THE CHICKEN 'YANSH' MYSTERY

Women or should I say Nigerian women (correct me if you think I’m wrong) never cease to amaze me. A lot of them can be so over dramatic when they want to be while another larger sum of them just enjoy being dramatic at every given opportunity especially when they want to prove a point which could sound/look silly to a lot of people in a lot of instances. Some points such as this theme on the ‘chicken yansh’ which I have titled this article.

On Sunday evening the 1st of March 2015 which was Just yesterday, I got home from church had a quick shower and was on my way to join a couple of friends in Surulere so we could all leave together to go watch a movie at the Ikeja Shoprite Cinema. As soon as I got into Surulere, there was a sudden change of weather with an impending heavy downpour as indicated by the dark clouds that covered the sky so for fear of being trapped in traffic or at Ikeja after the movie, I called my friends and suggested for us to reschedule given the weather situation which everyone agreed so I made a detour and started heading up back home but made a quick stop at a small roadside market to get a few things for supper.

At the market while everyone was trying to get all their wares up to get back home in a hurry, I walked into a shop where frozen poultry products where being sold and asked for an already dressed frozen chicken and while the young shop assistant was chopping up my chicken, another lady walked up to the ‘Madam’ (the owner of the shop) and was making a complaint about how she came about two hours earlier to buy chicken only for her to get home and found out that the ‘chicken yansh’ was missing so she had to come back in annoyance to get it as according to her “go cause serious wahala between me and my husband if I no bring that chicken yansh”.

At this point, I was shocked and couldn’t help but asked “are you for real? Do you mean you came all the way for something such as this chicken yansh”? Lifting the piece which had just being chopped off my own chicken to be thrown away.

Yes o! The lady enthused and stood up swiftly from where she sat next to the ‘madam’ of the shop. Walking towards me and the shop assistant , she continued “hmmm my sister truly, the thing go cause big trouble for me o if my Oga (husband) no see am, naim make I waka come back”.

“Please my sister” the owner of the shop said directed at me “if you want to throw away your own please can my girl (the shop assistant) give it to her? (pointing at the lady). I nodded in the affirmative “so that it would not cause trouble between herself and her husband? She concluded sarcastically.

The piece of chicken ‘yansh’ was put in a small black polythene bag and handed over to her which she thankfully (like a very satisfied customer) took from the shop assistant and walked away happily as though she just won a big battle leaving me behind looking baffled and it was in that baffled state I paid for my chicken got into my car and drove off quickly even as the rains came down heavily.

Now the question is “what is the mystery behind the chicken ‘yansh’?