Every once in a while, I learn something unbelievable and useless. Yesterday was one of such days.
Listening to podcasts as I tend to do, they were discussing the ancient Asante Kingdom in modern Ghana.

Sometimes, I wonder why I even stumble on these things. More disturbing is why exactly do they stick to me?
Maybe it is their weird nature. Or the enormity of their uselessness. Because I struggle to remember some things when I need them the most. Then I’ll be relaxing, and I’ll just remember one of these facts.

Firstly, do you know that the name Ghana belongs to an ancient kingdom that is not even within the country currently known as Ghana?
It was actually located in modern-day Mauritania, Mali, and Senegal.

More unbelievable is the fact that it had nothing to do with Modern Ghana. At all. Probably trade. No ancestral connection or migration.
Apparently, Kwame Nkruma picked the name as a way of paying respect to the ancient kingdom.

The second unbelievable fact for the day is that yam is a vegetable. WTF!
They said yam is a vegetable tuber. What does that even mean?

I have eaten all sorts of vegetables, and I have eaten yam. Neither of them seems relative to one another.
Just look at yam. Then look at all the other vegetables. In what universe do they seem like they should be a family?

I am almost certain that whoever did this categorization has never eaten yam.
Who has ever eaten yam and thought this is a good vegetable? The only way you’ll feel that is if you were eating the yam with vegetables.
That is a great combination.

For goodness sake, yam is a carbohydrate food. It is filling and gives energy. Which other vegetable does that?
As much as I believe in science, I am beginning to question everything I was taught.

It is like many of the forbearers of science didn’t understand a lot of things and just decided to wing it.
Whatever the case may be, I refuse to acknowledge yam to be a vegetable.

And when an African teacher asks you to give an example of a vegetable, please don’t say yam.
You will end up getting an unbelievable zero. Maybe a few verbal jabs too.
And please, try not to teach your children that yam is a vegetable. This fact really needs to be sorted and the tuber recategorized.

Wilson Joshua is a Video Editor, Content Creator, and Creative Writer.
Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. @IJOSWIL

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