The issue of racial slur makes the headlines in western nations. An average white man ( pink, we should say) cannot but look at his fellow being whose skin pigmentation looks darker, brown or black, as they want us to believe, and form an opinion. God ensured that those with the “black” pigmentation are majorly from Africa. The whites, on the other side, are from Europe, Asia, the Americas and the middle east. However, the so called whites or coloured don’t also come in the same colours. There are those they call the red Indians, who the Europeans and Americans believe are not created to be of the same standard with them. So, in Africa it is not surprising that among the people of the continent there are those who see themselves as being different from the others. It is not in all the cases, though, that people assume that the lighter the skin pigmentation the more superior the person. Africans still see some differences in the pigmentation to use as identity but less for a reason to claim superiority. Some people derive fun in calling a fellow blackman “blackie” because he happens to spot a darker brown colour than him. In Nigeria, the three major ethnic groups always find a name for the not-so-moderate black fellow. When he/she is not “baba dudu” or “dudu osun” or simply “dudu” among the Yoruba, he is “beki mutum” among the Hausa or “Onye Oji” among the Igbo. The same Igbo race will taunt the fair complexioned as “onye ocha”, while he is “feri mutum” in the language of the Hausa and “Omo Pupa “ to the Yoruba. Sometimes all the ethnic groups, including the minorities, see the “Ebony” in the very dark black man or “Yellow Pawpaw “ in the very fair complexioned person. None of these evokes anger or derision. They are just a way of appreciating the unique creation of the persons concerned. But the organic farmer would understand it differently when they hear people call a fellow human being yellow pawpaw, because they probably know that adjective comes from a natural appearance of a species of papaya. Have you seen it before, we mean the yellow pawpaw? Not the ripe one that goes from green to yellow.
A PICTURE OF A YELLOW PAWPAW TREE .
This species is rarely seen in the market because it’s not common. Besides, it is difficult to know when it is ripe enough to be plucked for sale. A look at it may mislead one to believe that all the pawpaw fruits on its tree are ripe enough for consumption. That is not so.How do you know when it is ripe? Pastor Patrick, a resident of Ogun State who practices garden farming, said it is not always easy to know when it is ripe. He said by the time you see it change its colour to sandy brown the pawpaw must have over-ripped and become so very soft to eat. He said that he had only been fortunate to eat one as hard as in a carrot form just once or twice in two years. Any medicinal advantage over the green-coloured pawpaw?
