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My Mum Encouraged Me To Compete With My Sisters In Cooking, Says Young Chef

By Gbenga Salau
22 January 2016   |   11:30 pm
Ahmed Nasiru, 28, is a chef with about ten years working experience. He did not come into the field by accident. Besides he loves food, her mum encouraged him to compete with his sisters in cooking and with that, he gradually mastered loved cooking varieties of food. “In the house, whoever cooks taste first and…
Nasiru

Nasiru

Ahmed Nasiru, 28, is a chef with about ten years working experience. He did not come into the field by accident. Besides he loves food, her mum encouraged him to compete with his sisters in cooking and with that, he gradually mastered loved cooking varieties of food.

“In the house, whoever cooks taste first and for me, I do not joke with food. Also, my mum called me aside and she said, do you know you can actually learn how to cook as a boy and when you cook, you and the ladies would get the same portion of food or you get even higher share. That was how I started going to the kitchen, helping her and learning.”

His journey into being a professional chef started after secondary school, when he got a job in a restaurant in Ikeja, where he had hands-on practice and from there moved to other restaurants, learning more recipe, going online to research and consulting textbooks.

Nasiru claimed that his movement from one restaurant to another was in search for more experience and not because he wanted better salaries.

He has acquired a National Diploma in Hospitality Management from the Yaba College of Technology, Lagos. According to him, it was one of his mentors at the Ovie Brume Foundation that enlightened him on the importance of having a certification.

“I felt after all this level of cooking, what would I be taught in a school again, but not until I enrolled. I got the form through Ovie Brume Foundation and after admission I started attending lectures with a lot of new things being unraveled even after all my working experience.”

He said though it was a challenging experience for him, working and schooling, he carried on because of the impact of the knowledge he was acquiring.

“It was very, very difficult and challenging and I was not bothered because nothing good comes easy.”

According to him, when he enrolled at the Yaba College of Technology, he was already an head chef, managing a restaurant kitchen. He said his lectures were between 5pm and 9 pm, so he resumes work in the morning, do all my prep, design work schedule for the other staff.

“Once it is 3pm, I am off to school to beat the traffic to get there before 5pm. When lectures end at 9pm, I still return to work to take stock, check what was sold and if they were properly entered, because the next day I have to give a report of what went on in the kitchen.

“So sometimes, I end up closing by 2am and the next day I have to wake up by 6am. There was not enough time to study, let alone hang out with friends. But within me, I knew this is not going to be forever, at most, two or three years, I will be through with the programme.”

He commended his school, as the programme has further enriched him professionally. “When I got to Yaba College of Technology, there were a lot of things we were put through, hotel section, knowing more about hotels. In the area of cooking, we did practical every week, which involved recipe formulation and costing. Another aspect we were put through on was entrepreneurship.”

On his advice for younger people who want to be a professional chef, he said, “It is not easy telling young people that they should be chef, they would probably say those that ends up in the kitchen. Everybody wants to study law, medicine and other highly celebrated courses.”

Nasiru however, wants government to pay attention to vocational skills especially the hospitality industry, because it has capacity to create huge job opportunities.

“Government is not looking at the hospitality industry. A lot of hotels and restaurants are springing up in Lagos. And to be a good chef, you need experience, working with a lot of professionals, because the hospitality business is not what grows overnight, it takes years to build standard through consistency.”

He said he joined the Ovie Brume Foundation as a secondary student, when its youth centre was opened in 2003.

“The first programme I enrolled for was in Desktop Publishing, and we taught the basic use of computer and others. Later, we went for the summer camp, where different programmes were on offer. Some went for dancing, acting but I went for photography. And it was because of my love for food. When you cook and take the picture, it comes out very neat. We were given camera to take pictures of whatever we see or like and then a reason for taking it. But most of my pictures were food.”

He further said that his contact with the Foundation improved his reading habit, as they were not just encouraged to read, but also educated on the importance and impact of reading.

“When I met Mrs. Ifeoma Idigbe in one of the sessions, she gave us insight on the benefit of reading and a reading club was formed. We all came from our various schools to read at the centre. In every thing I do today, my experience at the foundation’ youth centre really inspired me.”

Nasiru disclosed that the impact of the lessons he picked up from the foundation is why even after completing his programmes, he had been going back to interact with the new intakes at the centre.

“I felt I have gained much from the centre and looking for a way to pay back even when I am not financially buoyant, and participate in the centre’s activities.”

He recalled that when he joined the Foundation’ youth centre and narrated all the activities he was to participate in, his parents were surprised that somebody could open such a centre to counsel and train school children for free.

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