Read how
i met Nigeria's unarguably oldest driver of a commercial vehicle still in
active service.
I had an
appointment at Alausa and while there, i got another call to report to Amuwo Odofin
urgently. I decided to leave the car at Alausa, board public transport to beat
traffic and also save the fuel i had as the fuel scarcity had built up.
As i
stood at the bus-stop a blue Toyota Sienna pulled up and discharged some
passengers. I saw the elderly lady driving the car and i thought those were her
staff that she dropped off but she remained for like 3 minutes and i noticed
the man beside me asking her if she was headed to Ketu she said no and her
faint voice replied "Ojota". Since i had spent about 20 minutes
waiting for a bus going to Oshodi i decided to follow her to Ojota and then
board another vehicle from there.
Like 2
minutes into the trip i advised her to put on her seat belt and she told me
that it chokes her as she is diabetic, and just returned from admission in the
hospital because her blood sugar level spiked terribly. Two things i noticed
immediately were her voice which was very calm, confident though low; and the
polished and courteous manner she replied me.
These now
pricked my interest to hear her story and it turned out to be very
disheartening.
Her
name is Mrs Felicia Chidi (Chief Ugonma). She is 58 years old and
from Enugu State. She told me that she had lived in USA and UK and she is a
trained nurse and worked in these countries as a nurse.
She had
lost her husband several years ago and she has two female daughters who are
married and resident in America but can't come to Nigeria for now. So right now
she lives with a little girl that keeps her company and helps her with house
chores in a border town in Ogun state but comes to Lagos daily to hustle with
her commercial driving to raise funds for her daily upkeep pending when ever
she gets money from her children who can't work yet.
So what
brought her back and why did she settle for driving a 'kabu-kabu' commercial
vehicle?
I had
directly asked her this question and had then informed her that i would love to
write about her. At that point i only had in mind to celebrate her hustling
spirit but her answer was most pathetic.
Chief now
informed me that like 2011 she was summoned from her base abroad that her
properties in Nigeria were being claimed by some land-grabbers.
She
informed me that she had built a mini estate comprising of 3 duplexes, 6
shops, 1 bungalow, 2 flats, on 43 Ogundana street, off Allen Ave, ikeja, Lagos.
But as
she rushed back, she realised that one Yoruba family had laid claims to her
entire estate which she said she has all her documents to including Certificate
of Occupancy. But the family claimed that they are the rightful owners. And had
taken her to court in her absence and judgment was also deliberated
and served in her absence transferring ownership to them.
That was
how she became homeless and houseless and moved from being a landlady of an
estate to becoming a tenant living outside Lagos State.
She said
she engaged the services of a lawyer who collected N1,500,000 from her yet did
not make any headway.
She now
cried to the family at Ikeja that sold the land to her and they also demanded
another huge amount from her before they would agree to bring out their original
family land register and testify on her behalf.
In the
course of going through all these the same family that forcefully took over her
properties, sent thugs armed with guns to her house and kidnapped her daughter,
took her valuables including plasma television sets and packed all into her
Toyota Sienna bus and told her to hand over her original title documents to the
said properties which she refused. They then told her that before they would
release her abducted daughter she would pay a ransom and they took her in
another vehicle to the bank where she withdrew her final savings and paid them
before they released her daughter.
This
event has also made her daughters so scared of returning to Nigeria. And as a
widow now battling ill-health and no money again, she got to her wit's end and
ended up using her Toyota Sienna to run commercial transportation.
Even
doing this has not come easy as she had to contend with different unions and
her fellow male drivers who found it very difficult accepting a female driver
in their midst. As she was enduring the physical and psychological trauma, her
car was also taking some bashings especially deliberate ones from the drivers
who wanted to frustrate her out of their park. But knowing that she won't have
another source of livelihood, she stood her grounds, enduring all sorts from
human beings and from ill-health as she was now taking ill more frequently,
spending the little money she makes on only food and medications.
Moreover,
her life is still not safe from those who had stolen her estate and even
kidnapped her daughter released only after receiving ransom payment.
I had
great pity and paid her for my fare, gave her more money and told her to close
earlier that day so she could rest. Immediately she collected the money, she
prayed for me and told me that her priority right then was to go to Ikeja
Under-Bridge and buy a used handset because she no longer even had any to make
or receive calls. She promised to call me once she gets a handset and
reactivated her line but as i type this, i haven't heard from her. Though as
soon as possible, i will still go look for her.
I
promised her that i will write about her and pray that she gets justice.
Source: http://www.naijacarlovers.com/2016/03/meet-nigerias-oldest-female-commercial.html?m=1 ..naijacarlovers.com
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Society