People mock me for selling akara – Abuja male graduate
Ayobami Ogunmoroti, a BSc holder who sells akara in Abuja, tells ABDULLATEEF FOWEWE what inspired him to start the business and people’s reaction to him.
What motivated you to sell akara (bean cakes)?
I’m Ayobami Ogunmoroti; I am from the Ido-Osi Local Government Area of Ekiti State, and I am 33 years old. I am the youngest and the only one in my family to graduate from a university. I completed secondary school in 2008, but it took me eight years to gain admission into the university as I was determined to study Law. Despite my efforts to secure admission to my desired course, I ended up going for Political Science Education at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 2014, and graduated in 2018.
Although I initially had no interest or experience in the business of frying bean cakes, I found myself in a position where I needed to generate income and avoid idleness.
However, the reason I decided to invest in the business was due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. During my National Youth Service Corps programme in Bayelsa State, I utilised my skills as a beautician, specialising in head-ties, hair styling, and makeup. This proved to be advantageous for me in Bayelsa, as I started training fellow corps members in these skills.
I was able to generate income through training sessions with churches and other organisations. Unfortunately, the pandemic severely restricted my ability to earn money and I had already taken a loan to purchase makeup kits. While I was able to repay the loan with my NYSC allowance, I found myself in need of additional sources of income.
I was tired and broke, barely able to afford food. One day, I saw an old woman selling bean cakes by the roadside and I was inspired to start my own business. I stopped paying the loan for a month, and I used that month’s NYSC allowance to start a bean cake business and began selling in front of the corpers’ lodge in the Opolo community of Yenagoa.