Julius OkorieSuper Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen, stormed Magodo area of Lagos as part of the Sallah celebration.
Osimhen who has become the talking point across the globe following his lingering transfer talks, was spotted with his friends even as they consumed local delicacy, amala, with relish that could leave non consumers of the delicacy green with envy.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe former Lille Star, who recently concluded his loan stay with Turkish giants, Galatasaray, leaving impressive mark by helping the side win both the Turkish league and the Turkish cup, turned Oliver Twist as he was seen asking for more, and ordering 10 wraps of Amala for himself and his friends, an indication that the meal was indeed hitting the right spot.
Lately, he was asked to name his favourite Nigerian dish, and he not only named Amala, the yam flour dish famous amongst Yorubas in South West Nigeria, but he also put forward a strong argument for it.
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While the Galatasaray ace hails from Esan, in Edo State, south-south Nigeria, he was born and bred in Olusosun, Lagos, in the southwest, which explains why he identifies strongly with the western part of the country, casually referring to himself as Yoruba in an interview.
Asked what his favourite Nigerian dish is, the 26-year-old wasted no time saying Amala. He went on to explain that the dish might not be fancied by non-south westerners, but for those of the Yoruba extraction and he includes himself in this—it is a sumptuous delicacy.
“Amala,” he answered when asked what his favourite national dish was. Expanding on the answer, he said, “I grew up in a Yorubaland. Not everyone likes it, but we, the Yorubas, really love this dish and I feel like everyone should try it.”
Food, like Afrobeats’ music, has become an important factor in the exportation of Nigerian culture in recent years, especially for footballers.
A few years ago, Karim Adeyemi revealed his love for fufu. Alex Iwobi regularly shows off pounded yam meals, while Bukayo Saka has shared clips of enjoying semovita.
Meanwhile, the Osimhen transfer story is taking a new dimension with Galatasaray still working hard to keep the Nigerian international in the fold.
The Turkish giants are poised to go to extraordinary lengths this summer to achieve their ambitions in the transfer market, with a sale of their training facilities earmarked around €800-900 million.
The thinking in the club, is that disposing off the training ground will raise enough money to enable Gala wrestle with other suitors now fronting to have Osimhen.
Osimhen was signed on loan from Napoli last summer and proved a roaring success, and while he continues to be linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League, the Istanbul outfit are still hopeful they can persuade him to return to Turkey.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
