Gina Ojo: Preserving Nigeria’s Food Heritage 

It is often said that the world can be explored through food. For Gina Ojo, food is more than sustenance or adventure; it is a repository of history, culture and identity. Through her television programme Foodies and Spice, the lawyer-turned-media executive has spent over a decade documenting indigenous Nigerian cuisines and preserving the stories behind them, writes Vanessa Obioha.

It is easy to tell what one is passionate about by what they talk about or share most on social media. For Gina Ojo, the CEO of Geenamore and Associates, it is mostly food and travel. Her love for food dates back to her childhood, where, surprisingly, she was a picky eater.

“As a child, I loved food, but the number of foods I ate could be counted on one hand,” she said in a recent encounter. “However, when I was eight, my grandmother introduced me to cooking my own food because I was picky. After successfully making my own soup (Scentleaves soup), I began to explore.”

That exploration gave her the freedom to try new tastes, textures and anything that crossed her mind.

“Some will come out right, and the day it doesn’t work, I will not eat it. The rest of the family may want to manage it, but I will never eat food that doesn’t sit right with me, even if I cooked it. I don’t know how to manage bad-tasting food.”

Even though she evinced her love for food at a younger age, it wasn’t until she moved to Lagos for law school and began working in the corporate sector that she began her journey into preserving Nigerian food and culture.

“I realised that the people in this city had very limited knowledge of the kinds of food in Nigeria, many of them do not even know their indigenous ingredients, let alone the meals made with them.”

Although she recognised this gap early, she did not immediately pursue it. At the time, she was building a career in media production and television management, a path that would eventually provide the platform for her culinary storytelling.

From law school, Ojo joined Virtual Media Limited, the owners of Nigezie and Orisun TV Channels, where she worked for about six years, rising to the position of the Head Corporate Development Officer.

In 2012, she joined WAP Productions Limited to lead the team in setting up the WAP TV channel and was the General Manager for five years. It was while in WAP TV that she started her cooking show Foodies and Spice, a food and travel series, where she doubles as the producer and host of the programme. The series features various indigenous recipes and cooking techniques.

“I made it a matter of importance to showcase all our indigenous cuisines, ingredients and even stories if they had, to uphold our culture. Foodies and Spice has become a go-to show, archiving these recipes one meal at a time.”

The more she travelled across different countries documenting food, lifestyle, and culture, the more her knowledge of food deepened. Recently, she had a food fusion with the Chinese Consulate in Lagos, where wrapping food in bamboo leaves was the lesson of the day.

But of all the destinations she had travelled, none left a sweet taste on her palate like

Azerbaijan.

“My Azerbaijani experience is one memory that left a very deep impression in my heart,” she enthused. “It was a window to the cuisine and lifestyle of the Euro-Asian and Middle Eastern People. I saw food in a different light and how they have preserved their food culture. They almost have a story guiding every recipe; the different tribes that make up this region have some sort of food foothold in their day-to-day meals. The Persian, the Kurds, Turks and Azeri food culture can be on a table as a spread at a time… And even in the many colonisations and wars they may have experienced, their food is very dear to them.”

In recognition of her interest in and promotion of Azerbaijani food culture, she received an honorary award from the country.

That visit also highlighted one of the misconceptions about Nigerian cuisine despite its growing global appeal. According to Ojo, Nigerian cuisine is still missing one important ingredient.

“Stories! People like to hear the whys and hows. This is what I have seen in other cultures, especially with my travels. Ingredients are defined, stories are told. But when even the cook or the person who is presenting does not know the history or story behind the ingredient or meal they have just made, it cannot be properly presented. So, our cooks, our chefs and everyone in the food space have to take that extra step to know the hows and whys.

In a way, she sees the work she does with Foodies and Spice as a form of cultural preservation.

“That is what I have spent the last 13 years and counting doing in my studio space. Showcasing food culture on TV and online. Also taking time to create fusions and new recipes because if our ancestors left us some recipes, we should be able to pass them down, including new recipes to those after us.”

The impact of Foodies and Spice has not gone unnoticed. Over the years, the programme has earned several accolades, including the Viewers’ Choice Award for Best Brand/Business Food Programme on Television at the Nigerian Broadcasters Merit Awards in 2014, as well as an ELOY Award for Food Vlogger/Entrepreneur, among other recognitions.

Ojo is also the organiser of the Foodaholic Festival, one of Nigeria’s largest gatherings of food enthusiasts. The annual event brings together food vendors, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies, SMEs in food production and services, food bloggers and influencers, creating a vibrant platform for celebrating Nigeria’s culinary culture. Fans of Foodies and Spice also participate in food-themed competitions and interactive activities. Held on Lagos Mainland, the festival attracts more than 5,000 attendees each year.

Ojo’s love for food is equally seen in other TV programmes she has developed. One of them is Feed Your Love, an experiential platform that allows brands to engage directly with consumers through wedding celebrations across Nigeria. The content generated from these events is adapted into television and online episodes. She also created Toast to Love, a spin-off programme tailored to the beverage industry, further expanding her portfolio of lifestyle and food-related content.

“I believe so much in love,” she said, explaining her interest in love-themed programmes. “And I think humans are really beginning to forget how important love is in living and enjoying planet earth. We keep chasing the things that are not so important.”

While she is still chasing many dreams (she hinted at launching a children’s brand soon), the legacy she is most looking forward to lies in Foodies and Spice.

“Foodies and Spice is going to be the go-to archive for both the old and modern food culture in Nigeria,” she said confidently.

“Think Nigerian food stories, you will think of Foodies and Spice. It will cut across Nigerian tribes and, just as it’s already been, a place where young Nigerians who may not have had the privilege to experience Nigerian food at home can find food, ingredients, recipes, and stories that will shape their own food journeys.”