PACKAGE YOUR BOMBOM, MY WARDROBE PLUG! 😂

My mother had always told me about Yaba Market, Oyingbo Market and Iyanaba Market. She would say that if I went to Yaba or Iyanaba to buy clothes, I would find good-quality clothes, OK-London used, popularly known as Okirika 🙃, at prices that would surprise me. But, as usual, I would hear her and move on with my daily life. Clothes and all those things no dey too freak me then. Plus, not Okirika.. Not me, ah! 😩 Lorakan, in a nutshell, I didn't really see the need for the information until I became course rep in my department. Kai! My life! 😂 Let's continue first. When I started schooling at Yabatech, I had this one brown gown my aunt gave me. It was brand new until it later wasn't. 😂 That gown was practically my only presentable gown. Sometimes, it felt like the gown was the only one I had in my life. Or let me say it was beautiful, handy and modest, but Gbongbola! (Very big.) 😂 My coursemates never missed an opportunity to remind me that I needed another gown. But na person wey don chop dey buy cloth bah? So, I didn't really mind them at all. I don't even know where that gown is today. Maybe the story I'm about to tell is the reason I stopped remembering it and started packaging my bombom too. 😩😅 One morning, I came from Badagry to school. I think it was around five in the morning when I got to Oyingbo Market. Normally, I would walk over the bridge, but that morning, I took a tricycle shouting, “Across, across, across!” After alighting from the keke napep that dropped us across the bridge, I started looking for a bus to Yabatech. That was when I heard a woman shouting. “Package your bombom here! Package your bombom! ₦300, ₦500! Package your bombom!” I stopped. Wetin be this one again? 😂 At first, it was funny, and I didn't hesitate to laugh. As the Amebo I was, I tried using the corner of my eye to look in the woman's direction and see what she was talking about while acting like I was still interested in getting a bus. Omo! I saw her lifting one fine gown and shouting, “Five! Five hundred!” Wait, you mean? Guyyyyy! I don't know when I ran there to see things for myself. I remember pointing at one gown and asking her again, “Abeg, how much you call am?” She repeated, “₦500.” That morning, I had just ₦500. My last card! “What if this is the last time she sells this? What if she wakes up and realises she was hallucinating? Lemme seal this testimony!” That was the money I wanted to use to get to where I was going. Sha, I braced myself as I paid. Something must kill a woman. 😭😂 See, if you put those gowns on a mannequin today and place a price of ₦2,000, ₦3,000 or ₦4,000 on them for resale, sincerely, they would not look out of place. Those who know the quality of first-grade OK-London used clothes would understand. The gowns were that nice! That was how I became her regular customer during that period. Whenever I passed by Oyingbo and had money to buy something new, I would look for my “Package Your Bombom” woman. And you see those my coursemates who used to remind me that I needed another gown? 😂 After I started buying clothes from this woman, I began dressing better. Sometimes, people would see me and say, “Ah, Debbie, this clothes is fine!” In my mind, na Package Your Bombom dey package me! 😂😭 Honestly, I'm very grateful I met that woman. I had suffered small before I found her, and meeting her made things easier for me during that period. I even took my younger sisters there when they had just resumed school. They were worried about how expensive clothes had become and how they could get a few dresses to wear to school. When we got there, they bought beautiful and very good gowns too at affordable prices. Their own experience was different because they already had someone to take them directly to the place. When they got to school, dressing well was easier for them. I discovered this woman sometime in 2025, and the few gowns I got from her are still alive! 😂😭 I still have mine, my sisters still wear theirs, and I even gave one to my elder sister, who found one to her taste. But that wasn't the only time I was surprised, oh. I had always wanted to own a turtleneck. I don't know why, but there's a feel it gives when it's styled well into a full outfit. I finally got mine early this year. One day, I followed some younger girls to Yaba Market. They wanted to buy clothes, but I didn't have money to buy anything. I was just following them. We had bought all we came for, though they still wanted to look around. So, we continued looking around. That was where I met my black turtleneck at one old woman's stall. TURTLENECK! 😭🥹 My bone-deep dream had come true. Guess how much I bought it for? ₦1,000. 😩😂 After that, whenever I went to Yaba, I would look for Mama. But the last time I was there, I heard something about the market being closed because of an issue with payment for environmental cleaning. After that, I never met her again. If you see me really slay that turtleneck on Sunday, you will dash me all your money. 😩 I've been to Oshodi one time, Isale precisely, on a Tuesday evening. I saw some nice stuff for ₦300, but I couldn't get them because of money. Guess how much? ₦300! My mother had been telling me about these markets all along. It felt weird, o. I just had to experience some of them myself, and I'm glad I did. Now, I've discovered that I love nice clothes. My inability to get them made me think I didn't fancy them. Now, if you ask me where to find clothes that can beat your expectations without emptying your pocket, I might tell you to try Oyingbo, Yaba or Oshodi. I'm yet to get the full details about Iyanaba, sha, but Mumsi don bring clothes come home well well from these places. ₦200, ₦100, ₦300! 😂😭 But me and my sure customer still dey on some normal days! If you're ever opportuned to pass by Oyingbo, abeg, find my woman first. My day-one boutique mama. 😂 She's always at the top of her voice with her slang: “Package your bombom, my customer!” PS: the pictures up there are few of the clothes.. I couldn't scatter to find them. I hope these are okay 😩...

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