No food for the lazy: The story of 72-year-old retired Army Major-turned akara, bread seller
Daniel Aokwuru
Mr. Jonathan Okeke, 72-year-old retired Army Major, from Idemili North, in Anambra State, is currently the side attraction for all residents, motorists, and passersby, plying Aka Road in Ajangbadi area of Lagos State.
His current trade has made him famous in the community. As a retired soldier, one would have expected that he would depend on his pension or seek employment in a private company, as the Chief Security Officer (CSO), as his colleagues normally do.
But this is not the case of the ex-soldier. Among all the jobs he can embrace, judging from his wealth of experience and training when it comes to security matters, he found solace in selling akara and bread.
Men are rarely found in this kind of trade. It is a trade dominated by women. Even if men are eventually found in it, it is usually youths, not septuagenarians.
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However, one remarkable thing about Mr. Okeke is that he is very dedicated and focused on his chosen trade. He said he conquered shame because there is no food for a lazy man, and he has bills to pay. He has no off-day, as he works from Monday to Sunday.
To him, everyday is for hustling and making money. He runs two shifts. the first resumes at 6am and closes 2pm. He comes back for the second shift at 5pm and operates till 10pm before retiring for the day.
Owing to his seriousness, loyalty and jovial nature, he has attracted many customers to himself. He is now a challenge to some lazy men in the community.
Okeke said sometimes, women usually intentionally lure their husbands to his shop to come and buy akara. He said the women upon arriving his shop would challenge their husbands to start doing something, seeing that Okeke is still productive at his age.
Often times, rich and prominent men from the community park their exotic cars in his shop, comprising one wooden table, a small show glass for displaying the akara and bread, an Umbrella to defeat the rain, and a mortar for pounding his pepper.
One obvious thing is that the ex-soldier has foresight. He sited his shop in front of a brothel, known as 112. Due to the number of fun seekers that throng the brothel, patronage is very high for him. Some of the customers, who spoke with The Nigerian Xpress reporter said that they did not only enjoy the Okeke’s akara and bread, but also get entertained from the gist old soldier usually thrilled them with.
One of his customers, Oyekachi, said: “I am always here with my guys. Sometimes, we will spend up to two hours with him, discussing. Anything you want to know, Old Soldier will teach you. Be it government, politics, or football, he is there to educate you. Sometimes, we do watch match together after his daily sales. He is very young in the mind. People in the community love him a lot.”
Speaking on his early life, the father of six said he grew up from a very poor background, which shaped his life to be a hardworking man that can do anything good to make money. He said he had assisted his wife in the past, doing the akara business when they lived in Surulere area of Lagos State. He said even as an active soldier then, he assisted his wife for more than 20 years, and has decided to continue the trade after leaving the military.
He said: “I was born on August 10, 1947, in Idemili, in Aambra State. I was born by poor parents. I joined the army on August 10, 1967. I served in different areas while in the army. I had a wonderful experience, learnt many things, like how to shoot, how to dismantle and assemble guns.
While in the army, I was also assisting my wife in the business then. She was the one doing it before. Now that she is not around, I don’t want to be idle. If I feel like to go to my town, I will go to my village. I live very fine in my village. But for me to stay idle, waiting for the army or government to pay me the little pension we are expecting is not the best.
Sometimes, I do small business before, but my children stopped me. I am still very strong. I can do anything because I am fit. I work here every day, it is only on Thursdays that I do come out by 10am. It is my business so I decide how to run it.”
Mr. Okeke boasted that he is a very neat man. He said after doing the business, when people see him outside, they will never recognise that he was the one selling akara and bread at the road side.
“When you see me going out after selling this akara and bread, you will not believe I was the man you saw doing the business. I dress very neat; I will change totally. I will chill somewhere, maybe to watch football and enjoy myself. Three of my children have graduated from the university.
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“One of my daughters is married; the last one just got admission into the university. The last boy said he wants to be a Catholic priest and I have given him my support hence that is what he wants to be in life. Once God sustains me, I will make sure that they are all fulfilled. I have rent to pay; should I start begging for money to pay my bills? I must do something. My age is never a barrier,” He said.
Posing a challenge to other idle men in the community, he said: “One woman brought her husband here one day and was telling the man that I am the one selling the akara and bread. Her husband is very much younger than I. She was telling him that if I could do this at my age,that means that he too can equally do something.
“I suspect that the man is the type that relaxes at home and waits for the woman to bring food at home. There have been many instances like that. I conquered shame to do this. If you want to survive in life, you must conquer shame first.”
Okeke said he retired from the military in 2009.
However, all efforts to confirm his claim to being a Major in the Nigerian Army proved abortive. The spokesman for the Nigerian Army, 81 Division, Colonel Daudu, did not pick calls made to his cell phone number, neither did he reply to the text message sent to his phone.
