Maiduguri Indigenes Abandon Beef For Fried Grasshoppers

In an online publication in Daily Trust on Monday, November 16, Shehu Abubakar writes on how people living in Borno state have taken fried grasshoppers as their number one delicacy and are quickly forgetting about having appetite for meat.

A woman joyfully stirring some fried grasshoppers

The Boko Haram terrorists attack have left Borno state to be a shadow of its old self. Commodities which people can get cheaply before is now difficult to get.

Despite the fact that the Boko Haram insurgents have stolen almost all the cattle and sheep in Borno state, people there are not deterred. They have gotten an alternative source of getting meat. This is from fried grasshoppers which they believe is more palatable and less expensive than beef.

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Some of the indigenes said they have been eaten these insects even before the Boko Haram insurgents started their operations in the North East. They however said the love for fried grasshoppers increased due to the scarcity of beef as a result of insurgency, whereby markets could not open.

A female student in one of the higher institutions of learning in Borno, Miss Comfort Chika Obi said:

“I am not happy when I do not eat grasshopper. Even when I am travelling to the east for Christmas or on holiday, I make sure I buy enough that will last me the period I intend to stay there, because you cannot get it there to buy.

“I wasn’t used to eating it before my friend Zara introduced me to it. But you know, when you get a woman that knows how to prepare it, what will you do with meat. I was a fan of cellular (chicken head and legs) before I discovered the grasshopper meal. I like both the grasshopper and the ‘kayayau-kayayau’ (grasshopper legs which are fried separately).

“I hope you realise that with just Naira 200 you can get enough grasshoppers to eat, unlike suya which you can use N200 to buy only one small stick. Sometimes, if I do not have enough money to buy the grasshoppers, I will just buy N50 kayayau-kayayau and add to my rice and eat. It is delicious.”

One Miss Wasini Audu said she started eating fried grasshoppers over ten years ago. She said: “It is a good day to have fried grasshoppers as a meal. A mere look at a plate of fried grasshoppers will instantly give you an appetite. It is so appealing. The spices they add to it make the taste extra ordinary. I once liked suya a lot, but you remember there was a time you cannot even see meat to buy in Maiduguri because of  the insurgency; that was when I turned  to grasshoppers.”

Hope Tobore, a male indigene who sells and repairs phones at Jogol market near the Post office in Maiduguri said it was easier to entertain friends with fried grasshoppers than meat. He said: “Naira 100 fried grasshoppers with a bottle of mineral makes my day. I have live here for years and I started eating it in my second month. I stopped eating meat when it became scarce and expensive.

“Fried grasshoppers have this good look that goes with the nice aroma. It tastes  better than meat, and I believe it is more nutritious and yet cheaper. I am sure if eateries discover fried grasshoppers, they will add it to their menu. I am surprised that fried grasshoppers are not sold nationally.”

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