EKO NEWS
Striking Story Of Rasheedat, Mama Put Seller Turn Korope Bus Driver In Berger
- Rasheedat Oluwatoyin Aduke, a fashion designer, mother of three, and a Lagos female commercial bus driver defiles the odds to make a living…
EkoHotBlog reports that In the last year, Rasheedat has been ferrying passengers between Berger and Agege in Lagos State.
Before opting to sit behind the wheels of a commercial bus, Rasheedat was managing her shop where she prepare and sell food (mama put). She turned to transportation because “of the hike in food prices and low turnout on customers patronage”.
See Video Below.
Nigeria’s economy has not been all rosy for a few years and people’s purchasing power has taken a massive hit as unemployment rates are spiking.
The COVID-19 pandemic worsened the situation, plunging the economy into the second recession in less than three years.
43% of Nigeria’s approximately 209 million people are living below the poverty line, figures by World Poverty Clock obtained on March 24, 2021, showed.
It means that average Nigerians who have acutely low purchasing power are struggling to feed as food inflation rises. However, the rich and poor must move around.
With her business having unencouraging patronage due to the harsh economic realities, she had to find another way.
“everybody must go out every day. Either looking for their daily bread or doing one thing or the other. So, definitely, we get more income from the bus.”
Aduke’s foray into public transportation challenges the status quo in the sector which is male-dominated over the years.
Oftentimes, men occupied the road either as motorcyclists, tricyclists, bus drivers or trunk drivers and are undebatable occupiers of top positions in the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW). In recent times, the industry is witnessing the upsurge of women who are willing to do all they could to succeed in the business.
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According to Aduke, she bought her fairly used mini bus on hire purchase at the rate of N1.5M. Currently, she pays N10,200 to the owner of the tricycle weekly and will continue to do so for a period of nine months. Already, she has paid N900,000 in five months.
Despite the task of completing the payment, she feels her gender as a female rider puts her in better stead against her male colleagues.
To these women, extortion and multiple levies paid to road unions are a source of constant headaches.
Moreover, the assumption of women being weak rears its head every now and then. Hence, they put up a strict attitude to fend off sexual harassment and other forms of aggression.
The International Labour Organisation said in 1998 that some “occupations, like taxi drivers, health care workers, teachers, social workers, domestics in foreign countries, people working alone, especially in late-night retail operations, are at higher risk than others of experiencing such violence.”
ILO said women “are especially at risk”. These women are aware of the risks.
However, Rasheedat said she gets encouraged by her passengers, most often, she becomes a topic of discourse on the bus, and most importantly the urge to give and train her kids, giving the best of all they need keeps her motivated.
Rasheedat’s kids
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