That Akwa Ibom may be United by a common mutual tie

 ...A tale of two bread lovers who ignited the bread-a-thon

Priscilla Akpanettot

Meet HRM Imo Monty Bread Udoima

Imo Udoima and Samuel Ayara are two bread lovers whose day might not be complete without eating bread. They do not just eat bread but take delight in, and are addicted to a particular brand - Monty Bread.

As a matter of fact, they do not consume this bread surreptitiously as every normal consumer would do. They point at their preference for the brand by drawing the interest of the social media community to this object of their obsession, flaunting and taunting friends with the bread.

Sequel to their near-daily promotion of the brand, friends on social media began to request a share of the much-talked-about flagship bread, to confirm if their claims about it were true. 

With each passing day, the pressure on the two 'breadies' to share their "heavenly bread" with their numerous friends increased and they eventually yielded to pressure when it became clear that they may be robbed of it at gunpoint, should they attempt to keep their friends salivating with gustatory bread adjectives.

So, in order to meet the demands of these friends, one of the 'breadies', Imo Udoima who had promised to dash out 10 Loaves of the bread, came up with an idea.

"That night, I reached out to Mrs. Blessing Ebonguko... I woke up in the morning and saw her message that she has paid for 10 Loaves for me and at that point, I had 20 Loaves to give out. I now called Samuel Ayara who graciously added 5 loaves, Ndianabasi Nana Udom gave 20 loaves, Sean Edika gave 10 loaves, Mrs. Imaobong Udoh gave 5, Ofonime Nyoyoko gave 3 and Edidiong Akpan 3.

His Excellency, Okuku Samuel Monty Bread Ayara

Before that afternoon, we had 84 loaves and we had to compile names of people who had been requesting for it and we gifted them a loaf each", Imo Udoima said.

It was only a matter of hours before others joined in the bread sharing spree and everywhere became 'breadish'!. Various bread brands gained visibility as the gifting was soon turned into a bread challenge, with givers showcasing their preferred brand with a hundred Loaves, two hundred, and more; making the bread reach the unreached.

In the ensuing days, the three Senatorial districts of Akwa Ibom State saw and heard of the countless bread brands which where hitherto unknown in the State, while some persons were lucky to have a taste of one, two or more of the brands.

Subsequently, the projected brand bakeries became the centre of bread purchase as long queues were observed in some of them, with several customers having to wait for hours to be attended to - they basked in the euphoria of the unpaid advertisement offered by their committed customers.

One of the bread recipients who first proved the giveaway as real

Whenn asked if they saw this coming, the duo of Udoima and Ayara replied in the negative."It wasn't even a planned stuff. Myself and Ayara are regular customers of the brand and we just promote it jokingly on Facebook.

I have never sat with the owners of that brand to have any discussion about promoting their business. And I sincerely doubt if that action could have trended the way it did if it was a paid job. It was just an innocent act that God gave a push to the brand and other brands in the State. I was even surprised to know that we have those number of brands people showcased, in Akwa Ibom State", Mr. Udoima said.

"Nothing of such was actually intended when we started. All we did was just talk about a brand we found mutual interest in. Promoting the ... brand was just a function of inquest into where the bread could be purchased and progressed into what variants of bread products were on their shelves; then we felt the much interest our online activities were beginning to shift towards the bread could be our way of deepening patronage and visibility for an indigenous brand", Mr. Ayara added.

(L-R): Another recipient with one of the givers who later moved from bread to tigernut, perfume, food etc.

"The show of brands that followed only went on to show that the confectionery industry in the state is a near-saturated space. People think it was an unhealthy competition, but for us, we had set the narrative for brand visibility and patronage for Monty Bread, whatever followed was reactionary but not unexpected. In the end people had fun, food, met new friends and the vibes doesn’t seem like it's ending soon", he expressed.

Asked how they feel about the impact of their action, the 'breadies' were near-emotional. 

"I feel so happy about it. Akwa Ibom has been portrayed in good light and it shows we love our brands and ourselves. Almost everyone can afford that bread but it takes love to give and to receive. So, it was just my own way of sharing what I have been enjoying over the years", Imo Udoima stated.

"I'm glad that the city could depart from sensationalizing negativities to spreading love, regardless of political and social inclination. It opened me to the possibility of a peaceable society where people prefer love to hate", said Samuel Ayara.

It thus happened that from the need to reduce conversations about the harsh economy, interpersonal conflicts and political differences of the time, the bread-a-thon was conceived. Consequently, the singular act of love shown by the two progenitors have increased awareness of their choice brand and perhaps, attracted more patronage to it, as well as for other spotlighted brands. Even more, the season united us mutually again and made us forget our differences.

The bread-gifting spree may have come and gone, but the morals it came with should not be forgotten - we're happier in love when together but bitter in hatred when divided.