I Stole My Skills From Men – Female Welder

Adaeze Ezenduka is a force to be reckoned with in Nigeria’s male-dominated welding industry. From Anambra State, this mother of five defied odds and broke barriers, ‘stealing’ knowledge from men to build a thriving business in Maiduguri, Borno State. A graduate of History from University of Maiduguri, Ezenduka spoke with THE WHISTLER on why she traded books for welding rods, leveraging her math skills to master the craft.

How did you start this profession?

Actually, nobody does this kind of business from the family I came from. When I got married, my ex-husband was not into this kind of business too. He was doing a petty business in the midst of people doing the welding jobs.
I am that person that has the ability to steal knowledge. My dad will always tell me when I was little that any opportunity I get to learn new things, I should utilise it because I don’t know what will help me in future. And that advice actually helped me. As of today, I have a lot of skills.
Now, it happened that after I got married, I discovered that things were not moving well. I started from selling pure water in front of my husband’s shop. And while I was selling it, I was watching what was going on in those welder shops. I discovered that it is more profitable. There are many interesting things about the business. But one major thing as a family person, was more about how profitable it was. I now advise my then husband that it is better we switch to the business.
I started learning the business by engaging with customers in other people’s shops. I would make friends with customers as they shopped, and I started handling some transaction for them. I would give them their change and take a small commission on the side. I wasn’t doing it just for the money, though – I wanted to understand the business inside out. I was curious about the ‘sizes of the doors, the gates, and everything’.
Since they mostly constructed doors, I picked up on that and leveraged my math skills. We would measure pipes in feet or meters, so I would calculate the materials needed for a door, tip-to-tip. I would figure out how many feet of pipe went into a door, then divide it by the number of pipes used. That way, I learned how many pipes it took to construct a door. Before I knew it, I had mastered most of those skills.

What year did you venture into this business?

I ventured into the business around 2006. It was on my husband’s name but when we divorced, it became Adaeze Iron And Steel Construction. Immediately after my secondary education, I gained admission into university. During my registration, I met my then husband. I was 19 years then. I got married around 2002. I was shuffling between house and school.
So, eventually when I graduated by 2006-2007. You know you have to wait for some time before going for the NYSC. That was when I invested the whole of my attention on the business. And I learnt it within a short period of time.

How long?

I can’t even say how long because I’m somebody that is capable of learning things very fast. Like with welding – there are different things you can weld, different sizes, materials, and techniques. But God gave me this ability: if I can calculate just one thing, I can figure out the rest. It’s a gift. I can’t say it’s something I had to devote time to; people I learned from didn’t even know I was learning. I “stole” the knowledge because if they had known, they wouldn’t have let me. Nobody wants competition, especially since I started the business and went further than most of them. I even knew more about the business than people I met in it.

How did you learn more than them? What was your approach?

I noticed people I met in business were handicapped by lack of education and knowledge – most couldn’t calculate materials needed for construction. For instance, I caught someone cheating my neighbour on materials. I measured a window myself, calculated the materials, and exposed the discrepancy. The guy working for him was unhappy, felt I exposed him. Education helps a lot too. I am smart and fast at learning, but education is a crucial factor in anything you do in life.

Did your former husband support your business pursuits?

I have always been a hustler – my dad made me one from age 14-15. He would send me from Bauchi to Onitsha on business trips, even when I was just a kid. I’m a twin, sixth-born child, and I had to adapt fast.
My husband discovered I was doing domestic things that brought in money – knitting cardigans, making scarves… I started a small provision business at home, selling pure water. His business wasn’t doing well, so I supported us financially. I would buy a bag of pure water, sell it, then buy more. Eventually, I was buying a full pickup.
I juggled school, shop duties, and cooking. No time for myself, but I was programmed to hustle. When I joined his shop, it was empty – I took a fridge to the shop to generate income. He didn’t argue because he knew I had skills and talent. He supported me, and that’s how we moved forward.

How were you coping with children and pregnancy?

One thing in life is that what shapes somebody in life mostly is from family upbringing. Number two is the school you attended. That is why the Bible says you should train up a child in the way you should do.
I earlier mentioned to you that from my father’s side. My father made me a workaholic and to top it all, he took me to a military school, Army Command Secondary School, Jos. So, in that military school you are always programmed. You don’t have time. So that helped me even when I finished my secondary education and I eventually got married and everything. I was doing everything smoothly without stress because I was already trained. Though at a particular point in time, especially when I was going to school, I got a nanny who I always dropped my daughter and my son with.

So as a woman in a male-dominated job, what are your challenges?

In the first place, men are always shocked to discover that a woman controls or does this kind of business. So even that kind of reaction comes even from my own customers.
Most times when they come to buy something and they want something constructed and they meet my boys outside. The boys will say, ‘let me take you to my Oga.’ When they come to me, the customer will shout in surprise “Ah! Mace ne”, which means she is a woman.
I could remember back then, there was one major who came to the shop and my children brought him to me. When he saw me, he was asking his boys, “you are taking me to a woman?” He was like, “madam; do you know double bunk?” I said, “yes”. I described it for him. He was shocked and turned back to his boys and said see what the men couldn’t even understand. So, they are always shocked.
Then the second one is that some of the men will never be happy with you. Most of them will begin to tackle you from here and there. Sometimes, they will even be instigating your workers.
Sometimes, they will even try to like say “eh, those people that are patronising you are befriending you” just to kill that spirit in you. Sometimes, they will tell your customers that your goods are not good.
They will even be saying it to your presence that a woman that bends to urinate is trying to compete with them. So, a lot of things. They try to bring your spirit down. If you are not strong, you will not be able to do it.

How do you protect yourself on the job, with gear and all?

We use various safety gear – welding boots protect feet and legs from injury, eyeglasses shield eyes from harsh welding light, and welding uniforms provide extra protection. The welding light is intense; even a brief glance can cause discomfort.
We keep a first-aid box with essentials like iodine, antiseptics, painkillers, scissors, and razors. It’s for emergencies – even with precautions, accidents happen. You treat the wound immediately, then head to the hospital if needed.

How many workers do you have?

Initially, when business was actually booming, I used to have up to 12, 15 workers. But currently, have 9 workers with me now, 2 girls and 7 boys.

So, is it insecurity that made the number reduce?

No, it’s not really about insecurity. You know, sometimes some of these boys are not patient to learn. That is one major thing. So, most times when you bring them, they are not even focused, even the ones I have now. I told their parents, they are not focused on learning the skill, they are focused on what you have kept.
Most times, their mind is towards how they steal something. when I discover such a boy, I will send the child away.
Now, another thing that has affected me from employing more people is the economic hardship and low patronage. I don’t know about others but the boys that I employ, though they come to learn from me, I still give them feeding money. Most times, at the end of the month, I will find something little to give them. And this way, you are not only learning work, you are also getting little something. Most of them come from poor backgrounds. When they finish learning the work, I will still employ them and pay them fully. If you want to go and open up your own or go somewhere to work, you go. I have a lot of boys that I have trained. Some of them opened their own, some of them are working in other places. My job is to give them a future, instead of staying idle. Most of this problem we have in Nigeria today is because of unemployment, especially in this North-East. There are boys that their parents don’t even want them to get educated and they are not learning any skill. So, most of them are the people that take this advantage. Like the current manager I have now, it may surprise you that he doesn’t know how to write, but he is very excellent in welding. So, you see, at least that kind of person can even employ a graduate if he finds his way.

How did the insecurity in the state affect your business?

It affected me seriously because before Boko Haram, I had customers from Chad, Niger and Cameroon. I was relying mostly from customers from outside the country. We worked from Mondays to Mondays. But the insurgency blocked everywhere. Most of them have died, some displaced. They no longer come to Maiduguri so it pulls the business back.

Are there girls among those people you have trained?

No girl has actually come to me but at a particular point in time, I had some sales girls that also said they were marvelled at how I learnt the work. And they were like, “Madam, I want to also learn this thing”. But you find out that in the long run, they get tired and stop because it is not really an easy work. This is a work that gives even the men tough time talk more of a woman. So, when they see me doing certain things with ease, they feel it is that easy. But when you are now trying to put them through, they will not be able to meet up.
There was even a married woman that met me one time that she wanted to come and learn this. I said you are free to come because I’m always willing to teach. At the end of the day, she told me she cannot do it. So, it’s a case of when you see somebody doing something, you enjoy the way the person is doing it. You feel it’s easy. And when they ask you to come and do it, you find out that you will not be able to do it. But then there are some ladies that were able to learn things like painting of doors and windows and fixing of glasses before they left my shop.

Can you walk me through the process of your work?

We have a workshop where we sample and work on projects. For doors and windows, we have pre-made options or custom designs. If you’re in a hurry, we have ready-made doors in various qualities and designs.You tell us your design, we bargain on price, buy materials, and construct it. Or you provide materials, and we build it. Prices vary by quality and material.
The prices for Windows range from N15,000 (toilet windows) to N80,000 (room windows, depending on quality). Door prices vary too. We have Nigerian materials (stronger, more expensive) and others. Nigerian iron, aluminium, and cable are top-notch. When someone asks for ‘pure black’ or ‘Nigerian material’, they want the best.

What is your advice for youths, especially the females…

Find that courage. You should not relent. There is always dignity in labour. There is nothing like free money. Youths these days want quick money. They are not ready to suffer. There is nothing good that comes easy. Whatever you put your determination, you will get. For girls, don’t feel scared that it is a man’s business. God can give you talent in many fields as far as you can use it to make ends meet.