After losing his banking job during the COVID-19 pandemic, former banker and Mathematics and Computer Science graduate, Adekunle Adeloye, turned to selling peppered ponmo (cow skin) to survive. In this interview with CHUKWUDI AKASIKE and culled from Saturday PUNCH, he recounts his journey from depression and unemployment to rebuilding his life through the roadside delicacy.

Can you tell us about yourself and career before venturing into business?

I’m from Akure in Ondo State. I am a graduate of Mathematics and Computer Science, and I spent seven years working in the banking sector before leaving to venture into business.

What led you to start selling peppered ponmo after leaving the banking sector?

It was during the COVID-19 pandemic. The news was everywhere, and I wasn’t the only one affected. Many people lost their jobs during that period. After I was retrenched, I didn’t just wake up one day and decide to sell ponmo. I went through a very difficult time. I applied for jobs with Chinese companies and other organisations, but many of them were either not paying salaries or were struggling to stay afloat.

I became depressed. Every morning, I woke up knowing that my wife was the one providing for the family, and I felt I couldn’t continue living like that. I kept searching for another job, but I was mostly at home with nothing to do.

Then one day, I saw a woman selling ponmo alata (peppered cow skin) at an event near my house in Ibadan, and I noticed that people were buying from her in large numbers. The patronage caught my attention. When I got home, I told my wife that I wanted to start selling peppered ponmo.

What was her reaction when you told her?

My wife just laughed at me. The idea sounded funny to her. She had just started a programme at the time, and the money was not even enough for us as a family. We were living on debt and from hand to mouth. The routine was that we paid off one debt and got other items on credit.

So, I asked my wife to give me N20,000 to start the business whenever she collected her salary. She was already under a lot of pressure. Initially, she didn’t want to give me the money because it seemed embarrassing to see her husband selling peppered ponmo. But I insisted that I wanted to do the business.

My wife works in one of the banks. She asked me why I wanted to sell ponmo out of all the other small business options. So, on the first day I started the business, I didn’t even know how to prepare it. I mixed the ponmo with palm oil and tomato paste, and I added pepper.

When I brought out the prepared ponmo, people said, “This is not how you do it,” but I was able to make N2,000 from that day’s business. I later came across a woman who operated a beer parlour.

She called me and advised me to use vegetable oil instead of palm oil to prepare the ponmo. She also told me to boil the cow skin thoroughly so that the chemicals in it would be removed. I thanked her for the advice.

On the second day, as an educated person, I acted on her advice. I started producing a better product. Gradually, I began making N3,000, N4,000, N5,000 and N6,000 in profit. While still selling the ponmo, I continued submitting my CV and attending one or two job interviews.

Why did you decide to dress in your corporate attire while selling peppered ponmo?

One day, a bank called and asked me to come for a relief job.

Was the bank your former place of work?

No, it wasn’t my former bank that called me; it was one of the places where I had applied for a job. One of their staff members had just put to bed, and the bank wanted me to relieve her until she resumed work.

They wanted me to resume the same day they called. I had already prepared the peppered ponmo for that day. I usually prepared what I wanted to sell the following day a day earlier. Then I decided to kill two birds with one stone.

I quickly carried the ponmo along with me because, as the saying goes, a bird in hand is worth more than millions in the bush. So, I dressed corporately, with a tie, while heading to the bank to relieve the woman. That was how I got the name, “Corporate Ponmo Seller.”

Before then, I had been hawking ponmo and always dressed casually. On that day, I wore a suit. On my way, I met a crowd at a police station, and they said they wanted to buy ponmo.

So, I went in, and one man began to praise me because of my outfit and the delicacy. I planned to leave the bowl there after selling the ponmo and resume the relief job the following day. However, the people at the police station bought and finished all the ponmo because of the way I was dressed.

I left the container I used to sell the cow skin there and went to take up the job offer. When I got there, they offered me N40,000 per month for the relief job.

When was that?

It was last year. I think it was in August or November. I was told the salary would be N40,000 a month, which would not be enough for me.

On the days I did not wear a tie and shoes, I struggled to sell my ponmo. The tie and a pair of shoes made me look unusual, and that attracted people.

Some people bought it out of pity. In fact, the majority of my customers bought it out of pity. But when they tasted it and realised the quality of the ponmo was good, they immediately became my customers.

How cheap is your ponmo?

You know Ibadan people like cheap things. So, I always ensure that my ponmo is bigger than others’. I’m a banker, so I understand customer relations.

That always gives me an edge in reaching different areas and attracting customers. I go out every day and make sales. Even if I go out on a Sunday, I still make sales.

That was how the ponmo business started growing, and people came to know me as a ponmo seller. Even my wife, who was initially ashamed of me, now commends the peppered cow skin.

She would always say, “Before you go, keep two or three pieces of ponmo for me.” Since then, people, including my customers, have called me the Corporate Ponmo Seller, and I have decided to embrace the name. I call the product “Corporate Ponmo.” For people who do not understand English, that is how I advertise my ponmo.

Going from depression to going out every day, interacting with people and earning something from the business is far better than doing nothing. I am still working at 40, and if I don’t go out, I won’t make money.

At this stage, I am looking at expanding the business. I also want to engage young apprentices and give them business shares.

I will send them to the market to sell for me and return the proceeds. By then, I can have five or six people working for me every day. If I make N2,200 from each of them, it will be more than what I can earn through my efforts alone.

All this requires capital. I can also get a promoter involved, penetrate the retail market and start distributing to retailers.

Secondly, I have not found a reliable job. Jobs are not reliable in Nigeria, and if you get one today, you may wait another two years before you can ask for a salary increase.

As a salary earner, if you are paid N100,000 today, you may be happy for two months. By the third month, your expenses will be higher than your earnings.

What went through your mind when you were laid off with others?

Normally, we knew we were support staff. We were not permanent employees, so the news did not come as a shock. It was just that the retrenchment was massive and affected many people.

We knew we could wake up any Monday and be told that our services were no longer needed. The bank did not employ us directly. We were seconded to the bank by Internet Integrated Clinical Company, one of the recruiting firms for banks.

I have friends in Akure, and colleagues in Sagamu, Ibadan, Lagos and the Redemption Camp, where I had worked before. When everyone was laid off, we all scattered to different places and only communicated by phone.

I couldn’t tell them that I had become a ponmo seller. It wasn’t as if I had started selling cars. It wasn’t something I could ask them to come and buy because they couldn’t travel from Lagos to Ibadan just to buy ponmo. But I am now in Akure.

Have you been stigmatised or embarrassed while selling ponmo?

Yes, I’ve been embarrassed a lot, even till now.

What happened?

People speak to you disrespectfully, and some even hold my tie. Some people thought I was a kidnapper using my ponmo business as camouflage.

Some people say I’m a Yahoo boy who sells ponmo. Others ask, “How can a man be selling this?” There was an okada rider who warned me not to come to their park again. To him, a man should not be selling peppered ponmo.

He mocked me and said I should go and get a tricycle and sell beans instead.

What was your response to the man?

I just said, “Okay.” There’s one thing about business: if you want to succeed, don’t listen to what people say about your business. The only thing you should pay attention to is the feedback on your products.

What message do you have for Nigerians who have been struggling after losing their jobs?

They should not listen to negative comments that could discourage them from achieving what they are determined to achieve. Even at home, people insult me. So, you have to stay focused. One day, your hustle will pay off.

You just need to think of something legitimate you can do to earn money and make it your own.

How different is your ponmo from others?

I’m very strict about hygiene, and I prepare it neatly so that everybody can buy it—the old, the young, the elite, graduates and illiterates. I know how to relate to them all, and that is the experience I gained from banking.

How do you manage your emotions when people try to embarrass you?

I know how to manage my emotions. I have emotional intelligence. So, if you come to me angrily, I know how to manage the situation. Some people come to me and say the ponmo is too small, but I tell them that the price of pepper is high. Then I joke with them. Before you know it, they will buy N3,000 worth of ponmo.

If I argued with them, they wouldn’t buy it. If I lose one customer today and another tomorrow, I will eventually take my ponmo home, and that will be a loss for me. So, maintaining a good relationship with your customers is key. Emotional intelligence is also important because it will sustain your business.

Are you saying you have never been frustrated when people mock you or try to belittle your business?

The only time I reacted was when one of the conductors at the bus stop dragged my tie, and I warned him not to touch me.

How do you intend to expand your business without funds?

I am 40 years old, so I need to sell more than the quantity I currently sell every day. I need to expand the business, and I would appreciate any support I can get. I’m not saying I’m satisfied with where I am now, but I’m no longer depressed. I can feed myself, but I need help to grow. If such help comes, I will make good use of it and also help my family.

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