Agege bread is obviously the ‘bread for the masses’, going mainly by its high demand from favourable pricing and being more filling than regular sliced bread. Lovers of Agege bread say it goes very well with stews, beans pottage, talk less of margarine, and a good dip into a mug of beverage like tea or cocoa. Because of its filling nature, it is the ultimate breakfast or meal for many, especially those who engage in physical labor.
A typical Nigerian(not those living in Ajebo areas) hears it’s jingle in the morning. The usual marketers carrying a big tray stacked with the hot golden loaf and crying out in Julius Agwu’s voice – Buy bread! Sweet Agege Bread! Hot bread! Bayeeeeeeee!!!!!bired! is all the advertising necessary. It doesn’t need any labels or posters or media, this is one “product” that sells itself(just like Ijebu Garri) and I vote it should be on the Nigerian Stock Exchange…lol.
To many residents especially in Lagos State, no day is complete without an Agege bread meal, especially when it is eaten with Ewa Aganyin, a special beans pottage, a delicacy made mostly by Togolese women resident in Lagos and in some parts of Ogun State, which also enjoys wide consumption.
Agege bread was thrown into national prominence again recently courtesy of Olajumoke Orisaguna, an Agege bread hawker who fortune smiled upon through an accidental photo-shoot by popular photographer TY Bello.
At this point, I’m guessing the obvious question is ‘why the name Agege bread?’
According to a Report, It all started when the railway mode of transportation in Nigeria gradually deteriorated from the early 1990s, the volume of commerce in Agege began to nosedive with it. Also disappearing was the daily grind of train wheels at the railway crossing gate, just a stone’s throw from the popular Pen Cinema. As the activities of the Nigerian Railway Corporation officials at the railway crossing began to peter out, a new pattern of activity became noticeable around the axis. On the shoulders of the road that traverses the railway tracks, small-scale traders began to take positions to eke out a living. Among these traders, a particular group began to stand out. On both shoulders of the road would be seen long lines of tables trading a panoply of loaves, always looking fresh. And because the axis gradually grew into a commercial centre of sorts for mainly bread purchase, the ‘Agege bread’ title gradually became solidified, practically a singsong.
Initially, too, most of the bakeries that began churning out Agege bread were located around the Agege area. But any loaf now produced anywhere in Lagos State will pass for Agege bread, as somehow, the makers of the remarkable loaf have managed to uniform the taste regardedless of where it is produced in Lagos.
Against this backdrop, shouldn’t Agege bread be listed among objects which form the “Symbols of Lagos”, e.g. Eyo masquerade, Murtala Muhammed airport main building; National Arts Theatre, yellow & black stripes commercial vehicles; coconut trees on beach fronts; canoeing fishermen in the Lagos Lagoon, NIPOST etc? More photos below:
There’s nothing ordinary in Agege Bread, it’s a loaf of the people.
Love the picture with ewa aganyin and fanta tutu. Lol.
I second that…
Have you ever wondered the kind of life people who sell your beloved Agege bread live? The possible dangers involved in walking into unknown streets all in an attempt to make a ‘daily bread’. Did you know that bread hawkers are daily exposed to abuse especially the possibility of being raped by men under the pretense of buying bread from them?