Insults, rejection, did not deter us – Female tricyclists
The prevailing economic hardship in the country is birthing a community of female tricycle operators in Kwara State, who are competing with their male counterparts to eke out a living. Weekend Trust captures their stories, experiences and struggles. Their stories are replete with tales of rejection, poverty/hardship, fear of possible failure, quest for education and […]
mrs idayat ibrahim
The prevailing economic hardship in the country is birthing a community of female tricycle operators in Kwara State, who are competing with their male counterparts to eke out a living. Weekend Trust captures their stories, experiences and struggles.
Their stories are replete with tales of rejection, poverty/hardship, fear of possible failure, quest for education and entrepreneurship, but they are not deterred.
From just one, their number has exceeded 50, according to one of the pioneers; and still counting. They are now courting new admirers in an occupation once considered exclusive for men.
Narrating their experiences, these pacesetters demonstrated an unwavering faith and focus to survive a system already skewed against them by the society. They beckoned on their gender to embrace the business rather than sit idle lamenting their plight without any tangible decision to change the narrative. Their appeal to the government, organisations or philanthropists is to empower them with tricycles and they will overcome every other obstacle.
Mahmud Monsurat, 39, started the business in 2013 but has emerged the chairperson of Oja Oba/Asa Dam tricycle park, defeating all the males that contested with her.
Known popularly as Iyalaje Kososi, the resident of Taiwo Isale, Ilọrin said she started the keke business due to hardship, but added, “Today, I am fulfilled with a roof on my head; and I am training my four children in school; one of them is in a higher institution.
“I was inspired by a woman I saw, who I believe is the first woman keke operator in Kwara State. There were lots of insults from men and my gender, including some of my husband’s relatives, but I completely ignored all of them. During that period, my husband, who was a civil servant, lost his job, and rather than lamenting, we are now both operating keke to earn a living.
“The challenges for women in the business are how to own tricycles and abandonment by the government. We need empowerment to own tricycles, especially considering the high cost of the vehicle.
“I make up to N20,000 daily. I can bequeath the business to my children. My husband has been very understanding and supportive in managing the home. I call on other women to join us.”
On her part, 41-year-old Mrs Omowumi Olaitan, also a mother of four, who operates on the Okoolowo-Oja route, said she started the business in 2017 after she was sacked from her place of work.
She said, “But the inspiration came when I saw a woman in my street at Ogidi, called Iya Alia operating keke. I approached her for assistance because my clothing business after my sack was not successful. She took me to one of the chairmen of a park, who requested that I come with my husband and N3,000, among other things.
“My dilemma was that I had separated from my husband. While looking for how to scale the hurdle, I discovered that one of my respected father figures, Alhaji Babatunde Gbajamo, is the chairman of a tricycle park at Okoolowo.
“When I went to his office, he handed me over to two of his boys to take me through some initial processes. In the interim, I was saddled with the responsibility of sending money to operators and this really assisted me financially. I have also been in charge of giving operators tickets close to my street after the boys that handled it misappropriated the funds collected. I saw it as an opportunity in my learning process in the keke business. At a time, I was sweeping the office for N15,000.”
Mrs Olaitan said that after she completed the process, she started the process of collecting her monthly thrift of N70,000 though it was not yet her turn, so that she could apply for a tricycle of over N1 million then.
“After I got it, some of the men who also applied but were not fortunate, ganged up against me and dubiously tried to exchange it because of my gender, but I fought them with the support of God and my bosses.
“It was another epic struggle as a woman. After I collected it, Alhaji Gbajamo insisted that I must settle with my husband before I would be allowed to operate it myself. Meanwhile, the male operators I gave it to were full of complaints. They also had accidents twice, which involved a lot of expenses from me.
“So I decided to operate it myself but avoided passing the front of my estranged husband’s house because we couldn’t reconcile our differences, especially over my decision. I have always been a unionist; and I thank God for my decision,” the Iyalaje of Okoolowo said.
Mrs Idayat Ibrahim, 41, from Offa in Kwara State, said she joined the business after relocating from Lagos due to government’s clampdown on street trading, where she was selling snacks.
Coming down to Ilọrin, she continued in the food and snacks business until she coincidentally boarded the keke of Mahmud Monsurat while going to the market.
“Seeing her operate a tricycle tickled my curiosity and I approached her for apprenticeship. She took me to a field and taught me how to operate keke but restricted my movement within the streets until I dared the order after I was chartered to Oja-Oba. The rest is now history.
“Many of my peers used to make fun of me, but I did not let that affect me. Some of our biggest fans now are men. And they always stand by us if there is any issue.
“I am very happy being addressed as a tricycle operator as I make over N8,000 daily after paying N8,000 delivery money, feeding and other daily expenses,” Idayat said.
Like her colleagues, Idayat, also a mother of four, who plies the Oja Oba Asa Dam route, still uses the tricycle of her boss and solicits assistance to enable her get her own, which she said would go a long way in giving her financial emancipation.
The story of Ayinla Kaosara, a 21-year-old student of Hospital Management at the Kwara State Polytechnic, is not different from that of her seniors in the business.
According to her, she decided to operate keke to further her education after secondary school, having faced financial challenges and her parents couldn’t sponsor her further studies like her mates. The Ote-born indigene said that from the proceeds realised from her tricycle business, her mother supported her with the little realised from her ice business to pay her school fees when she got admission into a higher institution.
She said, “From inception, I have always been fascinated by works believed to be exclusively reserved for men. My father is a trailer mechanic and I joined him as an apprentice. But the business was slow in our community, and anytime I came to Ilọrin, I saw females operating tricycles, so I decided to give it a try. I learned how to operate it by chance. My mother engaged a tricycle operator to help in the distribution of his ice business and I used to go with him, observing how he operated. One day, he left the key on it and I summoned the courage to operate it myself. I still remember the period with nostalgia as everybody started shouting at me as if I had killed somebody or committed a crime. I have never regretted my decision.
“I started the business three years ago but got admission last year. Some of my mates in Kwara Polytechnic used to mock me when I started school after they discovered that I used keke to hustle, but I surprised them when I started operating inside the school without any iota of shame. Today, many of them are coming to me to teach them ‘how to fish’ when they saw that their noise, rather than distract me, spurred me even more.”
Asked how she has been able to combine the business with her studies, Kaosara, who said she made N10,000 daily on the average, added, “I start working immediately after my lectures in the afternoon. But during exams I will stop the business to focus on my studies.
“My dream is to invest heavily in the business after my education, whether I am working with my certificate or not. I don’t allow distractions, even from male students because I want to focus. Men will naturally come, and even easier when I am empowered. I will advise female students to continue to work hard and not to depend on men.”
Mahmud Ayomide Shukrat, 22, a fashion designer turned a tricycle operator, described the business as life-changing, especially looking at her experience from Lagos.
Shukrat, also known as AY, who plies Oja-Oba/Alagbado/Osibi route, said, “I had primary and secondary education in Lagos but my parents said they didn’t have the capacity to sponsor me further. I went to learn fashion designing, but after graduation, I was challenged by lack of capital to establish myself. In the midst of these challenges, I started working as a fuel attendant at a filling station in Ilọrin, but it was not profitable financially. I wondered how long I would continue like that, so once in a while, I followed some of my customers who are keke operators until one day, I decided to make it formal.
“When I started, I had a serious accident that almost made me quit. But surprisingly, the owner of the tricycle stood by me. Initially, my parents and friends were not in support of my decision and even threatened to disown me because they were worried that being a keke operator would negatively impact my marital life. But I told them that many beautiful young women were doing great in transportation business in Lagos.
“I intend to further my education but I have put that on hold for now and decided to face the tricycle business because of what I have realised and the opportunities that abound in it to change one’s status.
“I started two years ago but there have been a lot of positive changes. And I didn’t allow the business to affect my fashion work. If I have my own tricycle, I can buy my sewing machines for my fashion work. My advice to girls and women is to add keke business to their trade and be decent and morally upright. They should do away with shame and avoid sitting idle and passing the bulk to their spouses. The business has added great value to our lives.”
Speaking on the trend, the state chairman of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Alhaji AbdulRahman Olayinka Onikijipa, said tricycle operation and transport business generally for women is better than engaging in prostitution.
“If women can fly airplanes, which are more technical and difficult, why can’t they drive taxes, tricycles and even machines for business? That is why we provided them with a conducive environment and support against any oppression, extortion or exploitation from their male counterparts who may want to take advantage of their gender.
Onikijipa said, “Rome was not built in a day. Gradually, from one female who made dignity her watchword, the figure is increasing in Kwara State.
“These women have families; and they enjoy their homes more when they are seen as contributors rather than liabilities by their spouses.”
He called on the federal government and various states to support and reward the determination of the women to change the narrative and contribute to the country’s gross domestic product by empowering them with tricycles for the business, especially now that its price is over N3 million.
Weekend Trust reports that due to their growing number, the association has begun the process of documenting female operators in the state towards achieving gender equity in the business.
A tricycle operator, Tajudeen Ajadi, and a relative to one of the female operators, said they need all the support and encouragement from friends, family members and the community, especially because of the stress they go through, trying to make a living to support their families despite the rising cost of the tricycle.
“The price of a tricycle is about N3.8m now and they give it out at N6 million. So, it’s not a joke when you see them hustling in the sun and under the rain. My sister’s husband came to write an undertaking for her when I was processing a tricycle for her. Today, she has finished the payment and the tricycle is now hers. She would leave her children in the shop when they are on holidays to work with the tricycle untilaround past 4:00 pm and return to continue selling her soft drinks. Sometimes during an accident when she is hit, we support her to ensure she is not cheated”.
“My advice is that anybody that wants to assist or partner with them should go through the leadership of their units. They are the ones that can identify those who are serious and ready to work because just as we have some unserious men, there are few ladies who need reorientation because this is business, especially with the rising cost of tricycles”.
Spauses support
Speaking on her exploits, a fiance to Miss Kaosara, one of the operators and a student of Kwara State Polytechnic, praised her efforts adding that she is a very industrious woman.
The fiance who did not want his name in print told Weekend Trust that “Unlike when you go into a relationship and see your partner as a possible liability, her case is not so. She is a very industrious woman and needs all the support I can give. There is nothing to be ashamed about but encouragement to boost her morale and make a reference point for others. How many of her peers will have such courage”, he noted and rallied for support towards owning her own tricycle.