Posted on 03/06/2007 1:24:26 AM PST by Jedi Master Pikachu
The famous reverse news headline "Man bites dog!" is old news to some restaurants in Nigeria's capital, Abuja. "Welcome to animal kingdom where man pikin dey show dog pepper," says Chibuzo Eze in Pidgin English, meaning: Welcome to place where the son of man is giving dogs a hard time. Mr Eze then hungrily gets back to tugging his chunk of dog meat. He is standing under a mango tree in "South Africa", the name of an open-air restaurant hidden behind the living quarters of a Western construction firm in Abuja. "It is called South Africa because behind those high walls you'll find rich Europeans and outside here is Soweto, where we, ordinary masses, struggle with dog meat," Mr Eze explains with a smile playing on his face. 'Improves your sex life' Mr Eze says he eats dog meat because "e dey protect person from all those nyama-nyama disease them" - it gives you immunity from different diseases.
A few yards away Bassey Umoh, South Africa's owner and chief chef, pokes at larger chunks of sizzling meat barbecuing on wire gauze over an open fire. Mr Umoh, or Oga Bassey (oga is Pidgin English for boss) - as the "South Africans" fondly call him, says he has been selling dog meat since he completed a two-year apprenticeship in the business some 30 years ago. He also eats the meat he sells. "Eating dog meat gives you a special protection against the most potent juju (charm)," he claims, reeling off the benefits of dog meat. "Dog meat also improves your sex life. And if you eat dog meat, you cannot be poisoned."
Oga Bassey, however, says that despite the huge demand for his cuisine, his business is not doing very well because dogs are becoming scarce now in Abuja. "Everybody is eating dog meat openly now, that is why dogs are scarce," he says. Easy target Many Abuja dog owners complain that their dogs have gone missing, probably ending up in the likes of Oga Bassey's big dog pepper soup pot.
Most Nigerians keep dogs not as pets, but as guard dogs.
And instead of keeping them in kennels, the dogs are usually left to wander about freely, making them an easy target for people to kidnap and sell to restaurant owners like Mr Umoh. But Mr Umoh says he does not buy stolen dogs. He, however, admits that it is often difficult to tell whether some of the dogs sold to him have been stolen. "We have heard of people stealing dogs to sell. Our policy here in 'South Africa' is that we do not deal in stolen merchandise. So, we normally quiz our customers to be sure they are selling their own dogs," he explains. "Moreover, 'South Africa' is not the only dog-meat joint in Abuja," Mr Umoh adds. Indeed, there are three popular dog meat joints in this district on the western edge of Abuja alone. Also as a rule, there is always a dog-meat pepper soup joint in every army or police barracks in Abuja.
Nigeria's riot police seem to have a thing for dog meat too as a popular dog-meat joint called Obalende sits in the middle of their barracks in Nyanya, another Abuja suburb. Another popular dog-meat spot is "Zimbabwe", an open-air joint next to a small river on the outskirts of Abuja. Unlike "South Africa", "Zimbabwe" is, however, notorious for its gamblers, pick-pockets, prostitutes and bootlegged spirits. Culture Another dog-meat eater, Beke Nnkwo says he was introduced to the cuisine as a cure for malaria.
"People who eat dog meat have no business with malaria," Mr Nnkwo says. "So, I was introduced to the meat as a cure for malaria and I can testify that it works." Mr Nnkwo, an Igbo from south-eastern Nigeria, says eating dog meat is a question of culture. "I hear they eat frogs in certain parts of the world. But I tell you, no matter how you cook or dress a frog, I can never eat it. "But dog is different. So, eating dog meat is a question of culture for me." Dog meat is also eaten in Plateau and Gombe states in the north and it is becoming quite popular in other parts of the country including Kaduna and Adamawa with Abuja as the newest entrant. Asked how tasty the meat is, Mr Nnkwo beams and says: "Oh la la! You don't know what you are missing."
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dog ping.
I bet some dogs are delicious. But not all of them.
Gotta feel sorry for people who don't have a best friend.
Apparently not fast enough.
To those Africans, just accept it. The most advanced medicine comes from the West; Eastern medicine is iffy; Amerindian medicine often worked, but to a large extent has stopped; and Africa is not renown for its medicinal prowess.
For me, the Hindu caste system negates any comparison of their reverence of cattle to our affection for domestic dogs.
Eating dogs is wrong. Eating cattle is natural, they are put on this earth to be eaten. We know this by their delicious taste. We know dogs are not to be eaten by their natural desire to be our friends and helpers. The day I see a cow herding dogs, a seeing-eye cow, or a lap-cow, I may change my mind.
'Course, maybe not. Cows really are VERY tasty.
Disgusting, no excuses.
A dog, outside of the dolphin, is the only animal really capable of understanding what a human means by pointing.
Eating an animals that intelligent, that loyal, and that dedicated is beyond my comprehension...
It is awful. I do not think it is healthy to eat these carnivorous animals.
Notice how SARS, ebola, and other diseases often start from eating civet cats, monkeys, and dogs, and other things not meant to be eaten, in places like China and Africa?
Let them eat this kind... yuck...
I wonder what the African dogs eat if they do taste good... yuck again!
If you were hungry enough, you'd eat dog.
L
On the other hand, if chimpanzees take a relatively short time to reach maturity, and they are raise with monitored food, they could be a very nutritious food source. Their very close DNA to humans suggest that the human body would have less work to do to scrap down chimpanzee meat into usable proteins, amino acids, etc.
I hear you, sick people on this planet.
The same could be said for semen.
So, these people think eating dogs will keep them from getting "those nyama-nyama disease". This comes from people who think having sex with a virgin cures AIDS. Virgins being scarce, like dogs, has "forced" them to rape babies, often their on family members. And Bush wants to send more of my tax dollars to these people.
what about pigs?
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