While growing up in Port Harcourt, I heard my parents use the
words "ALAJO SOMOLU" on many occasions in a positive remark,
without having an idea of the story behind the 'character'.
Here's the story as shared by Consultville:
Alphaeus Taiwo Olunaike is not a name that many Nigerians are
familiar with. But once you mention Baba Alajo Somolu, the eyes
of millions of Nigerians will light up. Yes, they are more familiar
with this nomenclature.
He was born at a very dangerous time. A perilous period in
Nigeria's history.
It was on the 16th of September 1915 in the tiny city of Isan-Oyin
(now called Isonyin), close to Ijebu-Musin and Ijebu-Ode in Ogun
State, southwestern Nigeria. Within the thick groves of thick
forests and the brilliant foliage of green tropical plants, the cries
of newly-born babies pierced the calm and peace of the forest.
A woman named Grace Okuromiko Olunaike had given birth to
triplets. Three at once! Immediately she was told that she just
gave birth to three babies, her face went sullen. She could not
hide the sadness. Her heartbeat increased as tears streamed down
her warm face. She was visibly confused.
It was an abomination for a woman to give birth to triplets at
that time in Yorubaland...
One child must be sacrificed to the gods. One of the babies was
eventually sacrificed to the gods. The other two were spared.
One of them is whom I am writing on right now – Alajo Somolu.
Baba Alajo Somolu was just three years of age when he lost his
father. However, he was able to proceed with his education. He
started his primary education at the Emmanuel Primary School,
Ijebu-Isonyin. He had not finished his education at his small
hamlet when his paternal uncle, STA Torimoro came and took
him to Lagos where he was able to further his education.
Long after he narrowly escaped being sacrificed to the gods, in
the year 1927, he arrived Lagos and he was enrolled at the St.
Johns School, Aroloya. From there, he proceeded to the Christ
Church Cathedral School, Lagos, and finishedthere in 1934. Two
years after his education, he was enrolled as an apprentice under
a tailor named Rojaye. He was a tailor-in-training for nine good
yearsbefore he got his ‘freedom’. When hestarted working as a
tailor, he noticed that the income was not just going to be
sustainable for him and he needed an alternative fast.Therefore,
when the younger brother of his late dad, STA Torimoro, was
going to Cameroon on a commercial trip, Baba Alajo Somolu
decided he would also seize the opportunity and follow him too.
Thus, in 1950, BabaAlajo Somolu was on his way to Paul Biya’s
nation. Upon reaching Cameroon, Baba Alajo Somolu unleashed
the ferocious entrepreneurial spirit that was in him. A very
determined fellow, he tried his hands on various tasks and duties
in Cameroon. He sold goods, newspapers and tried his hands on
many ventures. In Cameroon, one of his neighbours was a thrift
collector and he gisted him about the business which immediately
caught his fancy.As a a result, by thetime he returned to Nigeria
in 1954, he already had it in mind that he was going to start the
business of ajo gbigba (thrift collection). He was 39 at that time.
Before he left Cameroon, he took with him a copy of the thrift
collection card used by his Cameroonian neighbour. Upon
reaching Nigeria, he made his own copies of the card and he
named his own venture Popular Daily Alajo Somolu.
At the peak of his career, he was omolu who was hardworking and diligent at
his work that sayings were coined in his name.The sayings are as
follows: "Ori e pe bii ti alajo Somolu, to fodidi oôdun meta gbajo
lai ko oruko eni kankan sile, ti ko si siwo san fenikeni." (Your
brain is as sharp as that of Alajo Somolu, who collected thrift for
three years and paid back all his customers without writing down
a single name and without making any mistake with the payment)
There is also another one that goes thus:
“Ori e pe bii Alajo Somolu, to ta moto, to fi ra keke ”. (You are so
intelligent like Alajo Somolu, who sold his car to buy a bicycle).
For Baba Alajo Somolu to collect thrift and financial contributions
from his countless clients without writing down their names and
then returning to pay them as due and as scheduled at the end of
every month for years without making any mistake points to an
eidetic (photographic) memory . Only someone of a vast and
prodigious memory with an outstanding power of recall can
effortlessly carry out such an amazing feat. One very interesting
thing is that many people actually think the story of Alajo Somolu
is of myths and legends and that he does not exist. But alas! He
did truly exist!
After establishing his Popular Daily Alajo Somolu thrift collection
business, he got a bicycle that he planned to use in moving
around collecting money for saving from his customers. Then he
called an older relative and hinted him of the business, seeking his
counsel, advice and suggestion. But he was shocked. His elder
relative took a good look at him and thoroughly discouraged
him. He told Alajo Somolu that thrift business was not for
people like him, that is was a very difficult and challenging job
and he even counted about six people who had started the
business of thrift collection but ended up bankrupt. He summed
it up by telling Alajo Somolu to try another business as he will not
succeed in thrift collection.
Therefore, when the younger brother of his late dad, STA
Torimoro, was going to Cameroon on a commercial trip, Baba
Alajo Somolu decided he would also seize the opportunity and
follow him too. Thus, in 1950, Baba Alajo Somolu was on his way
to Paul Biya’s nation. Upon reaching Cameroon, Baba Alajo
Somolu unleashed the ferocious entrepreneurial spirit that was in
him. A very determined fellow, he tried his hands on various tasks
and duties in Cameroon. He sold goods, newspapers and tried his
hands on many ventures. In Cameroon, one of his neighbours
was a thrift collector and he gisted him about the business which
immediately caught his fancy .
As a a result, by the time he returned to Nigeria in 1954, he
already had it in mind that he was going to start the business of
ajo gbigba (thrift collection). He was 39 at that time. Before he
left Cameroon, he took with him a copy of the thrift collection
card used by his Cameroonian neighbour. Upon reaching Nigeria,
he made his own copies of the card and he named his own
venture Popular Daily Alajo Somolu.
Back to how he started: After listening to the demotivating tale
of his older relative, Alajo Somolu headed to the place of his own
elder sister, named Sarah. He explained that he wanted to leave
the tailoring job and all that was on his mind to his dear sister.
She listened carefully to all he had to say, believed in his passion
and took him to a clergy who prayed for him and gave him all
the support and encouragement that he needed in his new
venture. He also preached to Alajo Somolu to be very honest in
all his dealings, and that once he was fair and just, his business
would bloom.
An elated Alajo Somolu and his delighted sister left the place of
the cleric full of thanks and gratitude. In September 1954, Alajo
Somolu went out for the first time to collect thrift from his
clients. He had launched his business and he had great hopes.
Unfortunately, not a single person patronized him that first day.
Many of the market women even taunted him saying he would
just collect their money and vanish into the thin air. But he was
not discouraged with the negative atmosphere. He persisted in
riding his bicycle from stall to stall, from shop to shop until some
of the market women pitied him and decided to give him a trial
and gave steady contributions of some kobos.
At the end of the first month, all his clients got their money
complete and not a dime was missing. Baba Alajo too also made
his own profit and he was doubly deligated that his clients had
renewed hope in him and that the new business was actually
more lucrative than the tailoring he was doing. With time, the
news of his honesty, transparency and hardwork spread and his
clients swelled in number. Baba Alajo’s prosperity too also shone
and he built his first house at No 10, Odunukan Street in Ijesa. He
later sold the house to the Deeper Life Ministry and built another
one at Olorunkemi, Owotutu Area, Bariga, Lagos.
In a shortwhile, his fame spread like wildfire. He was the thrift
collector for the entire axis covering Awolowo Market, Oyingbo
Market, Olaleye, Mile 12, Ojuwoye, Baba Oloosa, Sangross and of
course in Somolu (Shomolu) where he got his nickname. His
customers fell in love with him for his truthfulness, his ability to
save them from financial ruins by providing life-saving loans and
most importantly, for his outstanding memory. He did not also
use a calculator and there were no computers either. The most
amazing part of his prodigious memory is this: he does not only
pay back the exact amount to his clients, he also pay them back
with the same notes and coins that they contributed with. He
was so exact that if a client should write down the number on his
notes, he would be astonished to get the same notes back at the
end of the month. Such brilliance!
Anytime one of his vehicles returned after a trip of thrift
collection and the car had depreciated to the point that it is no
longer economically viable, he just sells off the car and buys a
bicycle instead. Therefore, when people noticed that one of his
vehicles was missing and a brand-new vehicle had appeared
instead, they will say:
Alajo Somolu has sold his car to buy a bicycle.
But Alajo Somolu knew what he was doing. To him, what is the
point of maintaining a car that was not bringing in profits
anymore? It was better to sell it and buy more Raleigh bicycles to
access all the hitherto inaccessible areas. Let me state here that
many of his customers stayed with him for decades and many up
to the time he died. They described him as a very friendly, reliable
and honest man. He was also praised for his willingness to help
others. When he died, one of the other thrift collectors in the
area named Oladini Olatunji said that there was a time when he
ran into some financial troubles with his business and it almost
became a huge debt on him but it was baba Alajo Somolu that
helped him pay off the entire debt and saved him from
bankruptcy and he never told anyone. For this and many more,
all other thrift collectors looked up to him as their father figure
and even held the alajo (thrift collector) meetings in his house.
He was happily married and as at the time he was alive, he was
the Layreader and Treasurer for 30 years at the Anglican Church
that he attended at Somolu .
Alajo Somolu continued his job with joy until 2010 when he was 95
years old. He really wanted to continue the job but his children
insisted that he had to go on voluntary retirement, and that it
was time for him to rest.
But you know the most amazing thing? Even though Baba Alajo
Somolu followed his children’s suggestion that he retire and not
go out again to receive thrift collections, his clients did not let
him rest. They had so much faith in him that they personally went
to his house to give him their daily contributions which they then
returned to collect at the end of every month when it would
have accumulated to a sizable portion.
On the 11th of August, 2012, Baba Alajo Somolu breathed his last.
He was not sick but died due to old age.
From a humble background and with little formal education, Baba
Alajo Somolu was able to remodify esusu, the traditional banking
system and became a pioneer in his own right. He was clearly a
fulfilled man, with the proceeds from his job, he was able to build
houses, send his children to school and sustain his entire family.
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