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Cameroon: Judith, the 'Okada' Woman
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The Post (Buea)
8 May 2008
Posted to the web 8 May 2008
Elvis Tah
Rather, she puts on trousers and at times, a helmet, and joins other commercial motor bike riders at Ekona to catch some dough.
Judith Neng Chia, 27, who hails from Njinikom, Northwest Province, a spinster and mother of one, is one of those rare species of girls who have dispelled claims that women folk are the weaker sex.
At first sight, one may be tempted to believe that she is a boy, judging from her mannerisms and the way she handles her motorbike. She rides the bike with verve and aesthetics; she could ride while standing or even suspending thes front tyres in the air.
Neng has a knack for 'masculine' activities; she does bricklaying, mechanics and at times, she is hired to split firewood. That is not all; she also drives buses and taxis whenever she has not been entrusted to a bike. In Ekona and its environs, Neng is fondly called 'iron lady'.
When this reporter first saw her, she was ferrying two male passengers.
"I have been riding motorbikes for about six years now. Way back in Bamenda, my father, John Tiibam Chia, had a bike and I used to take it out of the house and steam it in the morning. I stealthily took it out whenever my father was not in, to meet experts who taught me how to ride," Neng says.
She said when she migrated to the SW, she was jobless, but with her skills in motorbike riding, she looked for a bike and joined the commercial bike riders.At the beginning, Neng revealed, she encountered a lot of criticisms and stigmatisation from various quarters but, as she put it, she developed thick skin in her domain and now goes about her business without dither.
"Some of my mates were ridiculing me at first; they called me names, saying I shall never marry because men don't like women who are masculine. But when they discovered that I was adamant, they gave up. I even opted to teach some of them but they were frightened."
To Neng, the trade is relatively lucrative especially to owners of motorbikes.
"At times, I can realise about FCFA 8000. On a normal working day, during peak hours, I can realise up to about FCFA 16000," said Neng with a beam.
Like her male counterparts, Neng would double or even triple passengers on her bike.
"When I have two or three passengers, I am forced to bribe the policemen at checkpoints who usually taunt me for doing a 'masculine' job." That, notwithstanding, some policemen prefer not to receive bribe from me.
Rather they encourage me and are always ready to support me whenever I have a misunderstanding with my male colleagues," she stated.Neng, who had studied auto-mechanics at Cameroon Opportunity Industrialisation Centre, COIC, Buea, but did not complete her trade because of finances, has the desire to buy her own bike, or a bus and join the inter-urban transport sector as a female bus driver.
She said she is not afraid of the road, hear her: "When I had not acquainted myself with the High Way code, I was afraid of the road especially when a lorry is coming from the opposite direction, but gradually, I became used to it.
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Right now, I have a firm grip of the steering,"She disclosed that she has ridden bikes to Douala, Kumba, and she intends to go as far as Yaounde. Neng told The Post that passengers prefer her to her male counterparts because they believe that a woman is more prudent than a man.
"At the bike rider's union meeting, my male colleagues prefer that I handle important post of responsibility, but I tell them that I don't want to be an executive," Neng says.Concerning her social life, Neng said she has a boy friend who loves and encourages her. "My boy friend usually gives me money to fuel my bike.
He doesn't care about what other say about a woman who is a commercial bike rider. To him, it is a means to an end no matter the gender." She maintained.She stated that through her line of work, she is able to send her child to school, pay her house rents and foot all of her bills.
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