Former Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, has caused a stir by saying Jollof rice, the popular West African rice dish, originated in Senegal.
The Information Minister under the administration of late President Muhammadu Buhari, said the dish first became common among the Wolof people of Senegal and was once prepared as a simple meal for prisoners.
According to DW Africa, Mohammed, who spoke with a local Nigerian TV channel, said the word “jollof” comes from the Wolof name, a claim broadly supported by historians who trace the dish to the ancient Wolof Empire in present-day Senegal and Gambia.
However, historians say there is no credible evidence that jollof rice was originally “prisoner food.”
While Senegal is widely accepted as jollof’s birthplace, debates over the best version — especially between Nigeria and Ghana — remain fiercely contested.
