Amala Skye has re-invented the wheel of amala business with class.

By Funke Awodiya

Last year, I attended the GTCO Food Fest which hosted food vendors from across the country. One event that amazed me was the presence of Amala Skye at the classy and top-notch jamboree. Its choice of location was strategic and hit me the most was its impeccable branding that came out nicely. It didn’t come as a surprising when I saw the footfalls of shoppers jostling for their portion of amala and the spicy gbegiri and ewedu. The outlet attracts like magnet.

Back to its history, the famed restaurant got its name from the then Skye Bank. But after several years of the Skye Bank brand fading from the consciousness of Nigerians, the name lives on, courtesy of Amala Skye in Bodija, Ibadan. Amala Skye, from sharing proximity with the defunct brand, has continued to thrive, serving the beans soup and amala.

When the ‘god of hunger strikes, even a king might lose concentration. That was exactly my case that fateful afternoon. I constantly struggled to focus and understand what the professor in front of the class was saying, but pangs of hunger made it difficult. That day, I had left Lagos before 5 a.m. to meet up with my 10 a.m. class at the University of Ibadan, Oyo State.

I could only hope and pray for the lecture to end as the hunger persisted. It was a big relief when the class finally ended at 12.15 p.m. Without much ado, I hurriedly left the class in the company of a course mate and friend, Banke, an undergraduate in the same university.

“Let me welcome you to Ibadan officially with the Skye experience,” he said. Without wasting time, we stopped the nearest bike at the university gate, and off we left as I earnestly yearned for finger foods. Finally, we arrived at Ose Olorun Restaurant, more generally known as Amala Skye at Bodija.

The first thing that struck me was the throng of customers in a long queue unusually long queue and many luxury cars that were parked outside. At first, I was discouraged by the queue. As there was perfect order in the way customers were attended to, it didn’t take long before it got to our turn. In less than two minutes, we were served spicy and steaming amala in white attractive deep bowls with Gbegiri and Ewedu (Abula). We settled in one corner of the restaurant and enjoyed our meal.

We were certainly satisfied.

Amala is better served hot and the ‘Skye experience’ is unique because, from morning till evening, O Se Olorun restaurant serves amala hot by preserving the steam with coolers and a gas burner close to the serving point. What again stands Amala Skye out is that for a roadside restaurant, the ambiance is clean and inviting. The hunger solution (amala), one of Nigeria’s rich dishes is from yam flour or cassava and unripe plantain. It is also called oka. Amala and Ewedu meal is indigenous to the Yoruba but now generally eaten across the country and indeed, any part of the world where there is a high Nigerian concentration of Nigerians.

 Funke Awodiya is a medical sociologist and creative writer based in Lagos

Meiza Nigeria