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.

BACKGROUND AND EARLY DAYS

He was born at a very dangerous time. A perilous period in 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 herwarm 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.


Baba Alajo Shomolu
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 so 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 a single 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).

Culled from Proudlyoruba.com http://www.proudlyoruba.com/alajo-somolu-nigerias-most-famous-thrift-collector/amp/#click=https:///GZTqEL7DYL