include regional spices and all elevate fresh ingredients (fish and seafood, assorted meats, the palm fruit itself) above all things. Served with starch, fufu or eba.

Nkwobi

 

What it is: Spicy cow foot served in a thick palm oil-based sauce. For that authentic taste, you must use utazi leaves and palm oil.

Ofada Stew & Rice

 

What is it: One of the most sought after Nigerian dish. Ofada is a hot & spicy sauce made with a combination of Iru, green peppers & red peppers, assorted meats, seafood, dried fish, a combination of palm oil and red oil. This dish is native to the Yorubas.

My Top 5 Nigerian Hit Songs

Top 10 Nigerian Hit Songs

 

In Nigeria, the rhythm is as important to the composition as its melody. The rhythmic bed of each song is constantly shifting from song to song, although the songs all tend to be fast—closer to current high-energy pop in tempo than the slow booming hip-hop sound of Atlanta. At the same time, the image and style of the artists are reminiscent of American hip-hop—full of cool cars and clothes, and general video swag closer to rap than any other pop form. 

The underlying rhythms, rather than a straight four-on-the-floor beat, work on what is called, in Latin music, a clave rhythm—the 2-3 or 3-2 pattern around which the beat is syncopated. It often gives the groove of each record a slight canter or gallop, a feel like the song is about to take off without you.

It's this rhythm that explains why Nigeria feels like popular music's future, which is why Jay Z's sudden interest in Nigeria's music scene is so exciting. Here's hoping the U.S. music industry, should it look to Nigeria for popular music's future, recognizes the breadth of Nigeria's potential within the U.S. Meek Mill has already recorded a song with Nigerian artist Davido; WizKid reportedly has songs with Chris Brown and Rihanna. But time will tell if America is willing to look not just to Nigeria's stars, but to its entire musical universe.

Here are five records that are hot in Nigeria right now.

WizKid "Ojuelegba"

                                                                                                      Video via YouTube

Davido “If”

                                                                                                        Video via YouTube

Kiss Daniel "Woju" 

                                                                                                           Video via YouTube

Maleek Berry “Kontrol”

              

                                                                                                                  Video via YouTube

Runtown “Mad Over You”

                                                                                                               Video via YouTube

Nigerian Wedding & Traditional Ceremony

Nigerian Wedding & Traditional Ceremony

 

Although marriage traditions may vary from rural to urban areas, weddings in Nigeria often follow several common customs. Formal meetings between the couple's families, the offer of a dowry and an engagement ceremony are all traditional events prior to a wedding ceremony. While dating and selecting your own spouse occurs in urban areas, arranged marriages are frequent in Nigeria.
The culture of Nigeria is shaped by Nigeria's multiple ethnic groups. The country has 527 languages, seven of them are extinct. The four largest ethnic groups are the Hausa & Fulani in the north, the Igbo in the southeast, and the Yoruba predominate in the southwest

In this post, I will focus on the Muhammed Buhari and Asmau Garo’s spectacular fairy tale Northern wedding ceremony showcasing the ambience & culture of the north.

Introduction Ceremony

Prior to an engagement, the families of the bride and the groom become acquainted through a formal ceremony. The groom's family usually travels to the home of the bride's family and presents a letter requesting the woman's hand in marriage. Traditional dances and the offer of a dowry are part of the process to persuade the bride's family to accept the letter. This ceremony often occurs only a few days before the wedding.

Engagement Ceremony

The evening before the wedding day, the groom's family visits the bride's family again. This visit is to hear the response to the letter that was presented during the introduction ceremony. If a positive response is given, both families are formally introduced to the guests. Friends and family celebrate the engagement with food and drink. Often the groom's family provides traditional foods such as palm, yam, sugar and drinks as well as offering the bride's family a suitcase packed with traditional clothing, bags, shoes and jewelry. The officiating elder, the person who transferred the messages between the couple's families, drinks from a cup of palm wine and may also invite the bride and the groom to share the drink. When the ceremony has ended, the bride remains at her father's house to prepare for the wedding ceremony.

Wedding Day

Depending upon the local custom, the bride's elders may help her to bathe and prepare for the wedding. In a traditional Nigerian wedding, the bride usually wears imported Indian fabrics as well as a decorative coral-beaded headpiece, ankle bracelets and necklaces. The bride's hands and feet may be decorated with intricate henna designs. When she is ready, the father of the bride accompanies her to the church. After the ceremony, there is a party that frequently lasts late into the night. Live bands may perform traditional music while everyone enjoys a meal and dancing. After the party, the bride returns to her father's home to change out of her wedding attire. Her new husband arrives with his family to claim his bride and the couple departs to begin their new life together.











Picture source: https://www.bellanaija.com/2017/04/bellanaija-weddings-presents-the-magnificent-northern-fairytale-wedding-of-muhammed-buhari-asmau-garo/

Difference between Facebook and Blogging

https://www.sproutcontent.com/blog/facebook-versus-blogging-for-your-business

 Facebook vs. Blogging for your Business

Written by Andrea Miller on Fri, Nov 14, 2014

LinkedIn Twitter

We are often asked the question: is blogging for your business better than Facebook? A lot of small business owners seem to think a content marketing strategy should include one or the other and not necessarily both. After all, Facebook appears to be cheaper and easier to maintain than starting and keeping up with a quality blog. But the reality is that Facebook (and other social media channels) and blogging should actually complement rather than replace one another.

Blogging is the Backbone

A well-written blog should be the backbone of your business's online presence. It's the part of your website where you publish well-planned, thoughtful posts on topics that interest your audience. A blog draws traffic to your website where potential customers can learn about your products and services. It's a place to answer questions and provide relevant information that can help establish you as a thought leader in your industry.
A blog is a direct communication channel with your customers and the foundation of any good content marketing strategy. Still need convincing? We've got 19 Reasons Why Your Business Should Be Writing a Blog.
Now that you are convinced that your business will benefit from blogging, the question remains: Do you still need to spend time and effort on a Facebook page? The answer is, it depends on your business... and how much money you want to spend.

Facebook Feed Crowding

Facebook definitely has its advantages. It's free to start a company page, and it's the most popular social media platform out there. As of this summer, there were 1.35 billion monthly active users and those users are becoming more liberal with their "likes." The head of Facebook's News Feed says the total number of Pages liked by the typical Facebook user grew more than 50% last year. But as people like more pages, the organic reach of each page decreases. There simply isn't enough space for everyone to see everything. The more popular Facebook becomes, the less likely your audience is to see your posts.
A study from News Feed optimization service EdgeRank Checker of 50,000 posts by 1,000 Pages shows organic reach per fan (median) has steadily declined.
https://www.sproutcontent.com/blog/facebook-versus-blogging-for-your-businesshttps://www.sproutcontent.com/blog/facebook-versus-blogging-for-your-business

Some businesses are combating this decrease in post views with paid advertising to boost their Facebook posts. It seems to be the only way to have your brand's posts be seen is "pay to play". That's not sitting well with business owners who have invested years in building up a following and who now complain that  Facebook wants them to pay for what they used to get for free.
The popular website Copyblogger made headlines last month when it announced it was shutting down its Facebook page. As a respected educator on blogging and content marketing with 38,000 Facebook fans, the move was met with a good deal of controversy.
Copyblogger attributed the move to the number of junk fans the page had accumluated despite never buying likes and the bigger success it saw with fan engagement on Twitter and Google+. So, the company decided to focus its energy there.

Facebook Isn't for Everyone

Copyblogger is not alone. More businesses are realizing their target markets may not be active on Facebook (for business purposes or at all). Back in 2012, HubSpot reported that 77% of B2C companies acquired customers from Facebook, but only 43% of B2B companies could do the same. Instead, B2B companies are seeing higher success rates with LinkedIn and Twitter. In fact, LinkedIn is now responsible for driving 80% of all B2B social media leads.
Depending on the type of business you do, Facebook might not be right for you. Not every social media outlet is an ideal fit for every brand. The goal should be to find where your communities are active and engage with them there.

Social Media + Blogging

Once you determine the proper channels for your business, tie your social media content to your business blog. Share links to each blog. Take tips or quotes from your blog and create graphics to repurpose the content in a different format. Try recording a video intro to your blog. Establish your blog as your content hub and then distribute it through the social media outlets that make sense for your business.
Need help getting started or improving your business blog? Our team specializes in creating content for B2B companies in unglamous industries.