Pounded yam is a special choice of food used in celebrations or in entertaining dignitaries in special events in Nigeria. It is normally prepared by boiling yam and pounding it in mortars, and is enjoyed best with *ẹ̀fọ́ rírò* (vegetable soup) or *ẹ̀gúsí* (melon) garnished with vegetables in Yorubaland.

That being said, imagine pounding yam on a leaf instead of using a mortar. Sounds ridiculous and unrealistic right? I thought so too. What about preparing soup inside groundnut shells. How does that sound to you? Now, let's assume it were possible to do both. Consider the amount of yam you would be able to pound on a leaf and the amount of soup you would have in a groundnut shell. It would be so small and insignificant to the belly. However, today's proverb says some will eat from it and be filled.

This proverb is a figurative expression used to challenge people that gives excuses for failure or give reasons why they have refused to make an important move. Excuses in this regard could be financial constraints, lack of contacts needed for a business to grow, saturated market or competition, difficult school assignments or examinations, etc. If everyone is presented equally with these challenges, some people will still device a means to succeed, despite the constraints.

Back in the university, we did courses that seemed so difficult and wrote difficult examinations or had to answer questions outside the syllabus. In such cases, many students either failed or scored very low grades. Few others however made excellent grades despite the difficulty of the questions or the course. These are the people who have defied the challenges surrounding the issue finding a way out of it.

The proverb is also used to encourage people who are faced with very difficult situations and circumstances, so that they do not give up. It means to them that though everyone complains of the challenges, some will still break through and that person being encouraged could be among the few that will excel.