
I got it off the internet, I think face book and of course we all used it to make jokes.
It was probably even photoshopped; how do I know or care.
It however reminded me of a people in Gambia I met on my visit there in 2008.
The Mandinka people, or men are said to have the biggest penises in the world; at least that is what the men from that part of the world tell themselves and others who care to listen.
First thing I noticed on arrival in Gambia was the fact that there were lots of Europeans holidaying in there.
Then I noticed another trend and it was that young Gambian males, aged between eighteen and twenty five were often seen dating, strolling hand in hand, kissing on the streets, elderly European women aged as much as 55 in some instances.
I asked an elderly Gambian male who was a security man close to the hotel I stayed in and the conversation went thus.
“Good morning sir. How are you doing today?
“I am fine. How are you too?
“I am fine. You mind if I just talk with you?
“It’s okay. You sound Nigerian. Are you?
“Yes I am. I am just visiting. I have seen a lot of Gambian males dating and even marrying much older British women. Why is this?
The old man laughed long and hard then said.
“You mean you do not know we, the Mandinka people have the biggest.. *pointing at his you know what* in the world?”
I didn’t know what to make of that, if to laugh like it was a joke or take it serious. He saw my confusion and tried to help out.
“It is common knowledge that ours is the biggest in the world and these British women have probably heard tales about its size come all the way down here to enjoy it.”
He seemed serious.
There were really lots of British women in the Gambia hanging around with males who could well be their grandsons so he could have been on to something, but I wasn’t one to just up and walk away that easily so I asked again.
“But are the Mandinka penises the biggest in the world? How do you know it is?
“Well, my father told me that and I’m sure his father told him that too. I told my son and I’m sure he has told his son. It is what we believe. Are Nigerian penises bigger than ours?”
“How big is yours really,” I asked him. A question that didn’t get an answer anyway.
At this point I remembered Kunta Kinta, the mandinka warrior sold into slavery according to Alex Haley’s book, Roots.
My experience in Gambia was much more interesting than the Big penis tale but a look at that photograph on facebook took my mind back to that Gambia visit in 2008 and I ask again if the folk in that photograph are Mandinka warriors.
Are they? Do they really have the biggest in the World or does anyone want to challenge them to a contest?