*Garri does not cause poor eyesight; those who make it do!*


No Nigerian kitchen can be said to be truly Nigerian if it does not have a space reserved for a bucket of Garri, or a miniscule basin in the very least. Although those of the South-Eastern faction prefer theirs corrupted with what seems to me an unhealthy yellowish hue, Garri in its natural complexion resembles a sparkling white prince (without the fantastical white unicorn, of course).

Garri has a distinctly pale skin which is markedly coarse, perhaps a tactile indication of its crucial significance in times of economic austerity. Garri is to Nigerians what Kentucky Fried Chicken is to those North Americans. Chicken and Chips genuflect in its godly presence; boxes of pizza cower in its might; it doesn't even need television or radio advertisements and still manages to sell more than nudity does in cyberspace.

The haves want it. The haves-not need it. Its ever-welcoming arms are where many a Nigerian student recourse to when weekly allowance has run dry and that messianic credit alert is yet to animate the screen of their phones. Perhaps, in an alternate reality in which Jesus were a Nigerian, “Garri” rather than “bread” might have earned the enviable role of playing the metaphorical body of Christ!

Yet, a thing which performs such a vital role in the lives of many Nigerians is often – and unjustly too – at the butt end of an allegation which so happens to be falser than Kemi Adeosun's NYSC's certificate (I stand to be corrected if this bold comparison later proves to be a tad premature).

What informed this piece? Well, myself and a couple of friends were looking for a black hole and an alien spider monkey in the infamous Iyana-Iba market along the Ojo-Badagry expressway. As expected, we found zilch! We were then taunted by another set of friends for our failure. They teased us with these words, “You guys couldn't find what you were looking for because you drink too much garri.”
(To believe or disbelieve my black hole cum alien spider monkey excursion really is the prerogative of your discretion).

So, does Garri truly cause poor sight? From where did this “Garri-poor sight” yarn originate? As with all things of great magnitude, the origins of the Garri-poor sight story is shrouded in a cloak of uncertainties and speculations. Some say that its origins could be traced to a crop of Nigerian students who returned from their boarding houses looking severely malnourished and sporting “new pair of glasses” – supposedly, a visible marker of their inordinate Garri-consumption while in boarding school.

Maybe Garri-consumption is correlated in some way with why those boarders needed an extra pair of eyes, but it is definitely not the direct causal agent. Hence, the Garri-poor sight yarn is but a baseless superstition, and not much different from the many other superstitions which have conquered both time and space in worming themselves into the collective Nigerian consciousness. To mention but a striking few:

1) All Calabar girls are inexorable nymphomaniacs.

2) Hausas are usually honest.

3) Igbos naturally excel at trading.

4) India beat Nigeria 100-1 in a football match, in which the ball occasionally transformed into a flying, fire-spitting dragon.

Should Garri be completely spared of flak? Not entirely. Research on the subject has revealed that the cassava tubers, from which Garri is gotten, contain high amounts of cyanide which serve the purpose of protecting these cassava plants from marauding herbivores. To produce Garri, these cassava tubers are peeled, grated, drained of water, and fried. Improper processing of these cassava tubers, however, could cause Garri to be cyanide-laden, consumption of which could lead to cyanide poisoning. Excessive cyanide in the body could, for instance, have adverse effects on the optic nerve, leading to diminished vision or total blindness.

Garri by itself is not a thief of vision, but rather those hands which improperly process Garri out of cassava tubers – hands most likely riddled with impatience and nonchalance. There you have it! The next time you decide to allude to Garri-consumption as the cause of a friend's poor vision, do well to remember that the butterfingers which produced them are most culpable.



Author: Michael Aromolaran (Stay Woke)

08066799108

Adedebo45@gmail.com

Well said.


You nailed it!

Don't eat unfermented casava garri.

Don't eat casava that was turned to garri under one day without days of fermentation.

Prevention is better than cure!

Thank U jare . Can't do without garrium sulphate (Garri Ijebu) With groundnut plus milk combi

hisgrace090:
Well said.


You nailed it!

Don't eat unfermented casava garri.

Don't eat casava that was turned to garri under one day without days fermentation.

Prevention is better than cure!

Micheal (the author) nailed it actually

Let's get this out there...
Lalasticlala

Asin I wonder how my life will be in school whenever am broke without garri. This has been saving life since decades.

Hedriz:
Asin I wonder how my life will be in school whenever am broke without garri. This has been saving life since decades.

Garri did wonders in my life in boarding school.

Wow...!!!! Let me goan buy more garri, the adventure has just began

kehinde1365:
Wow...!!!! Let me goan buy more garri, the adventure has just began

Buy more good Garri and you'll do away with those glasses of yours

I've always known that garri does not cause eye defect, I know folks that spent 4 years in the university drinking mostly garri and their eyes are sharp as ever.

People that fry garri are the ones at risk of eye defect as a result of constant exposure to smoke.

The words stringed together to write this piece though.

Hadeehart101:

Buy more good Garri and you'll do away with those glasses of yours

Lolzz, the glasses ur ancestors gave me

kehinde1365:


Lolzz, the glasses ur ancestors gave me

Yes na, old man like you belongs to the time of my ancestors

Oh really?


You know this belief of garri causing poor eyesight is popularly held to be true by people

tuhamworld:
Oh really?


You know this belief of garri causing poor eyesight is popularly held to be true by people

But you now know it's a fallacy

Hadeehart101:

But you now know it's a fallacy

Until i perform the experiment here

That's the reason why we said people should buy garri from us, we don't produce garri without proper fermentation.
Garri is available with us, you can always trust us when it comes to reliability. 08032352182 and 08050250407 (WhatsApp). We sell in bags flour.