A saucer of kola nuts goes round before anyone talks business, and the eldest at the table says a prayer and breaks the first one by hand. Then come plates of abacha, shredded cassava glossy with palm oil, often with a cold glass of palm wine. In Onitsha, sharing food is how strangers become guests.
Beyond the table, the city spreads from the Main Market along the Niger, where two bridges cross to Asaba. The tropical climate brings rain from March to October, then dry, hazy harmattan days around the turn of the year. A Local Friend can bring you home to their own street, where the neighbors and the best abacha spot come with introductions.
