As the first Lady Mechanic in Nigeria, Sandra Aguebor is a household name within and outside the country. The rugged, innovative, brilliant and highly resourceful auto-mechanic spoke to Sina Fadare at her Benin City workshop, about her passion and why impacting lives will always be her hallmark.
Tell us about the journey so far.
IT was challenging but when you have a burning ambition, you follow it to a logical conclusion. It is just as easy as one making soup in the kitchen. All what I have been doing and which people are applauding is just the beginning of where I am headed. My target is 2030, when we would have over 10,000 lady mechanics, auto electricians and women going into different areas of specialty in automobile engineering.
As we speak, we have over 1,000 female mechanics in five states of the federation; namely Kano, Kaduna, Abuja, Lagos and Benin. I am just starting and will not rest on my oars until the gospel is spread to all the 36 states of the federation. I will not do it alone, all those that l have trained will also become trainers; they will go to their different states and become trainers. I see women creating waves at the end of the day. Soonest we are going to produce made in Nigerian cars.
How and where did the passion come from?
I had a dream at the age of twelve, where Jesus Christ was teaching me how to fix a car. There was no member of my family who was a mechanic before me. I entered the mechanic workshop very close to my father’s house at the age of thirteen to fix a car. My father then was president of the Farmers’ Association. I attended Benin Technical College in the ’80s and eventually worked in Edo Transport Service almost 27 years ago. After I finished from the Lagos Business School, I had a flourishing mechanic workshop in Lagos before moving over to Benin.
The Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki is breaking the ceiling already in the area of giving women opportunities to excel. You now find women going into carpentry and spraying of houses. The era of prostitution by Benin ladies is gone. They never had any role models or people who could give them opportunities. Now that Obaseki is offering the opportunity on a platter of gold, it is by-gone to the days of women prostitution in Benin.
Lady Mechanic Initiative (LMI) started in 2004; I have been a lady mechanic for 30 years, with a flourishing workshop in the last 24 years. I have travelled wide and near on this project and I have met who is who in this country, trying to propagate the idea of women mechanic. A lot of international organisations and countries like Germany, France and Britain have been sponsoring Lady Mechanic Initiative. What we are doing is to bring back dignity to womanhood; to pass a message that women can also flourish in men-dominated professions.
I am happy to see women coming up to assist their husbands at home, thereby lessening violence and abuse from their husbands. When a child grows up in a family where there is no rancor or violence, there is peace in the society. LMI is trying to eliminate poverty among women and give them the opportunity to be economically independent. When you are properly trained, you don’t need to go too far to look for a job, you can easily start your own business.
In the past, Edo State was labeled as a haven for prostitution and human trafficking, what is the situation now?
That was the impression of some people but it is not so. I do not share that belief. I am telling you that even that impression has changed; the governor has changed such old tag to a new one where women are taking the lead. You can see the LMI example; it has been duplicated in all other areas. The governor has restored dignity and sense of belonging into the mind of the average Edo woman. Soon other states will join the moving train.
The governor challenged us to fix all the damaged and abandoned government vehicles; and you can see how we have turned things around. A lot of people actually thought the governor bought some new vehicles. I am using this medium to admonish Edo ladies to tap into the new opportunity offered them on a platter of gold to be able to fend for themselves and restore their dignity. Nobody thought we could do what we are doing today but this is just the beginning. When you see the cars on the road, you would think they are new. We are doing new innovations and critical thinking on how we can manufacture our own spare parts, so that we would not rely on importation alone. I am appealing to other state governors to give women the opportunity to prove their potentials in their chosen vocations, particularly in the area where men have dominated.
You left your lucrative business in Lagos to relocate to Edo, what informed this?
I am spiritual in all my activities. I belong to Edo; however Lagos State gave me the rare opportunity to make a good living out of my vocation. The city drilled me, put me on my toes all the time and made me believe in myself. Lagos State was the first to take up this initiative and demonstrate belief in Lady Mechanics; and since then I have not looked back. I still have a flourishing workshop in Lagos, but I had to come to Edo because I believe in the governor and his passion to develop and take the state to the next level, and I want to be part of his success story.
I have been in Benin since 2009 when we undertook the Coca-cola project and trained 100 girls in the state in extensive auto mechanic for five years. That is why Edo State is today the trail-blazer when you are talking about female mechanics in the country. All what we are doing is to prove that LMI can empower ladies without using government resources. We have proved it several times and we are recording successful stories.
As long as the auto mobile companies are producing cars, lady mechanic will always get something creative doing. All what we are requesting for is that just ten percent of the vehicles on the road should be given to us to maintain and we will always have a source of livelihood. I am appealing to all women all over the country to key into the vision of LMI, which can be replicated in any part of the country so that Nigerian women will no longer spend their entire lives in the kitchen but get something doing to assist their husbands.
All the political office holders can also key into this initiative in order to assist their communities. Buying of machines, hairdressing equipment and Keke NAPEP as empowerment tools should be modified to include engineering, so that after extensive training, the trainer can go to their respective communities to train more women, so that in the long run, poverty would be defeated from among our women folk. In the river-rine area of the country, women can be trained to service speed boats. This is part of the dream of LMI.
How have you being able to cope in the area of sourcing fund for the Initiative?
I have my own workshop in Lagos that I set up almost twenty years ago. From the proceeding l got, l did a good savings and ploughed it back into the NGO. I was happy doing it because it is a divine calling and I enjoy rendering such a service to humanity. My best cloths are my overall, T shirts and jeans trouser that will make me agile while on duty.
Where do you see the LMI in years to come?
We have a big dream, soonest we are going to start producing our own spare parts like brake pads and other car accessories. We are going to start manufacturing these accessories, so that people within and outside the country will come and patronise us. We are looking at a time when a lot of women will have their own garage and in addition a Lady Mechanic village, where you are going to see an assemblage of women mechanics in different areas working together in a workshop village throughout the country. We are starting in Benin; the Oba has donated hectares of land for us to actualise our dream.
Also we are looking into creating workshops in most secondary schools, to attract them at that tender age into various vocational skills. Soon also, there will be mobile mechanic shops that will be run by women and you can demand for their service anywhere you are. We can come to your door step to service your car.