By Ghazali Ibrahim
For a generation of Nigerians, the name Okin Biscuits is more than the name of a biscuit. It is a taste of childhood.
It is the familiar packet tucked into a school bag, the biscuit shared during break time, the treat bought on the way home and the brand whose name became woven into everyday memories.
Now, after 17 years of silence, the machines that once produced those memories are running again.
Okin Biscuits on Tuesday recorded a major breakthrough at its factory in Offa, Kwara State, as biscuits rolled off one of its rehabilitated production lines for the first time in 17 years.
The development marks one of the clearest signs yet that the iconic Nigerian biscuit brand may be on its way back to the market.
But Tuesday’s production was not yet the return many former consumers have been waiting for.
According to the company, the exercise was a technical trial run designed primarily to answer one question: could a production line that had remained dormant for nearly two decades be brought back to life?
The answer was yes.
The company said the production line had to be rebuilt after cables, frequency drives, contactors, motors and other electronic components were stolen during the years it remained inactive.
With the rehabilitation work now yielding results, the ovens were fired up and the machinery began turning again.
The company, however, cautioned that the biscuits produced during the exercise should not be regarded as the finished Okin product.
At this stage, attention was focused on restoring the machinery and testing its operation, rather than achieving the familiar colour, appearance or final Okin recipe.
There was another important development on Tuesday.
The factory was officially connected by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company to a 33kV Band A electricity supply, providing a more reliable power source for the facility as rehabilitation and testing continue.
For Nigerians who grew up with Okin, the significance goes beyond machinery and electricity.
The brand, which dates back to 1980, is part of the country’s food and manufacturing history. Its possible return evokes memories of a period when locally produced biscuits occupied a familiar place in homes, schools and neighbourhood shops.
Those memories may soon have a chance to meet the present.
The company said more testing, calibration and rehabilitation work remain before production can fully resume and the biscuits can return to the market.
Most importantly, the familiar Okin taste and quality still have to be restored to the standard consumers remember.
For now, however, the silence has been broken.
After 17 years, the machines are turning again. The ovens are firing.
And somewhere in Offa, a biscuit that carries the memory of another era is beginning to roll off the production line.
Okin may not be back on every shop shelf yet.
But for those who remember it, the comeback has already begun.
