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• Story of Enugu-born female mechanic in Kaduna
From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
GENERALLY, automobile engineer-
ing, aka “mechanic” is one of those vo-
cations largely associated with male per-
sons. Or are found in male-dominated
environments and workshops.
The mechanic bias for the masculine
is more profound in Northern Nigeria,
where as a matter of culture and religion,
a vast majority of men restricts women
– wives, daughters, and sisters – from
public glare or from engaging in such
energy-sapping vocations and tasks.
Twenty-year-old Mata Peter Okafor is
one of those new kids who are changing
the old narration about who should be
a mechanic. Kaduna born Okafor, who
hails from Enugu State would rather
travel the road less travelled.
Years after her secondary education,
she elected to be apprenticed to a me-
chanic at one of the largest Nigeria’s
automobile workshop, at the Mogadishu
Barracks in Kaduna metropolis. There
with a combination of passion and talent,
she has since become a household brand
in her little world.
When Daily Sun visited the ever-
busy mechanic village, the manner she
handled her spanners and other working
tools was indeed eye-catching.
Her growing expertise was soon vin-
dicated, as the single cabin van she was
working on, not long afterward, coughed
back to life as she pressed the throttle.
But how did she find her way to the
mechanic workshop? Who inspired her
to a trade meant for the menfolk? Why
was she not attracted by vocations like
hairdressing and event management?
These are the questions on several lips
as the reporter walked up to her at the
workshop on this bright and beautiful
afternoon.
She narrated: “I was born and brought
up here in Kaduna State though my fa-
ther hails from Enugu State while my
mother is from Akwa Ibom.
“I have spent just a year and eight
months learning this trade and I’m se-
riously getting along, getting along
smoothly. I just developed a passion
for this vocation and so far, it has been
nice and good. I hope and I’m trusting
God that I will master it to a point of ef- ficiency, no matter how short or long it
takes me.
“I know it is a male-dominated envi-
ronment, but I’m here to carve a niche
for myself in this very male-dominated
environment and workshop.
I love positive and reasonable chal-
lenges like this one and there is no stop-
ping me for sure.
“No one in my family is a mechanic
and I don’t even have any mechanic
close to me before this time.
“I had been telling my parents from
my childhood that I’d love to be a me-
chanical engineer. But, they never took
me seriously until I finished my second-
ary education in 2020 and reminded
them that I was ready to hit the ground
running.
“Initially, my father opposed my pas-
sion but my mother never opposed it.
But today, my parents and my siblings
are in support. With their support, for example, I spend N700 daily on trans-
port alone because we live at Sabo area,
which is a bit far from here.
“I came this far to learn the work or
because I wanted to be trained in a big
mechanic workshop where the inflow
of work is regular and customers are al-
ways around. It is interesting because the
workshop is just the way I thought about
it before coming.
“With God on my side, I see myself
opening a big mechanic village and hav- ing a lot of people working with me. I
also want to implore girls to venture into
other seemingly men-dominated busi- ness environments just as men are now
venturing into women-dominated busi- ness spaces like hair making and make- up.”
She said she is open to support and
funding from government, corporate organisations and other spirited indi-
viduals, especially those that would help
assist her with modern working tools to
enable her blend with the current techno-
logical drive.
Her principal, Samuel Joseph, ac-
knowledged her curiosity, focus and
dedication to work, insisting that she was
more reliable and better than his other
male apprentices in his workshop.
He recalled that he would never have
accepted her as a result of her sex, but
for fate:
“It was her uncle who approached me
that he had a sister who would like to
learn this mechanic work. I specialised
in Mercedes and Toyota vehicle brands.
“I laughed at him when he said his
sister because that sounded strange to
me, especially in this part of the coun-
try. I asked him why she should not be
allowed to further her education and he
said, ‘that was what she wanted’.
“When he brought her, I asked if she
was ready to learn the vocation and she
nodded affirmatively. She said nobody
asked or forced her to learn it, adding
that she grew up with a passion for the
job.
“That was how I asked her uncle to get
for her tools so she could learn practi-
cally from day one which he did.
“Since she started working, she has
been dedicated to her job even more than
the other male apprentices that I have
here. I can see her graduating because
she is very well on the job.
“This is a kind of young Nigerian that
should be celebrated and supported to get
to the pick of her job instead of promot-
ing nudity and other uncultured behav-
iours we see around the country today.
Let’s identify and promote excellence.”
