Much ado about Akara Zenith in Ado

What is in an ordinary bean cake? A lot, when it is Akara Zenith in Ado-Ekiti.

‘Akara’ in Yoruba or ‘Kose’ in Hausa language is the bean cake delicacy that many people take delight in savouring, which can be accompanied by akamu (pap) or bread.

Again, the age-long norm is that it was only women who fried akara for a commercial purpose. Not anymore, what with young, unassuming male entrepreneurs like Stephen Wisdom.

Akara normally comes round and small. However, in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, at a T-junction along Bank Road, 24-year-old Wisdom, an Ebonyi State indigene, is reinventing the akara delicacy with his big akara, in the Akara Zenith initiative.

Wisdom’s akara is exceptionally big and inviting.

The young businessman said the akara idea sprouted in him when he realised his seasonal business of exercise books sale was not just paying him enough. And in order not to go into the unemployment market and avoid a situation where he would rely on people to make a living, he decided to do something legitimately unusual. And so, Akara Zenith was born.

Wisdom told Eko Trust, “I don’t like depending on anybody to live. I have always known that if anybody works hard, he will make it.

“There was a business I was doing before this. I came all the way from the east to Akure, Ondo State, where I was doing a seasonal business. But there came a time the business was shaky and I wasn’t making enough money to keep body and soul together. So I started thinking of engaging in edibles that people must consume every day.

“I went to Lagos and checked around. I studied what consumers in Yorubaland like taking every day. I observed that akara was selling well every day. I told myself that was what I would go into. After all, life is all about risk. If you cannot take risk in life, you are going nowhere.

“I told myself it’s better to try and fail than not trying at all. That is why I came all the way from Akure to search for a location here.”

Wisdom said he actually spent about a month in Lagos in search of what business he could do for a living.

He said that, for now, he was operating the business only at the T-junction, though he had an intention to expand. He had, however, introduced a friend of his age to the business.

“He is along Ajilosun market. I was the one that brought him into the business. He is my friend; he is the owner of the business at the Fayose market. He is Ezekiel Godwin. We are of the same age,” he said.

Wisdom disclosed that he was educated to secondary school level but couldn’t advance due to lack of assistance from expected quarters. He said he did make efforts to attend a tertiary institution but to no success, so he decided to learn how to sell foodstuffs.

He didn’t quite eventually start his business life selling foodstuffs. It was exercise books, which was a kind of a regret and he had to retrace his steps.

Wisdom said he started the akara business about a year ago. He said though it isn’t hugely profitable as many people wrongly believe, it brings him a moderate income and pays his bills.

He said, “I am not making big profits now in the business because everything we use in producing akara is costly; prices are on the high side. Prices of the main ingredients like beans, vegetable oil, pepper, onions and the gas keep going up.

“Sometimes, I make some little profit. Sometimes, at the end of the day, I lose. I won’t make up to the cost of production. But then, as a man, I must understand losses are part of the risk in business.”

As most private businesses go, especially the start-ups, Wisdom has no annual leave, neither does he open shop late in the morning and close early in the evening. As early as 8am, he is already selling his akara and doesn’t go home until 9pm.

So how does he rest his body and mind? “I rest only on Sundays. On environmental  sanitation days, I am compelled not to start sales early,” he said.

The akara entrepreneur is single, saying he hasn’t achieved his plans.

He said, “Everybody has plans and determinations. I want to achieve some things before my marriage.”

Wisdom advised youths waiting forever for government and white collar jobs to lift themselves up and be self-employed. He said they should not depend on government, relatives and even only their certificates to succeed in life.

“There are other things that you can do to earn lawful money. Don’t depend on salary. If you don’t work hard, you cannot be a star. Dip yourself in little businesses that make sense and you can be making your daily bread.

“Successful people work hard every time. When you are still young, you don’t go out there running after boyfriends or girlfriends when there are better things you can do with your time. Think of the business you can do, make it special, package it well and see whether people will not patronize you,” he said.