Igede tribe

The year I visited Benue state for the first time was the year I started becoming interested in local foods, and culture.

When I got there and rested for two days, I started asking a few persons how things work there. I was so surprised to know that they have three different major languages.

As a young girl from the eastern part of Nigeria, I've always known that we all speak igbo, we understand each other even though some sound different. I didn't know that people from the same state could speak completely different languages. It was a new discovery for me because possibly I didn't take my classes seriously or my teacher didn't explain clearly.

Igede, Idoma, and Tiv are the three major tribes in Benue. After a few days of hearing people from this tribes speak, I was finally able to pick the one I like which is Igede.

I found this particular language interesting that I had to visit a few local governments. I went to Obi and Oju local government. I visited a few communities there which are, Ochimode, Ikachi and Adum.

I met a lot of good and lively people there. I ate different delicases I tried new dishes. Groundnut soup, Beneseeed soup, dry okora soup with ikparinge (unripe pawpaw) Uha soup with cocoyam. And all these food, they love eating them with pounded yam. It was also my first time eating pounded yam. I also got to eat the "Akara" they make with water yam. Which was very delicious.

I discovered that they like cooking with okpehe, which we don't use in my state. I enjoyed these local foods for one week and almost forgot to go back home. In the process of having fun and exploring I al got to learn how to make some of this dishes. Especially groundnut soup, that's the one I love the most.

The family I stayed with, happened to be the core traditional type. They speak the language so well that I had to pick up a few words, mostly the greetings. "Uturu be? Meaning "how is your morning? "Obibe? Meaning "how is your evening? I held on to these few and I can never forget.

I visited a market there called Onyike market. I saw varieties of goods. I also met a lot of igbo people there who could conveniently speak Igede. I bought a lot of things that I needed to take home with me. More of yam and garri, I found them very pleasing in the eye. Also, yam is the major food in Benue, it is everywhere in their market and very affordable.

My stay in Benue state was a refreshing one. I didn't get to explore a few more places. But I'm looking forward to visiting again. So, I've decided to visit a few more states and experience their culture, food and languages.

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