I have been restless for weeks, twisting and turning on the bed even in my sleep I am still unable to find peace. Something is slowly eating me up inside and all this while one question keeps ravaging my head: "Don't they sell akara in this goddam place?".
Akara (also known as beans cake) is an African delicacy made after beans is blended into a smooth paste mixed with the necessary ingredients to give taste and fried with either palm oil or shell oil for consumption. Every since I was posted to igbokoda, I have been searching for any vendor who sells akara to satiet my cravings but unfortunately, this mission always turns out unsuccessful on every account keeping my mind constantly agitated. However today I was determined to get some results, it's either I find the answer to this problem or get the closure I need to move on.
At around past 4 pm after I was certain the rain had stopped, I left the corpers lodge with a goal in mind and hope in my heart. I started of with places I knew were extremely busy but only found fried potatoes and yam. After scouring the main roads, I switched to the streets carefully looking out for strategic locations where I was certain these vendors would definitely position themselves if they planned on indulging in these business. Just when I was about giving up,I spotted something that caught my attention. It is the bank of a river so I decided to go check it out, feed my eyes since I won't be feeding my stomach.
When I got the river, I saw canoes for the first time in my life. There were about three of them, two small ones and a large one big enough to accommodate over thirty people. Still fascinated by the scenery, I noticed there was a duck at the edge of the river swimming peacefully and enjoying its time as a Free bird. While I was obviously enjoyable, I could not control the feeling of disappointment due to the high concentration of pollution that was starting to look like a big part of the river which was obviously as a result of unregulated refuge dumping by the inhabitants of this area and the sad part was they were not even bothered by their actions even though the river was a massive part of of their livelihood.
I left the river bank, went back on the road and continued searching for an akara joint one last time before heading back. I walked for roughly over 25 minutes asking questions but getting negative responses. On my way back from this unsuccessful hunt I decided to ask commercial motorcycle riders after it occurred to me that they would surely know where to find one or at the very least have some sort of clue since they were to know a lot things about this place due to the job description.
One finally gave me a positive response but it seemed extremely far and I was still trying to navigate my way around this new surrounding. I did not get the results I was hoping for today but at least I am ending day with a glimpse of hope and tomorrow might just be the resolution to problem... I can't wait for tomorrow, the akara dream must be realized😁😁. PS: all images belong to me