‎US-Based Nigerian Faults Ngozi Okafor’s Igbo Cookbook Portrayal Of Food Recipes As Igbo Meal

‎A Royal activist based in the US, Banke Oniru, has faulted the publishing of a book authored by Ngozi Okafor titled ‘Igbo Cookbook’ as not factual.
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‎The book, which is on Amazon, categorises meals like Ofada Rice, Efo Riro, and Ewedu, known widely as delicacies from the Yoruba tribe, as part of the ‘Igbo Cookbook’
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‎The Nigerian who voiced out on the X platform under the name @HRH_bankeoniru condemned the author’s perceived distortion of cultural history in her book and called on her to make corrections to the labelling, as it constitutes cultural erasure.
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‎Other netizens commented on this, and some took sides on her assertion. At the same time, some made it clear that Ofada Rice is not known to have come from the South West cultural delicacy, as one of them said she lives and was schooled in Ofada in Ogun State, but has not seen a single rice mill in the area for the production of Ofada Rice presently.
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‎Others called for the right education on our cultural history and food, making the cookbook feel more national than sectional.
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‎”How dare you? You publish a book titled “Igbo Cookbook: Authentic Recipes Passed Down Through Generations” and pack it full of Yoruba classics like Ofada rice and Ayamase sauce, Efo Riro, Gbegiri, Akara, Moi Moi, Ewedu, and more, then slap “Igbo” on the cover as you invented them?
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‎”This isn’t ‘sharing culture.” This is straight-up theft and cultural erasure! Ofada rice comes from Ofada town in Ogun State, Yoruba land, not some vague “Igbo tradition.” Ayamase? That’s Yoruba pepper sauce, period.
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‎”Your book is flooding Amazon and Etsy, misleading the world that these are ‘authentic Igbo recipes.”
‎You’re not preserving anything; you’re stealing other people’s heritage, rebranding it, and selling it for profit.
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‎”If it was a “Nigerian Cookbook,” fine. But calling it Igbo, that’s fraudulent, deceptive, and disrespectful.
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‎”We documented our food for centuries. Don’t come now and rewrite history because you want clout or sales. Remove the false labelling, credit the origins properly, or watch this blow up in your face.
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‎”This is how cultures get erased, one stolen recipe at a time”.
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