Addressing the ‘Jollof Wars’: a Southern Cameroonian Perspective

By Hans Ngala

The ‘jollof wars’ have finally swept over Cameroon – at least the Anglophone part of Cameroon where the meal is commonly eaten. Social media was awash this week after Nigerian actress Omoni Oboli made disparaging comments about Southern Cameroonian jellof rice.

Her comments have drawn Cameroonians of English –speaking expression into a fierce debate of not just defending their cuisine, but also their culture and their version of Pidgin which has been dominated by Nigerian Pidgin expressions due to factors such as proximity to Nigeria and the strong influence of Nigeria in the former Southern Cameroons. In fact, a Southern Cameroonian social media influencer, Delly Singah has called on Southern Cameroonians to shrug Nigerian Pidgin and reclaim their own Pidgin spellings and pronunciations. This reclamation would mean leaving the Nigerian “jollof” and opting instead for “jellof”, Singah argued. It would also call for dropping the Nigerian ashawo (prostitute) for the more Southern Cameroonian akwara or kwara for example.

However, my argument is focusing on the ongoing ‘jellof’ feud – yes, I prefer the Southern Cameroonian spelling.

The media tend to report on Anglophone Africa like it evolves only around Ghana and Nigeria – as if no one else exists. People from the former Southern Cameroonians are a sober and gentle people who have rich and diverse cultures and are known for their hospitality. If not for the Anglophone Crisis, this region of Cameroon is never in the news in spite of its wealth of cultures, fashion, food, music etc.

There is no need to issue a defense of Southern Cameroonian food because having just returned from Ghana a few weeks ago, I ate several Ghanaian dishes while in Ghana from banku to akpele and their jellof rice, although theirs is more like coloured rice because Southern Cameroonian jollof rice contains carrots, green beans, tiny chops of beef or chicken – making it even more visually appealing than Nigerian and Ghanaian jellofs.

It is difficult to say how jellof rice came about, though research tends to bring up the Senegambia region that was ruled by the Wolof or Jolof Empire in the 14th century which spans parts of today’s Senegal, The Gambia and Mauritania, where rice was grown. According to a BBC article written by Patti Sloley, the dish has its roots in a traditional dish called thieboudienne, containing rice, fish, shellfish and vegetables.

According to Sloley, each West African country has at least one variant form of the dish, with Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Anglophone Cameroon particularly competitive as to which country makes the best jellof.

A leading Cameroonian blogger and chef, Precious Core maintains that:

“Jollof Rice is West Africa’s sweetheart. It is rice that is cooked in tomato sauce with spices and seasonings. Absolutely delicious! I’m yet to find a person who detests Jollof Rice. It’s safe to say here that it is the ultimate West African rice dish.

Eaten in Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Gambia, Sierra Leone and many other countries, Jollof is popular across the African continent. So popular that a day (August 22 every year) has been reserved for #WorldJollofRiceDay.”

Precious Core further holds that:  “Now as varied as the countries that eat Jollof Rice are so are the methods of preparation. Nigerian Jollof Rice is quite different from Cameroonian Jollof rice. Loyal Jollof Rice fans from different countries even now swear and fight on social media, saying their version is the best. This has led to the phraseology, “Jollof Wars”.

That brings us to the crux of the matter: what makes jollof rice to be the ‘best’?

It is really difficult to answer this question since it is quite subjective and due to our individual biases, people will tend to defend theirs. However, Southern Cameroonian jellof rice looks more appetizing than the Nigerian and Ghanaian versions.

During my two months in Accra, I was surprised to find that Ghanaians don’t have ndole like we do, they don’t have fufu and njama-njama and frankly, even roasted fish there – and they tend to eat lots of tilapia and not mackerel like we do – does not taste as good as Cameroonian roast fish. The condiments we use are better.

The fact that Ghana and Nigeria have larger numbers does not mean that Southern Cameroon does not have anything to offer the world.

Rather, they are too confident a people to be getting riled over petty arguments about food because ours is simply the best.