Baking Her Way out of Poverty
Amidst the economic challenges faced by people living in semi-urban and rural areas, a young woman in a Kaduna community is deploying her skills in cake baking to make ends meet. John Shiklam writes
She did not set out to be a cake baker, but the quest for additional income forced her to enroll for training in cake baking and she mastered the art
Acombination of poor pay, poor living condition caused by increasing economic hardship has forced many working-class people in Nigeria to explore other sources of income to supplement their meager income. The salary is not just enough to meet basic needs for decent living conditions. Very few people can afford to pay house rents, pay school fees, buy food stuffs and still have more money left to settle electricity, health and other bills.
This is the reason why many people working in both the private and public sectors have decided to venture into some trades and business that could boost their income to meet their needs.
One of such people is Miss Rosemary Arumela Sule, a popular cake baker in Kaduna who has become a household name among people and some corporate organisations in the state.
She did not set out to be a cake baker, but the quest for additional income forced her to enroll for training in cake baking and she mastered the art. She does not just bake, she designs the cake in an artistic manner, depending on the occasion the cake is to be used for. Wedding, birthday and anniversary cakes are given beautiful designs that symbolises the occasions.
She explained that creativity is a requirement for cake baking because, you need to communicate a message with the cake.
Sule who is in her late twenties, said the quest to improve her living condition forced her into baking, adding that she is happy because the business is lucrative., even though it is seasonal. "My pay is not big enough to last me through the month when you look at feeding and transportation, not to talk of paying rent, school fees and settling other bills for essential things.
"My salary can barely meet my basic needs and settle my bills, so I have to think of other ways of generating income. A friend introduced me to cake baking and I took my time to learn it. When I close from work, I go for my lessons. It didn't take me a long time master it and since then, I can say that I am better off than before", she said in an interview. According to Sule, an indigene of Edo state and a 2006 graduate of Polical Science and Public Administration from the University of Benin, things are so hard that one has to look for other means of adding value to life other than depend on salary that cannot give you three square meals.
She stressed that the current economic hardship requires that people should use their spare time wisely by venturing into small business that could improve their living condition.
According to her, as a graduate, she was expecting a good and well paying job after graduation, but after roaming about for several years without her dream job, the reality down on her and she had no choice than to settle for whatever came across her way.
It was this experience that informed her decision to take up a job as a sales executive with a private communications outfit that deals in mobile phones in Kaduna.
However, determined to further her education, Sule, enrolled for a master’s degree programme at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria while working and she successfully completed the programme in 2014.
While lamenting the poor state of the Nigerian economy and the increasing rate of unemployment, she said even some of those who have jobs are not finding things easy because the salaries are so meager that you cannot even pay rent with it, not to talk of feeding, paying of school fees and addressing other responsibilities.
"With so much responsibilities, I was finding things difficult and I had no choice than to think of what I could do to supplement my income so that I would be able to not only address my basic needs but assist my relations.
"Looking at the economy of the country, one source of income is not enough. Besides I want to be my own boss some day, I want to also be an employer of labour some day. I think people should begin to think about how they can be self reliant," she said
According to her, since she started the Cake Baking business about two years ago, things have changed a little bid for the better as the business has gone a long way in meeting some of her basic needs.
She noted that although it is a seasonal business, it has been very helpful as the patronage keeps increasing.
"It is a seasonal business, but the period for high patronage is during celebrations like Christmas, Easter, Sallah weddings and corporate celebrations. But on a day a day today, I have people making order for birthday and other special occasions." she said.
According to her, instead of hanging about with men and asking them for one favour or the other like some young ladies do, she invest her time in her business, stressing that it is more beneficial to invest your spare time in ventures that could better your life.
"I make the cake when I close from work so it does not interfere with my official working hours. As soon as I close from work, I go home straight to my business. I invest my free time on things that can improve my life. I hardly have time for frivolities such as hanging about with men and asking them for one favour or the other as some ladies do, that is not to say that I don't socialise.
"Whenever I have orders, I don't sleep, I work at night so that it does not clash with my office work. I bake at night when I come back from work and sometimes I sleep very late. The good thing is that, I get the order days or weeks before the event and that enables me to deliver in time,” she said.
She disclosed that the cost of a particular cake ranges from N3,000 to N50,000 or more depending on the size, the design and other ingredients to be used.
According to her, creativity and artistry has been introduced to Cake Baking and anyone venturing into the business must be creative enough to be able to attract patronage.
"Today, it is not just baking a cake as it used to be in those days, you have to be creative and imaginative because the cake should communicate something about the event. That is why you see that design has been introduce into cake baking" she said.
She advised Nigerian youths, particularly ladies, to invest their time in fruitful endeavours that will bring about their advancement in life.
"They should identify their passion, develop it and then run with it. It's never too late to start something.
Some might be afraid to start small but we must remember that there was a beginning for everything that is great today," Sule advised.