Zamfara’s female ‘car-washer’ speaks…‘How car wash biz pays my bills’

Madinat’s late mother used to be the sole sponsor of their education until she died, so she was the worst-hit. She, even though female, was expected as the eldest child, to lead the way for her younger ones. In her early twenties and after several attempts to reenlist into a school, she relocated to the […]

Madinat’s late mother used to be the sole sponsor of their education until she died, so she was the worst-hit. She, even though female, was expected as the eldest child, to lead the way for her younger ones. In her early twenties and after several attempts to reenlist into a school, she relocated to the state capital Gusau, where she took up a job that is seen as the exclusive preserve of men, car washing.

Madinat said she wanted to be self-dependent and sponsor herself through school. “My mother, who used to support us, is dead and I cannot add more burdens to my dad. I have to depend on myself, raise money to go to school and be a good girl to my dad,” she said.

She started working at a car wash in Gusau, for about a year and a half. She learned the trade so well that even in the biting winds of harmattan, she still gives cars a thorough cleaning. Madinat was working dexterously to get dirt off the tyres of a Honda car when Weekly Trust met her. “I can wash an average of five cars in a day, depending on customer turnout,” she said.

Four men also work for the outlet. But Madinat was able to rise through the ranks and become a secretary. “The manager is absent, so I’m now the acting manager.” A combination of hard work and drive for customer satisfaction always keeps Madinat toiling around cars instead of basking in the comfort of an office. Equally, she always wants to prove to her male subordinates that lateness and laziness will not stop work.

She had to abort her New Year resolution for 2012 just three days into January. “I said I won’t wash cars this year, but when I came and met my boys absent, while customers were complaining, I quickly picked the buckets and started washing the cars,” Madinat explained. She can wash an average of five cars in a day, especially when they have huge customer turn-out, she disclosed. And every month, Madinat is paid N7,000.

Little as her income is, it nonetheless gives her cause to celebrate. “I have sponsored my younger ones to school. Some have finished from polytechnic, some from colleges of education and one is finishing secondary school this year,” she smiled.

Madinat is not unaware of the fact that her venturing into car washing business in a society like Zamfara is bound to cast her as unusual, especially when many patrons say she may be the only female doing the job in the entire state. “I have heard that there are females who wash cars in Lagos, but I have not seen any during my stay there,” she shrugs.

Asked what she feels about what people think, she answered: “My father and my customers are happy with me, because I’m trying to eke out a living. They are happy, of course, and proud of me indeed, because I’m not stealing or doing any shady businesses or work.” Sometimes Madinat would opt out of the car-washing business, but her customers would oppose the decision.

But Madinat added: “My dad, however, always encourages me to find a husband and marry. Definitely, if I get a nice person, I will marry and have kids.”

Even as she relishes her achievements from the job, the challenge it presents is not lost on Madinat, who explained how she sustained a deep cut between a nail and the rest of her index finger as she washed a car engine. She quipped: “Washing cars is not easy business. You mess-up your hands, they become rough. And you can catch cold.” She smiled: “I look forward to a day when I can set up my own place and employ others to work for me, while I go back to school.”