20 Jan 2008 |
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Foreword This article is dedicated to a certain villager who knows herself; without her importunity, I probably wouldn't have tasked myself to write this article explaining not only why kunu is so important in my life but why it should be important in yours.
"What are those women selling? Is that Bournvita or what?" It was a cool July afternoon, and I had just arrived in Jos with a couple of friends, straight from the searing heat of the Bauchi orientation camp in Wailo. We were wandering around the town, soaking up the sights and I had just caught sight of what I thought was the odd spectacle of women selling a chocolate drink from plastic bottles. One of my friends laughed. "Shoko, don't you know anything? That's not Bournvita - that's kunu." "Kunu?" I said, overcome with curiosity. "What is that? I don't think I've seen that before." My friend was surprised. "Haven't you been up north before?" I shook my head; this was my first time of crossing the Niger. "Ah, then that explains it. Kunu isn't widely sold in the South - it's more popular up here." I was further intrigued. "I think I'll get a bottle and find out what it tastes like." So I walked over to the nearest vendor and asked for a cup - I didn't want to buy too much, in case it wasn't to my taste. So the vendor poured it out, I lifted the cup to my mouth and... ...black and white become colour... ...mono became s t e r e o... ...two dimensions became three... ...and I found that that the single act of allowing this milky brown essence into my universe had changed it unalterably for ever. The petty day-to-day frustrations no longer felt important; I felt that I had sloughed them off like a snake sheds its skin. Time stood still as I recalibrated my senses to account for this new indescribably wonderful sensation that I was experiencing. "Shoko? Shoko?? Are you all right?" My friend was shaking me, as it looked like I had gone into a kind of stupor. I turned round and gave him a beatific smile. "My friend, even if you never do me any other good in this world, I will remember you forever and ever for introducing me to this." I indicated the cup of kunu, then I proceeded to finish its contents, savouring every single drop all the way down. My friend then looked on in amazement as I spent the remainder of my meagre 'alawi' on purchasing the not just the remaining kunu in the bottle from the vendor, but also all the other bottles she was selling. And thus my enduring love affair with kunu was begun. Now I know that there are some hardened souls out there into whose hearts the Gospel of Kunu has failed to make inroads. I don't know whether to look on them with amusement or pity, because it is beyond my imagination how someone could see something so obviously refreshing, nourishing and delicious and pass it up. Sometimes, I think I should just leave them to wallow in their ignorance - but then, I remember I was once like that, and how terrible would it have been if the glory of kunu had not been revealed to me? So I will give not just one - not just two - but seven reasons why they should rethink their irrational objection to kunu and give it a try:
I could cite many other examples about how kunu has been directly responsible for other beneficial changes in human society, like the granting of universal suffrage to minority groups and women, the eradication of smallpox, and the growth of the internet. I could go on and on about how it strengthens the weak, heartens the sad and calms the agitated. But all that would just be like trying to explain to a man who had never experienced vision what the colour green was like. You just have to experience it yourself. So I exhort you to get down to your local kunu dealer today - a trial will definitely convince you!
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