The Tale of Roasted Maize and Sour Olives

The tale recounted is based on true events

Some weeks back, on Nigeria’s Independence Day to be precise, I planned to spend the whole day indoors. That I did, I spent the day watching movies and lazying in bed. It turned out to be a quiet day all through, nothing spectacular until I received a call.

An Uncle* of mine who lived in the same compound with us called me on phone and said I should meet him on his side of the house. It was about 4 pm so I trudged to his apartment, expecting to be sent on an errand. When I got there, he simply gave me a cob of roasted Maize and some Olives and that was that. It was very funny, almost awkward. I carried this funny look on my face that made his wife laugh at the situation. He just encouraged me to give it a try.

I took huge bite off the cob, shaving off a large swathe of roasted Maize seeds from the cob, and then went for the Olives which turned out to be sour. Dang! The sensation is beyond description, especially when the Olives slap the sides your mouth. Subsequent bites of the smile inducing combo left me smiling sheepishly as I said thank you and left to continue biting and smiling in my room.

What is the lesson to learn? Apart from the awesomeness of Roasted maize in combo with Sour olives, there is a bigger lesson in the story. As Christians the awesomeness of the good news is not something to keep to ourselves, likewise the goodness of God is something to call people to partake in. If my Uncle hadn’t shared the awesomeness of Maize/Olives I’d have still been wallowing in the ignorance of something as awesome as that.

In all honesty, the inventor of the Roasted Maize/Sour Olives combination deserves a Nobel Prize.

*Not biological Uncle.

Roasted Maize is also known as Mealies in some countries.