₦airaland Forum

Where is Tinubu amidst the backlash?

Executive Summary

An akara business is one of the lowest-cost food businesses in Nigeria with consistent daily demand. Customers include workers, students, commuters, market traders and households purchasing breakfast.

With good positioning, quality, and hygiene, a small roadside operation can generate **₦8,000–₦30,000+ daily profit**, depending on location and sales volume. Actual performance varies by location, pricing, ingredient costs, and waste. Food businesses in Nigeria continue to require careful planning because equipment, fuel, and ingredients have become significantly more expensive.

Startup Capital

| Item | Estimated Cost (₦) |
| --------------------------- | -----------------:
| Large commercial frying pan | 35,000 |
| Street stove (wood-fired) | 45,000 |
| Alternative kerosene stove | 40,000 |
| Large mortar & pestle | 30,000 |
| Buckets & bowls | 12,000 |
| Frying spoon/skimmer | 8,000 |
| Serving trays | 10,000 |
| Plastic tables | 18,000 |
| Chairs | 15,000 |
| Umbrella/shade | 35,000 |
| Wooden kiosk/stall | 180,000 |
| Signboard | 20,000 |
| Initial beans purchase | 80,000 |
| Vegetable oil | 90,000 |
| Pepper, onions & seasoning | 35,000 |
| Firewood | 25,000 |
| Kerosene reserve | 15,000 |
| Packaging paper | 12,000 |
| Nylon bags | 8,000 |
| Aprons & hair nets | 8,000 |
| Working capital | 150,000 |

Estimated Startup Capital

Low Budget (operate under umbrella) **₦500,000–₦700,000**

Medium Budget (permanent roadside kiosk) **₦900,000–₦1,300,000**


Equipment Required

Cooking Equipment

* Commercial cast iron frying pan
* Heavy-duty street stove
* Firewood
* Kerosene (backup)
* Matches/lighter
* Metal oil container

Food Preparation

* Large mortar & pestle
* Grinding machine access (or own grinder)
* Large bowls
* Measuring containers
* Knives
* Chopping board
* Mixing spoon

Frying Utensils

* Long skimmer
* Frying spoon
* Oil strainer
* Cooling tray
* Draining basket

Sales Equipment

* Display tray
* Table
* Plastic chairs
* Umbrella
* Cash box
* Mobile money/transfer QR
* Cooler for drinks

Daily Ingredients

| Item | Daily Cost (₦) |
| ---------------- | -------------: |
| Beans | 18,000 |
| Vegetable oil | 10,000 |
| Pepper | 2,500 |
| Onions | 3,000 |
| Salt & seasoning | 500 |
| Firewood | 2,500 |
| Packaging | 1,000 |
| Miscellaneous | 2,500 |

Total Daily Operating Cost

**≈ ₦40,000**


# Pricing Example

Suppose one batch produces:

500 pieces of akara

Selling price:

* ₦100 per piece

Daily sales:

500 × ₦100

= **₦50,000**

Gross Profit

₦50,000 − ₦40,000

= **₦10,000/day**

If selling 800–1,000 pieces daily, profits can increase substantially because many fixed daily costs do not rise proportionally.

Monthly Projection

| Item | Amount (₦) |
| --------------- | ----------: |
| Sales | 1,500,000 |
| Operating Costs | 1,200,000 |
| Net Profit | **300,000** |

A busy location can exceed these figures, while a poor location may fall below them.

Best Locations

* Near bus stops
* Markets
* Schools
* Universities
* Office districts
* Hospitals
* Church entrances
* Factory gates

Breakfast traffic (6:00–10:00 am) is usually the strongest.

Products to Sell Together

Increase average customer spend by offering:

* Akamu (pap)
* Bread
* Tea
* Agbado
* Soft drinks
* Sachet water
* Bottled water
* Boiled eggs
* Moi Moi
*Hooooooneeeyyy

Many successful vendors earn as much from complementary items as from akara itself.

Marketing Strategy

* Bright, clean stall
* Consistent taste
* Fresh oil
* Fast service
* Bonus scheme ("Buy 10, get 1 free"
* Early opening (before competitors)

Risks

* Rising bean prices
* Rising cooking oil prices
* Rain reducing foot traffic
* Local government levies and thugs
* Fire hazards
* Environmental hygiene issues


Maintain a reserve fund and review prices regularly as ingredient costs change.

Growth Plan

Stage 1 (Months 1–6)**

* One roadside stall
* Owner-operated
* Build loyal customers

Stage 2 (Months 7–18)**

* Hire one assistant
* Add pap and drinks
* Increase production capacity

Stage 3 (Years 2–3)**

* Open additional stalls
* Supply offices and schools
* Introduce branded packaging

Success Factors

* High-footfall location
* Consistent product quality
* Clean frying oil
* Fast customer service
* Strict cost control
* Fresh ingredients
* Good hygiene
* Accurate daily records of sales, costs, and waste

A well-run akara business can be started on a relatively modest budget and scaled into a multi-location, multi million naira enterprise by reinvesting profits and expanding into complementary breakfast products.

Trump knows they have dirt on him....PEDO

just imagine...country is finished

Two foolish souls.....

There have been many attempts to put data centres in unusual places over the years - Microsoft put a data centre under the sea, Elon Musk has suggested putting them in space.

Now a UK firm is betting on data centres using thousands of connected smart lampposts, and has signed a formal agreement with a Nigerian state to deploy 50,000 of them.

Warwickshire-based Conflow Power Group Limited (CPG) says networked together its solar-powered iLamp units "double as a revenue-generating distributed AI data centre".

However, some experts have told the BBC the tech isn't a substitute for the powerful data centres needed to run the toughest AI tasks, although they could be useful for less demanding work.

Each iLamp has batteries which are charged by a cylindrical solar panel. These supply the energy used by a low-powered computer suitable for AI tasks.

"NVIDIA is the company that's created a small enough chip, powered with 15 watts of power, so it can be powered by solar, and we can put that inside a street light", CPG chairman Edward Fitzpatrick told the BBC's Tech Life programme.

The firm's plan, according to Fitzpatrick, is that scaled across thousands of units, a network of iLamps would deliver the collective processing power of a data centre with the environmental benefit of not drawing energy from the grid.

'Fried' chips
Data centre industry veteran Prof Ian Bitterlin told the BBC the physical security of the streetlights would be a concern.

Fitzpatrick accepts this. "If people realise that there's a $2,000 unit inside there they might try and steal it", he said, but that the posts were designed so the chip would be "fried" if removed.


https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/800/cpsprodpb/3831/live/ca0c0a90-44a7-11f1-9b4f-919a6264e39f.jpg

The lampposts can also operate as AI-powered surveillance cameras.

In Nigeria, each will be fitted with AI cameras capable of detecting parking violations, speeding vehicles, and seatbelt non-compliance, the company says.

iLamps with cameras are already in a car park at Warwick Hospital and are capable of providing "CCTV monitoring and number plate recognition," CPG says.

The streetlights might also be used to spot wanted or missing people using facial recognition, Fitzpatrick said.

No such deployment currently exists yet, although there are "final stage negotiations" with state schools and local authorities in Florida to use all of these features he added.

Those worried about the possibility of bias, misuse and the loss of privacy caused by facial recognition may take a dim view of this capability of the cameras.

CPG says it will only deploy this technology in partnership "with the relevant authority" and in full compliance with relevant laws and regulations.

Fitzpatrick even sees the lights as a way of interacting with the public: "you could walk past the streetlight, put your two fingers up like a victory sign and that could be voting for something. That could be a poll which you could put out onto social media".

Power, energy, money
The energy use of AI systems is, some estimates suggest, already approaching the same level as the entire UK, external and there are similar concerns about their water consumption.

But some experts suggest the solar-powered streetlights are best suited to supplementing large data centres, not replacing them: there will still be a need for their concentrated computing power and efficiencies of scale.

John Booth, Managing Director of consultancy Carbon3IT Ltd and a member of BCS the Chartered Institute for IT told the BBC that in his view the iLamps could have value as "a relatively low-cost solution that can be used for small AI applications in conjunction with other larger sites".

Bitterlin, however, thinks AI streetlighting couldn't replace the biggest data centres used to train leading large language models. Particularly because the distance, and therefore the speed of communication, between the posts would be too slow.

But apps and software using AI need thousands of systems closer to users. This could be provided by the lampposts acting as "access points, just like mobile phone masts" to more powerful data centres running big AI models, he adds.

Under CPG's plan income from renting out the processing power of the iLamps to AI companies will go to investors in a green bond that will fund the installation and maintenance of the streetlights.

Katsina, the Nigerian state taking the devices, will earn revenue from fines for speeding and traffic violations spotted by the lamppost cameras. After three years CPG will start taking a 20% cut of this, the company says.

Bright idea? UK firm pioneers data centres using lampposts

Fitzpatrick sees Africa as a key location to prove the technology and to grow the business: "Africa is our prime target because there's plenty of sunshine which is great, they've got more relaxed rules and regulations, they want us to put the street lights on the street."

The iLamps will be built in Morocco, Taiwan and Latvia, but an assembly factory is also being built in Katsina.

Welcoming the deal, Dr Hafiz Ibrahim Ahmad, Special Adviser on Power and Energy, Katsina State, said it was now "home to the only distributed AI data centre of its kind anywhere on the African continent".

He suggested the iLamps could mean "safer streets, real-time crime and terrorism prevention, free public internet and a revenue stream that flows back into the state."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c98r4e594p7o

Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior has been sacked after a fifth straight Premier League loss on Tuesday night.

The club was holding senior leadership team discussions about his future earlier today.

A 3-0 loss at Brighton further dented the Blues' hopes of qualifying for the Champions League, with Rosenior admitting the performance was "indefensible".

The Blues are set to play Leeds in an FA Cup semi-final on Sunday.

Rosenior said on Tuesday he must identify which players he can trust after the poor result at the Amex Stadium.

It was Chelsea's fifth straight league loss without scoring for the first time since 1912.

"I understand their frustration," Rosenior said of the fans.

"The buck stops with me. I have thick skin and I understand why the fans are frustrated."

https://news.sky.com/story/chelsea-head-coach-liam-rosenior-sacked-after-fifth-straight-premier-league-loss-13535018