How Widowed Mom-Of-5 Went From Selling Akara To Becoming A Landlady:

A Nigerian banker and mom, Aijay @cyberagbero on Twitter has narrated how an unnamed widow who sells Akara on the roadside defied the odds to become a landlady in Ikotun Egbe, Lagos.

In a thread she shared on her social media page, Aijay narrated how the widowed mom-of-five children approached her for a loan of N50, 000 payable in 3 months.

The unnamed widow, who is an Akara seller went further to explain how rough things have been for her and her children since her husband passed on & how her little kiosk wasn’t able to cater for them.

The banker said she and her husband decided to borrow her the money which has now turned her life around. Read the rest of the story below and be inspired.

”There’s a woman who lives two streets away from where I stay, her husband passed on years back. On my way back from work one day, I stopped at the suya spot close to my house to buy suya when this woman approached me & said she wanted to talk to me.

After buying the suya, we both went to the house. She explained how rough things have been for her since her husband left & how her little kiosk wasn’t able to cater for her & her 5 kids. She came to see if there was a way I could help with a loan of 50k payable in 3 months.

Inside I smiled; because she sees me dress in suit & head out to work everyday, she must assume my dad owns the bank & I can influence policy & get them to give a loan to a non-customer. Long serving customers find it difficult accessing loans let alone someone without an account.

I told her I would get back to her in a day or two. I discussed it with husband when he returned & we decided to help her. The following day I sent someone to her place with cash & she showed up minutes later to come say thank you.

Few weeks later she shut down her kiosk on the street and moved further to the main road, picked a spot & started selling akara, yam, pufpuf, agege bread & ogi. She would head out very early because I always see her on my way to work as early as 6/6.30am.

In the evenings on my way back, I would see her still there but this time with her kids. One Saturday she came to the house to return the loan. She then says she wants me to help her with opening an account. I promised to get her account opening forms, guide her on how to fill it & told her to go return it to the branch nearest to the house.

Few months later she pays us a visit, says she will hardly be at her spot as she will be spending time at a building site just after Ikotun-Egbe. Building, I asked? She said they have had the land for a very long time & she now wants to start building from the proceeds of her akara sales.

Akara seller started constructing a one storey building meanwhile every morning I would wear suit, head to work & be called madam! We chatted & I wished her all the best. She eventually finished the first floor & stopped.

She visited again to tell me she had finished the 1st floor so I asked if she was going to move & she said no! That she was going to put in a tenant since it’s a 3-bedroom flat, that whatever rent the tenant pays, she would use it to continue work on the top floor.
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Meanwhile she was still running her akara business with her kids. I asked why she wasn’t moving & why she preferred being a tenant in a face-me-i-slap-you apartment. She listed a few things that made me marvel at her street wisdom; she said the location where the house is isn’t good enough for her to transfer her akara business to. That her current location, there are many primary/secondary schools around.

So children on their way to school buy akara/pufpuf/yam etc from her daily. That there are bars close by that sell fish/cowtail peppersoup & they buy her ogi daily and I shouldn’t forget the bus stop where her spot is close to, many workers going or on their way back patronise her.

So she can’t afford to move from that spot. So she would rather finish her building & rent both flats out using the proceeds to pay rent at her small place while maintaining her akara business.

She mentioned how beans/flour/corn/firewood sellers all give her credit & she pays end of the week. She said it would be difficult creating such business relationship in a new place. Akara seller turned to house owner in front of me.”

With hard work and dedication, one can achieve great and mighty things!