A female Industrial Chemistry graduate of Ambrose Ali University, AAU, Ekpoma, Edo State, has become a vulcanizer in Abuja.
Sharon Edosa says she learnt the skill from her father and opted to engage in the trade after her graduation from the university rather than being idle.
“I don’t like staying indoors doing nothing; hence I decided to start the business to engage myself”, she says.
Sharon plies her trade at the Gwarimpa district of Abuja metropolis and does not consider her gender a barrier to her trade.
Her worry is that despite her display of professional dexterity on the job, prospective clients doubted her competence, while others make a mockery of her.
However she is resolute in her resolve to forge ahead, unwilling to succumb to the widely held belief that her chosen vocation was an exclusive preserve of the male.
“There is no job that is gender specific”, says Sharon who became a vulcanizer in 2020, “be happy in the field you find yourself; it is good to be different and unique”.
She added: “I am not ashamed to show the world what I do for a living.
Aside being a road-side vulcanizer, I also sell clothes, shoes and bags online to support my needs”.
Sharon’s father inspired her to venture into the trade and she says her family had achieved a lot from vulcanizing.
“My dad is a vulcanizer and the money he got from the vocation was used to feed and send my siblings and I to school,” she noted.
“When people look at me, they make side comments and people stare at me a lot, but I am used to the comments and stares now”, she says.
Sharon is unperturbed and encourages women to ignore gender-related perceptions and venture into any skill they desired to eke a living.
She would however accept a corporate employment if the opportunity comes her way.
“If I am offered a white-collar job now, I will accept the offer. It will help me raise more funds to expand my business”.
