TAIWO OKE Talks About His Late Dad, OSENI OKE
Mr. Taiwo Oke is the Managing Director of Kajola Bakery in Agege, a business he took over from his late dad, Mr. Oseni Oke since 1990 after his demise.
Many don’t know his father, late Mr. Oseni Oke was the first person to start a bakery business in Agege.
His bakery, Kajola Bakery was the first in Agege and he started it in 1948.
Mr. Taiwo Oseni Oke was formerly an employee at Concord Newspaper until 2002. When his father died in 1990, his mother took over the bakery business partially. Then, in 2002 when Concord packed up, he had no choice than to face the family business. And till date the bakery is still in existence under his care.
How did his father start the bakery business in 1948? Why is Agege Bread no longer popular in the market? These and many other questions he answered in a conversation with City People Head Of TV, SUNDAY ADIGUN and City People Reporter, SOLA ABIODUN who visited his bakery in Agege few days ago. He also shed more light on how their bread was named Agege Bread. Excerpts.
We are so glad to meet you sir. I heard your bakery is one of the thriving bakeries in Agege here?
It’s not just one of the bakeries, our bakery is actually the first bakery in Agege. It was set up by my father in 1948.
Wow! 1948. That was about 77 years ago!
Yes! My father’s name is Oseni Oke, his business is Kajola Bakery, it is the No 1 Bakery in Agege.
How did he start the business?
It was a an emerging but not too common business in Agege then. And it is normal for anyone to jump at every opportunity one is given in life.
When he started he was using his hand, there was no machines then. They will use their hand to mix the bread and put in the oven. It was modern technology that introduced machines to us. My father later got the machine too. Then he bought a lister generator. Before that, we were using rotor to connect the mini machine, then we have gear to connect them. Later the gear type was condemned, and he bought Lister machine with big belt. That was how he set up the business.
Who now named the bread “Agege Bread”?
We had many types of bread then. We had Defacto bread, we had Jesu Oyingbo Bread etc. but their own ingredients was not like our own. The way we bake ours was very unique. We always make sure the bread is well baked. It always comes out neat, brown soft and fluffy. We make sure we put enough sugar. Some people use 7tins of sugar to make 1bag of flour. We always use 8tins per 1 bag of flour.
Then their own brand was no so much in demand. The least we did then was 2bags per day. Later people started liking the softness and sweetness. So, they now named it “Agege Bread” because it’s coming from Agege.
Oh! It was people that actually called it Agege Bread. I thought it was a brand name?
No! It wasn’t a brand name.
After the production, we had people that usually comes from Oshodi, Island, Mushin to buy from us. So, they were the ones that used to called it “Agege Bread”.
Why is Agege Bread no longer popular like before?
May God help us. It is when you have money that you will enjoy your business. Situation of things in the country have really contributed to that. Many people who are in this business have stopped because of the high cost in production. How much were we buying flours then, how much is it now? How much were we buying sugar then? Lots of bakeries have folded up because they can’t bear the cost of producing good quality bread. Though we still have those that are still doing 20 bags in a day. But those are the ones doing packaging, I mean the modern bread, and it’s different from our own locally made bread. For our own we still have those that are doing 5bags per day.
But the economic situation of the country has really affected us. Things are so expensive. Many workers also prefer to work with modern bakery than the local ones. Yes, using of machines makes the job easy but the taste is always different. We have many people that still love the taste of that locally made bread, reason why some of us are still in the business till date. But modernisation and situation of the country has really affected us.
How did you take-over the business from your father?
I was a driver in Concord. Then I used to travel a lot. I was transfered from Abiola’s office to Sales department. So, we travelled a lot, and God helped me althrough. So, when my father died in 1990, I thought of picking up the family business. Though my mother started helping at first, I was partially assisting her, till when Concord closed down. And since it was not possible for me to start writing job application again, so I decided to just face the business fully, and here we are till date.
Do you feel fulfilled? And do you think you can also transfer the business to your children?
I am fulfilled by the grace of God. If any of my children wish to go into the business, why not! I also inherited the business from my father, and I am still keeping the legacy till today. So far we still have flours in the market and people are still eating bread, the business is still okay.
Are these the flours you started with, I can see Golden Penny Flour?
No, we started with flour mills, now we have Diamond, HoneyWell etc. but Golden Penny is still the best now. We use Golden Penny here.
How do you think government can intervene?
Our number one challenge is the high cost of flour and sugar. We also run on diessel. I told you earlier many people have abandoned this business because they couldn’t cope. If they can reduce the price of flour and sugar, everything will be okay. Some of us are just managing to keep going. It’s not easy at all.
