Khadijat and Balkis Ore, students of Government Secondary School in Maraba, Ilorin, Kwara State, have gained widespread recognition for their exceptional skills as vulcanizers, breaking stereotypes in a traditionally male-dominated field.
Especially remarkable is the ease with which the two teenage secondary school girls, aged 13 and 15 respectively, fix faulty vehicle tyres in their father’s workshop, located at Fate area of Ilorin, after school hours. Patrons say the finesse of perfection they bring to bear in doing this is, to say the least, awesome.
Arewa Voice reliably gathered that the two girls of the same parents have never undergone any formal training on the job but have used raw passion and dedication to become stars in that vocation to the amazement of clients.
But Arewa Voice learnt that fate played a role in their acquiring the skill that may soon launch them into a new level in life. It was learnt that the sudden death of their mother, Abibat Ore, last November inspired them to join their father in the vulcanising business in order to make ends meet.
It was gathered that against the entreaties of relatives to take them to live with them in their respective locations, the two young girls opted to assist their father in carrying out the job of fixing flat tyres for motorists in Ilorin.
This was confirmed by Mr. Ore, the father, who said his wife’s death changed the vision of the two girls and brought them to work with him as tyre fixers.
Tunde Ore, 52, had a lot more to say in an interview with AV.
“The two of them did not use to come to my mechanic shop before now, preferring to stay with my wife at home whenever they returned from school. But when my wife died mysteriously in November last year, there was nobody they could stay with at home any longer. I had no choice but to ask them to be coming to the shop after each school day.
“What I never knew was that whenever I work, they used to study me very closely. All I know is that whenever I have work to do, the two of them will stand up, walk towards me, and be looking at me; I never knew they were learning the work; I thought they were just trying to assist me. But within three months, these girls became conversant with the work that I do routinely and they can do the same with confidence and pride. It is really amazing,” the proud father confessed.
“I went out in December last year, and by the time I returned to shop the two of them were actively doing the work, gauging tyres and fixing them for customers to my amazement and I could not stop them. I actually saw them from afar; they didn’t notice me. By the time I got closer to the shop, they quickly stopped what they were doing, staring at me and thinking that I would scold or beat them.
“I was surprised, and I asked them to continue what they were doing, using water with detergent to locate leakage spot, gumming and then putting on the machine to return air to the tyre with accurate gauge. The only issue at times, is that they do not have the strength to remove the tyre from the wheel and return them; but some customers promptly move in to assist them do that whenever I am not around.
“I get more patronage now whenever they are back from school due to the fact that many customers are quite excited to see them at work and patronise them. I cannot recall the number of successful male apprentices that had successfully passed through me because they are many, but I never had a female apprentice,” he said.
One of the customers, who regularly patronise the girls, Mallam Nurudeen Imam AbdulRaheem, told AV that he was about driving into the NNPC station right beside the vulcanising workshop to refuel his car when he spotted the girls working.
“I could not believe what I was seeing and I had to park and take my time watching them working. The two of them in joint efforts perfectly unscrewed the tyre from the wheel, inflated the tyre, then poured water with detergent to detect the faulty spot and then patched it.
“They later put solid gum around the tyre and inflated the it. I also had interactions with the girls too; I was really amazed at their spirit and passionate commitment,” Mallam AbdulRaheem said.
The Secretary of KBC, a stakeholders’ group in Kwara State, Taofeek Ademola Mustapha, told Arewa Voice that he was surprised seeing them confidently and expertly fixing tyres, something mostly seen as a man’s job because of the strength needed to succeed in the business.
“We have told the father to reach out to us, that we will continue payments of their school fees from now till the end of their secondary school education, “ he told AV.
Speaking with Arewa Voice, Balkis and Khadijat confirmed that they did not visit their father’s vulcanising shop until after the sudden demise of their mother in November last year.
“Since this is the work our father has been doing to send us to school and take care of us at home, the two of us have made up our minds to support him on this job to make things easier for him.
“He never knew that we had been studying him closely at work, even while running errands for him. Our father didn’t know we have been showing keen interest until the day he went out and one customer came.
“The first time we wanted to fix a flat tyre for a customer, the driver was reluctant, but we assured him that we would do the work very well. He was curious but eventually assisted us to remove the bad tyre from the rim and we fixed it perfectly well for him,” they claimed.
“The first time we did this, we thought our father would beat us; so we quickly left the work when we saw him, but to our surprise he encouraged us to continue the work.Since then we have been doing the work, whether he’s around or not. Whenever he’s not around we make money for him.”
On how they cope, doing this with their studies, Balkis who hopes to become an accountant, and Khadijat, a medical doctor in the future, told Arewa Voice that they always read in the shop when there’s no customer and also at home, particularly in the evening.
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Source: Vanguard
