Chief Iyke is the only one who makes the best bread in the whole of Ihiala village and after his demise, no one makes a better bread like he used to. As a result of that, people traveled miles to buy bread from other villages in Anambra state then go back to Ihiala to sell the breads.
Osita, a hardworking youth in his early thirties has been running his small barbing salon right behind Late Chief Iyke’s bakery.
Going home that night, he peeped through the late Chief Iyke’s bakery and looked at his abandoned machines. Then, he remembers his childhood dream of wanting to be a baker which didn’t eventually happen.
“Well done, Chief Iyke. Here is my little boy, Osita. He wishes to be a baker like you in the future,” Osita remembers his late father’s words to late Chief Iyke.
“Teaching him isn’t a problem but it is going to cost you a lot of money. Can you afford to pay ten thousand Naira?,” Osita wasn’t from a well to do home but his late father used to make sure that Osita gets all that he needs.
Osita’s father, Pa. Idiagbo was a popular hunter in Ihiala village who is known for his persistence and the hardwork he puts into everything he lays his hands on.
Tragically, Osita’s father died on his way to the extra job he took just for him to afford Chief Iyke’s training fee and that’s how Osita’s baking dream got cut short. The only one who trained him was Baale, his father’s immediate brother who also had a salon down the street.
Osita didn’t just want to be a baker. He has always loved to eat bread. After he was done peeping through the bakery window, he heads to the market to get the ingredients which he will use to make his dinner.
The popular Onitsha market was filled with every kind of ingredient that may be needed to make some meal.
“Good evening Nne (madam). Do you have all the ingredients that can be used to make puff puff( a popular Nigerian street food)?” Osita asked staring at the old woman’s stall where she brings out her goods.
“Yes, my son. For the ingredients, I’ll give you flour, sugar, yeast and baking powder,” she said. Osita hands over a thousand Naira to the seller.
Right after he got home, he heads towards his green painted kitchen which he inherited from his late father, to make his puff puff.
Don’t worry, be happy. La la la la.. just as Chief Iyke used to sing while baking his bread, Osita sang as well and got into the mood of a professional baker.
Osita was just a farmished young guy who was aimed at making his dinner but doing that, he discovered something. He remembered his late mother’s skills of making the puff puff which she sells to people but instead of that, the meal turned out to be something else. It was a bread!’
Finally, it was a dream come true. The bread smelt exactly like that of Chief Iyke. Osita couldn’t believe himself. He yelled and was surprised.
“Wait… did I just do this?” Osita never believed that he was ever going to bake a bread.
He ran into his living room to check his bread with a brighter torchlight. Yes! He finally made a bread after years of hoping and even lost hope ever since the demise of the popular bread seller.
Sharply, he gathered some money to buy more bread ingredients and opposite his barbing salon, he rented a little space where he sells his bread.
He started to put his old dream job to test if it was going to work out for him.
Osita’s dream of being a baker aroses and within a short time. He became as popular as the late Chief Iyke who died about twenty years ago. He became popular due to his style of making bread.
“I like your bread because it tastes like that of Chief Iyke,” one of Osita’s customers complemented his skills. He traveled for two months to the other village to learn how to make bread. He graduated just in two months and came back better and more skilled.
At last, Osita bought Chief Iyke’s abandoned bakery and followed his childhood dream.
“The name of my business will be Idiagbo’s bakery,” Osita celebrated the opening of his bigger bakery. He names his business after his father and follows his childhood dream.
He was late to achieving his dreams unlike his peers but ended up better and more relevant than them.
