Nigerian Ladies Venture Into Men’s Trades

Adaeze Enebeli, a mother of four, cultivates cassava and yams in her big farm to supplement the family’s income.

The times are hard indeed and in order to cope, she takes to the “okada’’ business (commercial motorcyclist’s trade) once the farming season is over.

Comfort Nwobi, a widow and mother of five, had been sustaining her family with proceeds from her vegetable farm. She also fries bean cakes  “akara”, to boost her income.

Nowadays, however, Nwobi can hardly cope because of the hard times and this compelled her to add the “okada” business to her trade.

Paulina Igwebuike is a single mother who now funds her children’s education through earnings from her “okada” business. She owns three motorbikes, one of which she rides herself. Two female employees operate the other two bikes for her.

Everywhere in the Kwale-speaking Ashaka, a town in Ndokwa local government area of Delta State, female commercial motorcyclists abound.

Observers note that these female motorcyclists have virtually taken over the “okada’’ business, hitherto considered to be the exclusive preserve of men.

And business is booming for them, as Ashaka residents say that there is no alternative means of transportation in the neighbourhood other than “okada” because of the bad roads.

Besides, farmers often find it more convenient to ride “okada” to their farms and farming is the predominant occupation of the people.

Environmentalists, however, say that a multiplicity of factors, including the loss of lands, waters and forests due to erosion and other geographical factors, compound vehicular transportation in the area.

Elsewhere across the country, Nigerians observe that women are increasingly venturing into businesses that were hitherto dominated by men and they are performing with remarkable proficiency.

Observers particularly note that Ashaka women are not cowed by the trying circumstances around them, as they have apparently risen to the challenge of empowering themselves through diverse, daring but legitimate means.

No doubt, the harsh economic times has made life difficult for the womenfolk, especially in the rural areas.

Analysts remark that the women’s economic wellbeing and political empowerment via participation in decision-making processes are severely hampered as a result.

Enebeli says that many female “Okada” operators were basically peasant farmers, who had tilled lands for others to eek out a living.

“These women had worked for others in order to raise funds to either buy or rent lands to farm, since survival in the community is tied to ancestral farm holdings,” she says.

Igwebike explains that she adopted the “okada“ business as a realistic response to the stark economic realities.

The lady, who holds an ordinary diploma in Business Administration, insists that, ‘‘women in this community have to wake up to the realities of the times and the responsibility of training their children”.

Igwebike claims she earns as much as N10,000 per week when business is good and boasts that women in the “okada’’ business are more safety conscious than their male counterparts.

“So far, none of us has had any cause to regret venturing into the ‘okada’ business; we are more careful than the men and hardly can you find any of us involved in accidents.

“We also manage our resources better. We save, train our children and also strive to empower other women with our earnings from the trade,” Igwebike says.

On her part, Nwobi says that the biggest customers for the “okada” riders are garri producers, who are usually ferried to neighbouring communities on market days.

“The garri producers are our biggest customers; we carry garri to markets in the neighbouring towns all year round and during the harvest seasons, we carry other farm produce to those markets for sale,” Nwobi says.

Igwebike and many others like her are not thinking of quitting the “okada” business yet.

Her words: “We have chosen to remain in this community and make a living by operating commercial motorbikes, which is very viable for us.’’

Igwebike says that averagely, each of the female commercial motorcyclists earn a minimum of N3, 000 weekly.

Elsewhere in the country, women are making waves in other trades where males had held sway.

Increasingly, women have forayed into the mining sector, engineering, repairs of a wide range of plants and vehicles, and gender activists are pleased that such activities are in consonance with efforts to accomplish the gender-based Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

In Nyanya, a satellite town in the FCT, for instance, Mrs Blessing Nweke, is fondly called the “Lady Engineer”, as she undertakes repairs of power-generating sets to augment her family’s income.

Blessing, a mother of four, whose husband has some hearing and speech defects, says that she learned the trade from her husband, who had been in the business for over two decades.

“Most of my customers come to me out of curiosity; they do not believe a woman can repair generators.”

“When I satisfy them with my work, they stick to me in patronage. I give them good service for their money. As a woman, I take extra care to do my work,” she says.

Blessing’s husband, Mike, whose sign language was interpreted by his wife, says that his wife has been of great assistance to his family.

“Before I married her, business was good but since she joined in the trade, the business is much better as people want to patronise her, being a woman,” he says through the sign language.

Blessing has been in the generator servicing business for about five years now and she says she is enjoying the business which is widely perceived as a trade for men.

Gender activists are, indeed, happy that women are taking challenges to launch themselves into the realm of economic and political empowerment, which various local, national and global agencies have been encouraging over the years.

Ironically, some men are commending the women for their resourcefulness and courage in venturing into male-dominated businesses.

Mr Kalu Okpi, an Abuja-based journalist, says: “It is interesting to see women operating the ‘okada’ business and getting involved in other trades.

“Personally, I feel it is not a common phenomenon and the women do the businesses with all sense of pride, from what I noticed.”

Mr Akinwunmi Dawodu, also a journalist, says: “To me, it’s more of an economic issue than a gender issue. If a woman feels she can make money from riding ‘okada’ or going into any other trade dominated by men, why not?”

Omowole reports with  News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Ifeyinwa Omowole