News
Utu! My Childhood Nostalgia
By Dr jalarth Uche Opara
After the 10:15 a.m. Mass today, as I was driving out of the church parking lot, I spotted one of the Hausa boys hawking a familiar fruit—Utu.
Instantly, I was transported back to my childhood.
The last time I saw this fruit was many years ago, during those carefree days when our adventures into the bush were undertaken with fearless enthusiasm.
We were barefooted, unafraid, and driven by curiosity. We hunted, explored, climbed trees, and plucked wild fruits fresh from nature, bursting with flavor and rich in Vitamin C.
Back then, the bushes around our villages were treasure troves of natural fruits that one could hardly find around the immediate surroundings of our homes.
Fruits such as Ubene, Itikpo, Nchichi, and many others adorned the landscape. The list was endless.
Village life in those days was a world apart from what today’s Generation Z may be willing to endure. We trekked several miles to and from school.
We roamed the forests barefooted, gathering firewood, chasing rabbits and squirrels with catapults, and discovering nature’s hidden gifts. It was a life filled with fun, resilience, and dangerous adventures that many young people today may find unimaginable.
Yet, despite its hardships, there was something profoundly enriching about that life. Our bushes and forests were abundant with fruits, leaves, roots, and herbs of immense nutritional and medicinal value.
Nature provided remedies long before pharmacies became commonplace. Every plant seemed to have a purpose; every fruit carried a story.
Seeing that bunch of Utu today reminded me not only of a fruit but of an entire way of life,a life of simplicity, community, adventure, and intimate connection with nature.
It brought back memories of a generation that learned from the land, lived with nature, and found joy in the simplest things.
Some memories never grow old. They simply wait for a familiar sight, a familiar smell, or a familiar fruit like Utu to bring them back to life.
Village life is gradually fading, the spirit of adventure into the bushes fast becoming scaring. In the bushes , our wealth and health hang, beyond what any pharmacy could offer. Harnessing the potentials of our bushes should be reactivated again.
jarlathuche@gmail.com