Abuja’s ubiquitous joints

said people love eating amala because it gives strength. Mrs Oladejo, who has been running amala joints for over eight years in Abuja, said experience gives her an edge over competitors considering the several amala joints in the city.

“We started as ‘mama put’ but with time we have added some conventional things to what we are doing to appeal to newer customers,” she said, through an interpreter.

Mrs Oladejo said though the main dish at the restaurant is amala they have added other meals including semovita and pounded yam.

“At inception, we started with amala. Later we added rice, semo, pounded yam and other meals but many of our customers prefer amala and that is where we channel our energy,” Amina also said, adding that they try to move with new trends.

On the acceptability of the meal in Abuja she said, “Some of our customers take three square meals of amala here. In the morning, afternoon and evening they eat amala.”

Among residents that frequent several amala joints within the city centre is Jamilu Garba, a taxi driver. Garba sees no harm in eating amala three times a day, though he has only tried it a couple of times as he takes dinner at home with his family.

Abiodun Obembe said he likes amala because it’s soft and light and very easy to swallow and digest especially with ewedu and gbegiri soup.

Another resident who preferred anonymity and claimed to have visited most of the joints within the city, said the meal was very delicious especially the abula.

“Amala is no more a regional food, it has turned into something that is consumed in every part of the country as far as there is someone who can prepare it,” he said.

Another resident, Ibrahim Danjuma said though he is a Hausa man, he loves eating at amala joints than any other restaurants.

However Mr Dan Ibo, a Delta State native who has spent several years in Lagos before moving to Abuja said most of the amala joints have used packaging to ‘spoil’ the attraction.

“There was an amala joint that opened in Lokogoma and I was hoping to see a typical ‘mama put’ setting but was surprised that the amala was wrapped,” he said though he said the demand for the meal led to the proliferation joints where it is sold within the city.