National Wire About Nigerians, Nigerian Business and Other Stories
By Dayo Emmanuel
For Mrs. Ebere Azubuike, what a man can do, a woman can do even better. The mother of five who would not allow economic situation or family challenges turn her to a beggar, has decided to launch into the obvious male dominated business terrain to fetch a living.
While her male counterparts in the commercial cyclist business popularly called Okada riders, took shelter under the Ojuelegba bridge, Ebere defied the early morning downpour, conveying passenger to their various destinations.
According to her, “Not everybody can do business, that is why I am into this trade which has been my source of livelihood for about three years because I have to provide for my family.”
The former trader at the Oyingbo market narrated to National Wire how she became a commercial cyclist. “My husband taught me how to ride the motorcycle. I was a trader at the Oyingbo market before the market got burnt. After we lost the market to fire, I ventured into restaurant business, but my husband tool ill, “she narrated.
Continuing, she said, “He has been ill for about three years now, money kept going out of the restaurant business and the business was going down, that was when I decided to pack up everything for this okada business, just to make ends meet.”
Apparently in a man’s world, Azubuike, an indigene of Anambra State, has practically become a man; leaving her Ejigbo home before 7am to resume at Ojuelegba where she works till 7pm. “I live at Ejigbo, I am a mother of five, the youngest is 13. I can’t work at Ejigbo because the roads are not too safe, commercial cyclists, who sometimes have to ride against the traffic due to bad roads. Sometimes some of them get involved in accidents, so I decided to come to Ojuelegba area to work,” she said.
When asked if the business gives her good money, she said, “It gives me sharp sharp money, I resume at Ojuelegba by 7am and work till 7pm. I can make between N5,000 and N6,000 depending on how hard I work.”
Talking about the risk in the business, she said, “There is no much danger in it. The touts don’t even disturb me because I am the only woman among them. It is 100 percent safe for women because you cannot keep waiting for your husband to bring money, he won’t have money every day.”
Answering question on the possibility of leaving the trade if she gets a better option, the mother of five said, “If I get a better thing that will help me and my children, I will consider it. This is because of family needs. My 17 year old eldest daughter has finished secondary school and will be looking for admission by the special grace of God, so if I get a better business that will be giving me money regularly, I would opt for it.”
She however desires to upgrade to being a bus driver. “I like to get a small bus, the one of seven passengers, it will be good for me,” she hopes.
She however advises women who are idle to learn from her experience. “Okada business is not bad; it is bad for you to be sleeping at home when you don’t have a means of livelihood. For instance, I don’t have closing time, sometimes when I keep getting passengers, I would be eager to go on. Sometimes I would suddenly discover it is almost 8pm, then I go home. It is not good for a woman to be idle,” she said.
