In Wuse, tasting delicious beans at a food truck

Akara is a Nigerian meal made from ground beans, mixed with seasoning into a batter and fried. It is a staple food eaten and loved by many and it cuts across all cultures and tribes. It is a popular snack and street food, as many sellers fry it round the clock even if it is […]

Akara is a Nigerian meal made from ground beans, mixed with seasoning into a batter and fried. It is a staple food eaten and loved by many and it cuts across all cultures and tribes. It is a popular snack and street food, as many sellers fry it round the clock even if it is very popular as breakfast, accompanied by pap. But many don’t have the patience to make it at home, because of the process, so they rely on roadside sellers, who some people find hard to patronize due to hygiene concerns. This, among other reasons, dragged out the business side of Martha Rrazi, an Accounting graduate from Cross River State, who came to do her NYSC in Abuja five years ago. The lack of employment inspired her to venture into the business of making Akara. She however gave it a different approach, going away from the norm and setting-up a food truck titled ‘Bean Bag Food Truck’.
Rrazi’s business sees her making and selling Akara or Moi-Moi, served with pap from her food truck. Anything beans, you name it, and she serves it. Interestingly, a customer doesn’t need to stand in a smoky environment waiting to be served, as there are chairs and tables including newspapers. Explaining why she started the business, “Finding a job is hard, especially in Abuja, so after my service I decided to stay back. It is either you work for the government or a private firm. The private firms are not that lucrative, they pay little and work you like a donkey. The whole business idea actually started with a friend who wanted us to go into food business. The idea was not feasible, so I decided to think of something along that line and came up with making Akara.”
Rrazi added: “Akara is a staple, and many people like it and I noticed here in Abuja the only way you get it is at roadside sellers. So I said to myself, since the people in Abuja like it, I would make a well-packaged, branded version.” She then visited the roadside sellers, observed, asked questions and generally researched the product and business. She also thought of strategic means that would make her business unique, and came up with the food truck. “I wanted to do something different and sustainable. I also thought of something that would avail me the opportunity to easily open other branches.”
For every business, no matter how successful, there are always challenges. For Rrazi, starting up was not easy, and at some point she almost gave up. The issue of getting a good truck was a problem and the initial capital to set up the business was discouraging. She explained: “If I had known that starting the business was going to be as tough, I probably wouldn’t have gone into it. I was going to have my truck constructed, but what I saw wasn’t good enough. There is something about artisans in Nigeria, they can do the work but they don’t put in that extra effort to make it stand out, and when you complain you are tagged as troublesome.” She went on to explain that she had to go online to search for a good truck that would serve her well, and that after she bought it, clearing it from the port and transporting it to Abuja was a virtual migraine.
But on a lighter note, Rrazi says, she enjoys what she does. 
One of her customers, who gave his name simply as Abdul, said he loves eating Akara but finds it hard buying from the roadside because of hygiene concerns. “I am always very cautious of what I eat, so even with the love I have for Akara, I couldn’t buy it from the roadside or make it myself. But when I found out about this place from a colleague, I started buying. The surroundings are neat and [Rrazi] packages it very well. Best of all, it tastes delicious.”
Rrazi, not too comfortable with revealing how much she makes daily, says, “ I think it’s a bit too early for me to start focusing on how much I make now. I am just stabilizing and planning on expanding my business. But all I can say is that I am comfortable with what I have achieved so far, it is a growing business and with God’s help will grow bigger.” Located at Wuse II on Ahmadu Bello Way, beside the popular River Plate Graden, Rrazi’s business appears to be thriving.
Another customer, Hassana Abdul, says “I am very lazy when it comes to washing beans and ironically I love anything beans. So when I found this place, I was very excited as all my challenges concerning cooking anything beans was solved. I also love the fact that you get to meet new people here every day while waiting for your meal to be served. It’s a cool and serene area. There is no feeling like having hot Akara balls with pap in an open space.”
A portion containing three balls or more ranges from fifty to two hundred naira.
For Rrazi, the sky is the limit, as she says, “This is just the beginning of good things to come. I am working towards opening up more branches in Abuja. With that in place, I’ve created for myself a white-collar job of sorts.”