I'm going to start a thread of these incidents of insidious racism in the media coverage of the Ukrainian crisis, because I've just been seeing so damn many.

https://twitter.com/MissChisomo/status/1497668443750879234?s=20&t=_CZFQYrDb333apu9872n5w

https://twitter.com/seyitaylor/status/1497685121461370885?s=20&t=_CZFQYrDb333apu9872n5w

Jerk seasoning 😃 Grilling this jerk chicken tomorrow for lunch with a friend. There’ll also be jollof and plantain. Gonna be awesome.

Marinade for tomorrow’s chicken — lime zest and juice, grated ginger, garlic, Thai palm sugar, fish sauce, half a tin of coconut milk, 2 Tbsp. Peanut oil, some black pepper. #SaratusEats Making this bonappetit.com/recipe/thai-ro…

Scenes from a Marriage s1e1, and I’m once more confident that there’s nothing more embarrassment-inducing than being around a couple arguing. Also apropos: Oscar Isaac is such a fine man.

Alright, quick thread.

https://twitter.com/saratu/status/1334997405499088901

So I spent the morning yesterday visiting project sites in village communities outside of Yola where there are informal banking clusters. These clusters have been in operation at least 3 years, at most 5. This particular 3yr one has 25 women in it. Ave. loan repayment? 100%.

You people on here make having feelings for other people sound like a disease sha.

https://twitter.com/opeyeemiii/status/1334855122489200641

I think that one of the reasons many Nigerian marriages are a sham is because we have made giving a shit about someone sound like the worst thing. I get it, people can be shitty. But I think it also stops people from being as emotionally invested as they should.

So I want to talk about something that’s bothered me since I read about it. It’s about the 13yo boy in Kano sentenced to 10yrs in prison for blasphemy. Like a lot of us, I read it and it saddened me, but i was determined to unlook. There’s so much in this country to get one down, and in a lot of instances we have to choose between the paralysis of helpless despair and the stoicism of propelling onwards with our lives.

Plantain porridge loading. Usually don’t like to cook when I’m hungry, but let’s do it.

This is a masterful essay about our generation and the way we engage online. Read the whole thing, but I’ll share some of my favorite bits.

https://twitter.com/wallelawal/status/1308899596031201282

This bit on marginalization and the way we use language.

Dinner prep. This has been marinading for 24hrs. Time to get some color on it before I put it in the oven to braise. Meat browned, then sautéed some onions and garlic, hella fresh thyme, brown sugar. Then added some stock and, um, Guinness. Now, to braise in the oven for ~2hrs.

(I need a bigger skillet, I know) #SaratusEats

Tossed some cucumbers in salt, now letting it drain. I’m experimenting with this cucumber salad idea I came across the other day. #saratuseats Tons of garlic and ginger, ata rodo, Basil, scent leaf in groundnut oil. I usually don’t make my own chili oil, but here we are. Let it get hot, then I turned the heat all the way down. #saratuseats

Sautéed garlic makes me happy. Look at that. Like a little constellation against the cast iron sky. brown sugar, fish sauce, sriracha, Black pepper.

I’m thinking again of the thoughtful cinematography of this scene. Maria is downcast and anguished. The room is dark, save for a triangle of light. The woman lighting her way forward walks into the light by the window. Maria, slowly following behind.

https://twitter.com/saratu/status/1301553302258278400

I love when you can see the intention behind things.

Magic is not only magic when it’s a mystery. There is also magic in knowing how and why things work. It’s a more inspiring kind, because it means the wonder can be made to happen again and again.

New books. Can’t wait to dig in. Can’t wait to dig into this, especially.

Kinda want chocolate chip cookies. Just baked some chocolate chip cookies. Made a cortado, too 🥰 #Saratuseats

Bayern will likely win tonight, but I kinda want PSG to do the thing Mbappe winning the UCL then the Club World Cup later will mean he’s won everything. I want that for the young king.

Spent the day driving through Zing in Taraba State. A gorgeous, gorgeous place. If to say Naija was a proper country, that’s a tourism zone. Hiking trials, bike trails, mountain bike races, resorts... alladat.

Ok, let’s do this. I like Level Up.

“Don’t be afraid to step into your greatness, people.”

I’m embarking on a bit of a kitchen adventure today — first time I’m smoking my own meat!

I got a lovely leg of 🐏 for Sallah, so I blended up some cumin, rosemary, paprika, black pepper and salt for a dry rub. Gonna let that smoke for 3 hours.

Wish me luck! I’m a bit nervous, can’t lie. Never done this before, and I already know I’ll be very pissed if it doesn’t turn out how I want.

Ok. Quick thread on rice farmers and agric policy in Ghana and Nigeria. I traveled to Asusuare, two hours outside Accra, to visit some smallholder rice farmers. Mr. Charles here is the chairman of the association of over 3,000 farmers in the Greater Accra region. 30% women, average age 35.

Ok, let’s do a thread on my time at the Nigeria-Niger border at Babban Mutum village in Katsina yesterday. Ok, my images aren’t sending so will try when I’m back to civilization.

Anyway. Quick disclosure: this is one border, and I won’t extrapolate further than what I saw. There’s another border in Jibia, for example, but it was far from where I was. I had work there, too, but tired