Mrs. Lateef Rukayat, a roadside roasted corn seller in Ibadan, has narrated how she abandoned her hairdressing profession for the roasted corn business to support her family, saying the trade has enabled her to train two of her six children in higher institutions.
Speaking with Tribune On The Street, Rukayat said the popular belief that roasted corn requires little capital is no longer true due to inflation. Although a bag of corn, which previously sold for between ₦30,000 and ₦35,000, now costs about ₦15,000, she said traders still spend heavily on transportation, charcoal and packaging materials, making the business difficult to start.
“Hairdresser is my hard-earned work; it’s my early dream work, and I did freedom after completion,” she said. “I started roasting corn when my hairdressing business was not moving. All my children are in school, with two of them in higher institutions.”
