The Origin Of Mammy Market In Army Barracks

What is now known as "Mammy Market" in
all barracks nationwide, came to be as a
result of the industry of Mrs Anthony
Ochefu. Thanks to an Idoma local brew
called "enyi". Now, nobody remembers to
recognise this history maker and accord
the honour due to her.
In 1959, Mammy Ode, a young girl from
Jericho-Ugboju in the present Otukpo
Local Government Area of Benue State was
married to Anthony Aboki Ochefu, a young
Non-Commissioned military officer who
had just been posted to Enugu from
Abeokuta. They were quartered at the
Army Barracks, Abakpa, Enugu. To beat
idleness and perhaps earn some money to
support her young family, Mrs. Mammy
Ochefu established a business of selling
soft drinks. She also prepared gruel, which
is popularly called 'Umu or enyi' in Idoma,
or kunu in Hausa, for sale to the soldiers in
the barrack to help quench their thirst and
energise them.
She soon became popular with selling
"umu" as soldiers trooped to her house to
buy the local brew made from guinea
corn. Some of her customers were officers,
who always send their batmen to buy the
gruel for them, Monday through Friday
and even during the weekend when they
are not working.
Somehow, one of the Non-Commissioned
Officers, the RSM, did not flow with the
enthusiasm, which Mammy’s gruel
generated among other military men in
the barracks. He complained that the stuff
was attracting flies into the barracks and
ordered Mrs. Mammy Ochefu to stop its
production and sale.
Though disappointed at the order of the
RSM, she stopped the production and sale
of "umu" in the barrack. For weeks, Mrs.
Mammy Ochefu agonized over the fate of
her business, just as officers and men of
the Nigerian Army who enjoyed her brew
because of its freshness and nutritional
value lamented over the situation.
From several quarters, pressure mounted
on the RSM for a reversal of the order.
After a while, he succumbed to and
directed that a section of the barrack be
reserved for Mrs. Mammy Ochefu to
produce and sell her "umu".
Her joy knew no bound few days after a
section of the barracks was allocated to
her for the purpose of selling the Idoma
local brew within the barrack. She built a
small stall for her business and soon, her
business began to boom. Most of her
customers booked far in advance for the
quantity of "umu" they want to buy. Before
noon, she would have finished selling the
available "umu" for the day.
Soon, other women in the barracks
became inspired by her industrious nature
and tapped into her industry and started
selling other items like burukutu, pito,
palm wine, kain-kain and other alcoholic
beverages in addition to peppersoup and
other delights for the relaxation of the
rant and file in the evenings when they
close from work and they are permitted to
drink alcoholic beverages.
It was not long before that portion of the
barracks became known as Mammy
Market. It also became a policy to establish
markets inside or near military barracks in
the country, initially for the exclusive use
of officers and men of the rank and file.
Today, no visit to Abuja, the Federal Capital
City, is complete without a taste of fresh
fish in one of the Mammy Markets,
especially the one attached to Abacha
Barrack. Similar markets attached to
paramilitary barracks are also called
Mammy Markets.
After General Yakubu Gowon was
overthrown in a Military putsch, Anthony
Aboki Ochefu, then a Colonel, was posted
to East Central State as Military Governor.
So Mrs. Mammy Ochefu and her husband
returned to Enugu as the First Family. As
First Lady Mammy Ochefu visits the site
where Mammy Market started about
sixteen years earlier.
It must also be stressed too that in
retirement, Colonel Anthony Aboki Ochefu
and his wife incorporated a company
called Mammy Markets, which was into
haulage and trading.
Mrs. Mammy Ochefu is alive and lives at
Otukpo as one of the prized legends of
our time.
Source: Major General Kaleosho (Rtd),
Former Comdt

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