My Afo Otita story

Posted by Felix Okoli on Saturday October 11, 2014 at 9:48:13:

Today was the worst day I've had so far this year as far as my health is concerned. Ekene dili Chukwu maka I've not been sick this year nor do I remember when last I had malaria or typhoid fever. Those are the 2 most common illnesses in Nigeria and if you can beat it, chances are that you'll live longer. It's actually been over 5 years since I've last had Malaria but this very morning was really scary for me.

I actually went to sleep quite early on Friday night after returning from a church service and I slept by just 9 p.m. Nigerian time. I don't remember eating any food while I was outside my home although I was a bit tempted to but as a result of a temporary financial Okochi(drought), I just decided to eat only at home. Besides, I've recently decided not to be eating outside my home for now in order to avoid food poisoning from Salmonella as well as avoid the ebola virus. The only thing I remembered purchasing from outside was a can of Maltina and I drank it on that Friday. I also recall that since I stopped eating at mama put and local restaurants, I've stopped having typhoid fever. Ekene dili Chukwu! As for why I stopped having Malaria, I think my body has grown resistant to it. I guess if you live in Nigeria for a while, your body will eventually get resistant to Malaria but you may still take anti-Malaria drugs from time to time just to make sure. I do take them every 3 or 6 months but my main secret as far as I know is drinking good water and exercise.

I slept by 9pm on Friday and was forced to wake up by around 2 am on Saturday morning as a result of some serious afo otita. Yes, I had a serious stomach ache and in Igbo we normally call that "afo otita" or "afo mgbu". Stomach means afo in Igbo, otita means bites while mgbu means pains. From where I come from, we commonly use afo otita rather than afo mgbu.

Anyway, this afo otita really put some pressure on me that I could no longer sleep. It was biting me so much that I was a bit scared that I had eaten something that wasn't meant to be eaten like poison or expired food. Well, if it's poison, what we in Igboland normally use as an anti-poison is Ugoro(Bitter kola) a.k.a Akiilu. But, I doubted that also since my ancestors were not known to have been poisoned and since I never ate outside my home the previous day, it was unlikely.

I've had a lot of stomach aches in my life but this particular one was really scary as it seemed to be more painful and was prolonged that I was just wondering what was causing it. I just decided to first drink some water to cool it down and decided to try lying down again. Well, later on, thanks be to God, it cooled down and I was able to go the the toilet.

Since my mind went back to the Maltina can that I drank, I went back to look at the can and ensure that I didn't drink an expired drink but I was relieved that it wasn't the drink since the BB date read 2015.

I later reflected back on what I really ate last before going to sleep that night. I then remembered that I ate Yam porridge and afterwards also ate some chocolate. I guess combining chocolate with Yam porridge was not a good idea. It seems that the reason why I had the stomach ache was not really as a result of eating expired or poisoned food but as a result of eating the wrong mix of food and at the same time drinking less water.

Having Afo otita can be a painful experience but when you watch too many Nigerian movies, you might get scared when you get have it since most people who have it in Nollywood movies end up dying. Anyway, Ekene dili Chukwu that I survived this one.