Some people were born great while others through hard work and special grace of God achieved greatness. John Nwafor Onyeije Ijedibia is one of those who achieved greatness through hardwork. Popularly known as “Maggi Master”, Nwafor like a shining star, came, saw, and conquered.
Maggi Master was born to Mr Ijedibia Otionye of Akala Etiti Village and Mrs Akuadi Okwumuo Ijedibia of Abidi Village both of Umuoji in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State in 1936. Nwafor could not acquire formal education early enough like his mates but attained basic literacy through the help of Mr J. O. Mbamalu, a customs officer from Onitsha who enrolled him in an evening school when he lived with him in Lagos. Thereafter he was sent by his people to live with Late Chief Anene Mougbo also from Akala Etiti Village, Umuoji in Warri, present day Delta State where he stayed for three years.
Nwafor left Warri at the age of 15 to the remote Waterside in Ebele in the present Esan area of Edo State. There, he engaged in rubber tapping which was the then revenue drive of the mid western state. The business blossomed and he acquired many hectares of rubber plantation and also bought a grating machine. This sojourn to the then midwestern state at an early stage gained him a nickname,”Onyeije”.
The outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War also had impact on his business. He had to head back home like other Igbo men. While at Umuoji, he started petty trading. After the war in 1970, Nwafor started afresh. But, thank God for a raffle draw during a bazaar sales where he won two pounds with only two shillings. The two pounds became his seed money and he launched it immediately into buying and selling of palm kernel, known in the local parlance as “Ina Aku” at Eke Umuoji. Spurred by the Igbo philosophy, “Nke iru ka”, Nwafor built the business and it flourished like a palm tree. The profit he made from the business gave him the rare privilege to handle the then scarced British coins known as “Isi Elizabeth”. Another success that attracted another nickname to him, “Nwafor kilikili ego” or “Nwafor Kilikili” for short.
Onyeije would not let life’s up and downs “stop his shine”. He left for Onitsha and after a brief stay, settled in Ikom, Cross River State in 1974. After paying for two rooms, he approached then South Eastern trading store where he purchased a tin of maggi cube, a packet of matches and a roll of hairtrade which he put in a tray with a bell chanting, “That man don come, no strong market!” loosely translating to “the trader that does not bargain for much profit has arrived”. This unique way of beckoning on customers attracted lots of them to him. His main ware then was maggi which gave him “maggi master” which he was known with till his demise.
As usual, the business grew beyond ringing of bells and hawking to visiting all the markets within Ikom and beyond, making huge sales while reducing prices as he believed in turn over. Maggi Master never believed in one source of revenue. He would travel to Kastina Ala to purchase yams and sell them in Ikom. He also ventured into transporting cash and food crops to various hinterlands making the natives to call him “Banana man”. Maggi master lived in Ikom for thirty years before returning to Umuoji where he erected a store at Eke Umuoji that soon became a rallying point for purchase of goods at cheap rate. He continued with the trade until he joined the saints triumphant on 13th May, 2022 after months of sickness.
An inscription he had on his commercial vehicles “Remember six feet of the earth” showed that Maggi Master was a deeply philosophical, ideological and principled man. He censored his utterances to avoid hurting the people around him. A core disciplinarian, hardworking and jolly good fellow.
Maggi Master had a fulfilled life as God blessed him with eight children whom he trained well and are professionals in their various fields of endeavour, twenty four grand children, three great grand children and hosts of other relatives.
“Onyeije”, “Nwafor kilikili ego”, “Maggi Master”, “That Man Don come, no strong market”, “banana man”, ka chi foo!
CHIEF EUGENE IJEDIBIA
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