I became corporate ponmo seller after losing my banking job, Hawker

Adekunle Adeloye, a Mathematics and Computer Science graduate, found himself unemployed after losing his banking job during the COVID-19 pandemic. Facing depression and the pressure of being the sole provider, he eventually turned to selling peppered ponmo (cow skin) to rebuild his life.

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It was during the COVID-19 pandemic. The news was everywhere, and I wasn’t the only one affected. Many people lost their jobs during that period. After I was retrenched, I didn’t just wake up one day and decide to sell ponmo. I went through a very difficult time.

Adeloye described the difficult period after his retrenchment, during which he applied for numerous jobs without success. The financial strain led to living on debt, and he felt the weight of his wife being the primary earner. His inspiration to start the ponmo business came from observing a woman selling it with significant customer patronage at an event.

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My wife just laughed at me. The idea sounded funny to her. She had just started a programme at the time, and the money was not even enough for us as a family. We were living on debt and from hand to mouth.

Initially, his wife was hesitant, finding the idea embarrassing given his educational background and their precarious financial situation. She eventually lent him N20,000 from her salary to start the business. Adeloye admitted his first attempt at preparing the dish was unsuccessful, mixing palm oil and tomato paste, which drew criticism from onlookers.

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This is not how you do it.

He later received crucial advice from a beer parlour operator to use vegetable oil instead of palm oil and to boil the cow skin thoroughly to remove chemicals. Implementing this advice, Adeloye began producing a better-quality product, marking a turning point in his entrepreneurial journey and his path to recovery from unemployment and depression.

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She asked me why I wanted to sell ponmo out of all the other small business options.