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I want to produce 100 women train drivers in 2yrs – Ilorin born Nigeria’s first female train operator

By Mumini AbdulKareem
An Ilorin born female train operator, Issa Fatimah Abiola has said that he intend to produce one hundred female train drivers in two years.
The story of Abiola who is the first female train operator in the Nigeria went viral in many social media mediums and online platforms in the state after she was featured in the Pidgin English segment of the BBC.
In the 3 minutes, 11 seconds clip video clip which was obtained by National Pilot, the history maker went down memory lane to narrate her inspiration and challenges as the first female train operator in the country adding that she was determined despite the mockery from colleagues and people.
She said: When I started, people were saying, what can a woman do? Even some men that know how to drive the train, all of them laughed at me that within a year, I will run away.
“What inspired me to become a train driver was when I was around 12 years old, my grandfather and I were passing and I saw a train passed through my town in Ilorin. I asked him what it was and he told me it’s a big long car. I said I will try to drive it in future and he laughed.
“After my secondary school, I tried to join a company named CCECC as a domestic staff. But after I got admission, I was worried how I will cope with both work and school. The company however gave me a chance to go to school in the morning, then return in the evening to work, so that was how I started. Later, I realized that CCECC is also into construction and operation of rail. They saw I have interest and one of my bosses decided they will train me and here I am today making history” she added.
According to her “What really interest me the most as a train operator is that sometimes when I’m going, people just keep staring at me like I’m a white person but we’re of the same skin colour and the respect I always get from other women beyond my expectations which gives me a lot of interest in the job.
Abiola further added that the challenges she was facing now waking up on time early morning to catch up with work schedule
“If you’re late for a seconds in train transport, you’re late. To wake up very early in the morning and start working to meet up with the daily activities is a very big challenge for me”.
She advised other women interested in operating a train to defeat the fear factor and be determined irrespective of how people reacted to it.
“My advice for other young ladies that want to become train drivers is that with the development of the railway sector in Nigeria, there is a need for lot of female drivers and they should also not to be scared to do the unfamiliar as long as they have the determination to do it.
“People will mock you but at the end of the day you will understand that, what a man can do a woman can do better. My goal in the next two, three years is that, I should be able to train more than a hundred girls on how to drive trains and also be the best train drivers in the in the whole world.

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