Agege bread

Agege Bread

Agege bread being sold by a vendor in Nigeria.
Type	Bread
Course	Street food
Place of origin	Agege, Nigeria
Associated cuisine	Nigeria
Main ingredients	wheat flour, yeast, sugar

Agege Bread, is a sweet, yeasted white wheat bread originally from Agege in Lagos State, Nigeria. Agege bread is commonly baked in lidded rectangular metal pans, similar to a Pullman loaf. Agege bread spread in popularity from Agege to other parts of the country, where it is commonly sold by street vendors and in markets.

History

In 1913, Amos Stanley Wynter Shackleford immigrated from Jamaica to Lagos. Settling in Ebute Metta while working and after leaving his job, in 1921, at the Nigerian Railway Corporation, his bread-making skills quickly gained attention. By 1920, Shackleford opened a bakery in Ebute-Meta, where his bread became popular and was dubbed "Shackleford Bread." Its popularity grew rapidly, with vans and buses transporting large quantities from Ebute-Meta to meet demand beyond. Despite Shackleford's early success, his bakery shut down after facing difficulties following Nigeria's independence in 1960. With its closure, new local bakers soon emerged, including Alhaji Ayokunnu, who revived the tradition using dough machines and Shackleford's methods, establishing his own bakery in Agege.

Ayokunnu branded his product "Agege Bread", based on the location of his bakery, and by preserving its original taste and feel, he gave the consumers a product they were already familiar with. Agege Bread remains a legacy of Ayokunnu's rebrand.

See also

• List of African dishes
• Nigerian cuisine

External links

• Sokoh, Ozoz (14 May 2019). "Where Did Agege Bread Come From?". For Africans. Archived from the original on 11 October 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021 – via YouTube.