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Automobile repairs have a feminine face in Edo State. In line with the Edo state government youth empowerment scheme, the governor, Godwin Obaseki has hired some ladies as mechanics to work on the maintenance and repairs of government vehicles. A highly impressed Obaseki is seeking to expand the portfolio of work for the Lady auto-mechanics.
By Amole Olatunde
In a society where certain jobs are the preserve of men such as auto repairs, Edo State is helping to break cultural and economic barriers to fill skill gaps.
As the former Chairman of Edo State Economic Team under immediate past Governor Adams Oshiomhole, Obaseki is already conversant with the areas government should cut waste. This led to his decision to hire the ladies to work on abandoned vehicles left behind by successive administrations in the state.
Obaseki who now bears the sobriquet, “Wake Up and See Governor”, because of the way he carries out his urban renewal project and sanitation exercise in Benin-City at midnight, had attended the graduation ceremony of some female mechanics under the auspices of the Lady Mechanics Initiative, a non-governmental organization led by Edo State born Sandra Aguebor on November 29, 2016. It was at the ceremony he announced that he would engage the female mechanics to repair government vehicles.
Obaseki had offered to partner with the Lady Mechanic Initiative. “I commend this initiative because this is in line with my agenda for job creation and youth empowerment. The challenges we face today; the challenge of unemployment, the challenge of rebuilding our communities and society are not the challenges that rest on one arm of government or one institution alone. They are challenges that all of us must combine together to deal with – whether you are government, whether you are civil society, whether you are private sector”.
According to the initiator of the scheme, Aguebor, over 100 vehicles have been fixed at a cost which the Secretary to the State Government, Osarodion Ogie, said was less expensive to government.
“This is a God-sent governor because he has looked at the faces of women in this state and decided to empower us. Now we are in-charge of the maintenance of government vehicles and repairs and that has given women hope in this country. As the founder of this initiative, this has really encouraged me to do more”.
“The drive in me is more than it used to be because, as we speak today, we have more women coming to join the Lady Mechanics Initiative. Obaseki has brought dignity back to the womenfolk. He may not know what he has done for women and God will continue to bless him. I have over 1,000 female mechanics nationwide. We are getting more in Benin and, with this support from Obaseki, who has given us this opportunity to be fixing government vehicles, we are going to have more women now,” said Aguebor.
