Ordinarily, there’s nothing new about his trade, but the fact that he is 70 years old, and depends on the same business to take care of more than one wife and sponsor his children’s education makes him different from others.
Ahmadu in a chat with our correspondent in Kano disclosed that the unavailability of a white-collar job as a result of his lack of formal education pushed him into the trade mostly considered to be for unfortunate youth, while the idea of taking care of his family in accordance with his religion motivated him to become a professional.
As a father, Ahmadu married off his daughters and sons with proceeds from the same business which is very surprising as he sells his product on a certain spot at a biweekly market in Kano called Larabar Mata, situated at Hotoro area of Kano State.
The biweekly market, which operates on Wednesdays and Saturdays was originally established when a leprosy hospital was built in the area.
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“I have no shop now, but many years back I did. It was a pretty big one with two apprentices that I trained. I was the boss; and taught them everything they needed to know about the business. I paid for their lunch and allowance every week. Then one day, the government announced that it’s going to renovate markets including ours. We were happy back then because it meant healthier environment and more profit. Unfortunately, after the renovation, the shops became very expensive, so I relocated to Larabar Mata market,” Ahmadu narrated.
“What I am getting from the business is not much but we are managing. If I can get all the necessary modern machines needed for the job, I can take care of my family properly. And it is not just me, I think all the people that are into trades like mine will tell you the same thing. Government in Nigeria is indifferent to such kind of things. But take a look at those developed countries, you’ll see that government makes effort to recognise talents and find a way to improve on what they do and make it beneficial to citizen, and even spread it to the rest of the community to reduce unemployment. But here in Nigeria, I assure you foreigners will come and take one look at the business, modernise it and take over the market with more profit and benefit than us. And even the government will patronise them with huge amount of money when it was initially its own people’s idea.”
He is self-taught
“I did not attend school of any kind (apart from the traditional Islamic school called Allo), thus did not learn how to repair or make those electronics from anybody or the internet. Initially, I started by repairing damaged torchlights or replacing some components inside, then later moved to repairing and amassing transistor radios. Due to years of experience, I came to understand how the wires and components inside were supposed to be assembled and linked with one another to operate, and how they look like when they are functioning and otherwise.
“My loyal customers are mostly women, they’ll bring their damaged torchlights or radio for me to repair or to buy a new one from me from various parts of the state. Some will even change their mind from repairing their broken ones to buying one of my handsome creations, because as you can see for yourself, I like being creative,” he said with a smile.
“It might not be a man’s dream job, but on a good day, I can get N5,000 and above, sometimes less than that. Even though that wasn’t the case years ago, but it is okay for a man who has grown up sons that are now of age and assists him with the little they can spare to take care of their three mothers and siblings,” he added.
‘None of my sons want to tow my career path’
Ahmadu disclosed to Daily Trust Saturday that even though he used the same trade to send his children to school back then, none of them volunteered to follow in his footsteps after growing up.
“Like I told you, I started this business from my youthful days. I got married and took care of my children with it to this day. Also, unlike myself, I send my children to modern schools. But despite all these, none of them wanted to toe my line of business and I am okay with that. They have their own choices and businesses. But who knows whether my younger sons and grandchildren will do in the future,” he said.
‘I need help to take youths off the street’
Ahmadu said that if it is possible, he would do well with an intervention either from the government or philanthropists as it will provide job opportunity not just for him, but for youths in general.
“As you know, every business needs innovation to thrive in this modern world. So, if the government or any philanthropist can assist me, I’ll be more than happy. They don’t even have to give me money, all I need is the modern apparatus and a workshop to work with less stress. If I get that, apart from assisting an old man that has almost lost everything but refused to give up, I can train youths, especially those ones that did not have the privilege of acquiring modern education just like me, making them less problem for the government to worry about,” he appealed.
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