By Caleb Jacob
Hundreds of electric commercial tricycles driven by women exclusively for female passengers are set to hit Kano City to ease transportation costs and harassments faced by women and pupils in the pyramid city.
Currently, six female riders—mostly graduates—are already test-riding in the city. They have been empowered and trained by a non-profit organization to complement the government’s efforts in the transport sector.
In this special report, Grassroots Parrot spoke with some of the pioneering female riders who shared their inspiring sojourn in the competitive sector traditionally dominated by men.
Mary Michael, a student of the Federal College of Education Kano and mother of two, was an advance sales rep in the market. She boldly took advantage of an opening for interested female tricycle riders in Kano.
As a sales rep, driving to Bichi, Wudil, and other remote villages daily with insufficient pay became stressful; hence her move for a more flexible business that required her roving within town.
“A day, you’ll go to three places; sometimes you’ll go to Bichi, Wudil, and sometimes it’s for me to go far, so I decided that this is more preferable since it is within town,” explained Mary.
Mary’s family members were initially skeptical about the move, citing possible harassment, mockery, and competition amongst male counterparts. But she assured them that she was equal to the task.
She said, “When I told them I wanted to start, they said, ‘You cannot do it; you don’t know they’ll harass you on the road.’” I said no, I can do it.
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“My sister said, ‘Collect it and give it to somebody so that they will be balancing you.’ I said no; I want to drive it. She said, ‘How would you do with these children?’ I told her I can manage it.”
Despite running from 3 pm to 7 pm only on major roads due to safety reasons, Mary earns about N60,000 shuttling Kano Municipal, Fagge, and Ungogo LGA weekly.
According to her, “In a day, sometimes we get N15,000, N12,000, N10,000. So, it’s profitable.”
However, Nigeria’s economic crisis is taking a toll on the business, as some passengers often refuse to pay the regular fee, claiming that since their tricycles were electric, it should be less than petrol-powered tricycles.
“From Ibo Road down to Jaba is N350,” she said, adding that “if they see that the keke is electric, they’ll say, ‘No, we will not pay N350. Fuel is taking N350; you too want to take N350?’ Some of them only give us N300.”
Just like Mary, a 48-year-old master’s degree holder and mother of three, Amina Abdulsalam needed a side hustle to complement her private teaching classes. She also received reprimands from family members.
Amina, who shuttles Fagge to Nasarawa, Ugongo, and Kano Municipal LGAs, narrated how some female passengers initially rejected her. But her male counterparts have been supportive.
She said some of the male riders “would even give you advice on how to navigate the roads, negotiate with passengers, and so on.”
Like Mary, despite the challenging economy, depending on the number of trips, Amina could earn N5,000 in three hours.
READ ALSO: Fuel Price Hike In Kano Triggers Economic Hardship,Transportation Crisis
She revealed how she gives preference to the elderly and pupils in junior school. According to Amina, “We consider people’s situations—we don’t normally charge the exact amount for elderly people and school children.”
Unlike the common yellow tricycles in town, Mary and Amina’s unique pink and black ride, powered with two batteries, can contain a maximum of eight passengers—six behind and two flanking the rider.
The tricycles were provided for hire purchase by a non-profit organization, Mata Zallah Cooperative Society, through a commercial bank with repayments expected daily for a period of 36 months.
The initiative, according to the founder of the organization, Hajiya Hauwa Ahmad Tarauni, was birthed six years ago following recurrent incidents of harassment of female passengers and the non-inclusion of women in Kano’s transport system.
With this, the female riders have been barred from picking male passengers except male pupils. This means female drivers would only give rides to female passengers.
Madam Hauwa explained that “This project is meant only for women and small children like primary pupils—not secondary students. We don’t accommodate men in it at all because we want separation.”
“Women are facing so much harassment, like stealing of handsets, stealing of bags, and also sexual harassment. Our girls, at times when they were in the keke napep, would be influenced by the male rider not to go to school and change their attitudes,” she added.
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According to Hauwa, over 200 females were trained initially, with 120 riders set to hit the street by mid-December after the ongoing test-riding.
She also noted that the reason for the choice of electric tricycles stems from the need to protect the environment from the effects of climate change compounded by the emission of fossil fuels. Insert
“The world is facing challenges of climate change, so I said, let me use electric keke napep so that we can have a sustainable environment, and at the same time, the women will be economically empowered,” she buttressed.
As the public anticipates the Amazon riders, Hauwa is appealing for the government’s support and investment in more tricycles so that more female riders can join the fold.
See the video below: