We bet you didn’t know this! This is the origin of the phrase “Mammy Market” named after Mammy Ochefu.
At the mammy market, soldiers can mingle and purchase their daily necessities.
Mammy Ochefu, a woman from Enugu, was named Mammy Market in 1955.
She was the widow of Col. Anthony Aboki Ochefu, a former military governor of the defunct East-Central state, and she supported her family by selling enyi, a traditional non-alcoholic beverage.
After taking a week off at home after hearing complaints that the drink attracted flies, client pressure led a Lieutenant Colonel to construct a kiosk for her to make the environment more comfortable.
Later, her family was transferred from Enugu to Abeokuta, but Mammy continued the business wherever they were stationed while also introducing snacks that the soldiers would find appealing.
Interestingly, every time her family moved to a new state, she would transfer the company to interested women while requesting that the name be kept the same. Mammy opened a store called “Mammy Market” in 1971.
The company had expanded into a grocery and a transportation firm by the time her husband retired.
Since then, a mom-and-pop market has always been established alongside military barracks. Additionally, mammy markets are developed in NYSC orientation camps.
SOURCE: TWITTER| Tribes and History
