Stella Dimoko Korkus.com: Nigeria's Historical Throw Back Lane -5

Advertisement

Saturday, July 02, 2016

Nigeria's Historical Throw Back Lane -5

Take a walk down Nigeria's memory lane and see where the path might lead you....



*Flashback*
'Ori e pe'!


Alpheaus Taiwo Olunaike  1915 - 2012 ( aka Alajo Shomolu)
Baba Alajo Shomolu was born in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State. 


He was Born a triplet, at a time such was frowned at and considered a bad omen. One of the triplets was buried alive as was the tradition, leaving Alajo and his Kehinde, who later died. 


He lost his father at age 3, and had part of his primary school education at Emmanuel Primary School, Ijebu –Isonyin. He would later complete his primary education in Lagos where he had gone to stay with an Uncle STA Torimoro. 

While in Lagos Baba Alajo learned tailoring, but found it not appealing to him enough so he followed his Uncle to Cameroon on a business trip and decided to try his hands on quite a few things.

It was while in Cameroon, that the idea of a thrift business occurred to him. His neighbour was successful with the trade  and showed him the ropes. Alajo knew this was exactly what he wanted to do. In 1954 he came back to Nigeria with a sample of the collection card and named his thrift business  “ Popular Daily Alajo”.

In his first visit to the market, he met stiff opposition from the traders who kept saying he had come to defraud them, not one to be discouraged he was persistent and after a while, earned the trust of his clients. Slowly his area of coverage spanned Oyingbo, Sangross, Baba Olosha, Shomolu Market (the area where he lived till his death ) etc.


Reputed to have a very photographic memory he collected and paid back all his clients without any written documents thus the very popular saying  ..“Ori e pe bii ti alajo Shomolu, to fodidi oodun meta gbajo lai ko oruku eni Kankan sile,ti ko si siwo san fenikeni.” Translating to (Your brain is as sharp as that of Alao Shomolu, who collected thrift for three years and paid back all his customers without writing down a single name nor making a mistake), currently used in pop culture as.. .“ori e pe bi Alajo Shomolu”  (Your brain is correct like Alajo Shomolu)


He was loved by many for his industrious and honest disposition no matter the situation. He earned the trust of people far and wide and was always ready to assist with a loan without requesting for collateral, such was the magnitude of his dedication. 

After clocking 75, he was advised by his children to retire from the daily meetings with clients citing age and fatigue, while he had others do the rounds for him he still collected daily savings from those who would visit him at home to make deposits.  

He was a Ray leader in the Anglican Community and a man of very simple means, his tales was told in novels and the singer Brymo has a song aptly named “Alajo Shomolu”

 Baba died on August 11, 2012 at the age of 97, at his 81 Olorunkemi Street, Shomolu, a house built in the sixties and was committed to mother earth on the 22nd of September 2012, in his native Isoyin, Ijebu, Ogun State.


Sources : 
thenationonline.net  November 11, 2012
google.groups.com October 24, 2012
focuswap.com.ng/music May 10, 2016

Photo Source: Naija Archives


33 comments:

  1. Nice bio. But I'm still trying to figure out what he has to do with Nigeria's history. Stella I think your headline is wrong.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yes ur right

      Delete
    2. Ahh! Now i understand the message Brymo was giving out in that particular Track....

      “ori e pe bi Alajo Shomolu”..yaaga!! Will say that to my mum when she recalls A certain event whenever we are discussing...im sure she will be like "Ah,where did you learn that from"..kikikikiki!

      @MARTINS ABOY

      Delete
    3. He is Nigerian my friend! You didn't ask about this when stella did a story on Ade bendel and Aninih. You lot that love only bad thing. Nonsense!

      Delete
    4. Anon 18.13. Quit being stupid. He being Nigerian has nothing to do with the history of this nation except he in one or the other made an impact worthy of documentation on the country. All I see here is a man who utilised and managed his resources very well which is very commendable. By the way, did you see my comment on any of those posts? Don't even know what you're on about. Not everyone has the time to swim in and out of posts like fishes in the ocean.




      Now fuck off.

      Delete
    5. babeweysabiblog4 July 2016 at 17:42

      Pl d small,i bu ewu kambia.this is to show you how thrift business evolved..who started it...incase u are asked or u want to cite...instead of citing ur granny.i don't know him but he is worthy of emulation..lest I forget pl,he is Alajo d great!!!!

      Delete
  2. Stella please I can't read all about that is too long

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ray leader? I know of lay reader in anglican church

      Delete
  3. Waooo, thanks so much for this, I've heard the popular saying of 'Ori pe bi alajo Shomolu' but never read about the man himself




    *Larry was here*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have always used the statement but didn't even know the history behind it and the brilliant man the saying is about. Stella and now I even know complete statement.

      Delete
    2. babeweysabiblog4 July 2016 at 17:44

      Thanks Larry and yemi7up,na una understand wella....pls we should celebrate people like this.this is d reason why d men that designed our flag and composed our anthem were treated like dungs....pls what is good is good

      Delete
  4. He was an Ogboni man. BHS.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I never hear about him before. He must be a local yoruba champion.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your written English is poor, you are also a tribalist...my friend pick a struggle

      Delete
    2. Bahahaha teebabe you mean o hahaha

      Delete
  6. Was he married?
    How many concubines?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Stella go on break!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Good to know. Thanks for this

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wowww thanks for the history but biko Stella bring gossip

    ReplyDelete
  10. Nice alajo...what a legacy

    ReplyDelete
  11. Please we want the history of the Nigerian civil war

    ReplyDelete
  12. James: You are just a goat... What do you mean local champion....
    More foolish than a fool

    ReplyDelete
  13. Suddenly, d igbos ve disappeared na only Yoruba pple de comment

    ReplyDelete

Disclaimer: Comments And Opinions On Any Part Of This Website Are Opinions Of The Blog Commenters Or Anonymous Persons And They Do Not Represent The Opinion Of StellaDimokoKorkus.com

Pictures and culled stories posted on this site are given credit and if a story is yours but credited to the wrong source,Please contact Stelladimokokorkus.com and corrections will be made..

If you have a complaint or a story,Please Contact StellaDimokoKorkus.com Via

Sdimokokorkus@gmail.com
Mobile Phone +4915210724141