A response 'Why only men eat the gizzard in Nso Land'.

Well, Shey Tatah, the article about the gizzard is as pertinent as the culture which promotes this concept.
I think, going beyond the social assumptions linked to the gizzard and its role in the Nso culture, we can also equally make some anthropological analysis of it.
The heirarchical political structure of the Nso Fondom, just like in many other places in Africa, Latin America and some pacific Islands, bestow more powers to men than women.

This, however does not minimise the position and role of the women or meant to consciously place them in any inferior category in these very power structures as the western optique may deem it.
Power in many societies is used as an instrument of control. Power within and between groups is socially and historically constructed, supported and maintained to advance the position of some members over the of others.

In the African context, sign and symbolism are both very intricate aspects in denoting power. Some of these power dynamics could be derived or influenced by certain factors ranging from environmental as well as cosmological. Certain edible and none edible factors equally play a certain role which can, depending on how we look at it, arouse the “why” questions . The gizzard of the chicken happens to be one of these “sacred” edible things that denote power in Nso land.
Why the notion of power in this case?: In ancient Nso tradition, only the cock(masculinity) could be used for most sacrifices.

These sacrifices themselves were performed by cult members led by the shamans or head of the cults; very powerful men who were considered to have the strength and courage to face, invoke and appease the spirits in times of need. Masculinity in this case was tied or equated to courage, the forceful sun, thunder, night etc. etc and only men could face theses as compared to the women who appositionally are considered feminine, tender, timid, soft, day, moon, rain, earth) etc etc. (there are more cosmological or environmental oppositions which refer to man and women in Nso)
After these sacrifices were made, the flesh of the slaughtered cock would be roasted or cooked and eaten by the male members of the cult. The gizzard, being one of the “strongest” tissues of the chicken capable of digesting even “stones” and other hard cereals, was given or eaten by the “head” of the shamans or eldest in the group of men in the cult as portrayal of his powers. One who was capable of crushing the evil that befalls the society. This also dialogically implied that not all men in the cult could eat the gizzard at the same time because of the “internal” hierarchy (power) within the same cult.
Some of these processes gained widespread influence in many households where eating chicken, in the first place was luxury(also good to note that chicken was not an early domesticated bird in the early history of Nso) The idea of early domestication started presumably at about 13-15century AD (personal assumption). The scarcity of chicken created an unprecedented value such that the mere fact of eating chicken was considered luxury. Then, eating the “saaiy”(gizzard) was indicative of extra command, force and dominance in a family or societal setting.
However; nowadays a chunky part of these practices have been greatly challenged by modern values, economy, social (power) competition and internal power struggles within the cults and in within households(mostly between the men, women and sometimes the eldest sons.)
Hence, this cultural aspect should be looked at from the angle of assigning cultural meaning to behaviors, customs and the environment. In this case the cultural context practiced should not be overridden by or juxtaposed with western egalitarian, rights or democratic norms as we see.

Let's keep on looking at the past as we head on in the quest for the cultural truth and validity in our modern world.

That is my personal opinion

Shey Emmanuel Berinyuy(Wo Landen)