By Our Correspondent
A 21-year-old female truck driver, Ms Omolade Ademola, from Ogbomosho, Oyo State, said the longest journey she drove was from Ogun State to Gombe State, in her three-year experience in truck driving.
The young lady learnt truck driving in the Ajah-Eleko area of Lagos State, after her senior secondary school examination, SSCE, adding that she has driven to Akure, Ilorin and Osogbo, which are capital cities of Ondo, Kwara, and Osun states, respectively.
She made this known in an exclusive interview with Vanguard, adding that driving has been her passion since childhood.
“I started driving three years back. I love driving, so it is what I love to do. My name is Omolade. I’m a female truck driver. I started driving a truck three years back. I learnt how to drive a truck along the Ajah area to the Eleko axis to Ijebu-Ode, in Ogun State. I grew up in Ogun state,” Ademola said.
“I usually go to Akure, Ilorin and Osogbo. I’ve gone to Gombe State and this was the longest journey I’ve covered. It was not my truck, but I drove another truck down there, though I wasn’t the only one. All I have trained about is the length of the truck. Right from the beginning, my focus is truck. It is what I wish to do that is why I’m not scared. I love driving very well.”
She further said that driving is her passion. And that her parents opposed the idea of driving a truck for a living when she initially told them. But, she did not relent in learning it, and her friends are interested in learning how to drive now.
“Driving is my passion. I don’t really know what led me there. Driving is my hobby. I stopped my education at SS3. After that, I told my friend that I wanted to learn how to drive a truck. I told my family too, and they all thought I was joking. They first asked me not to do it, and when they saw my seriousness, they obliged me.
“Initially, my parents were scared, but when they observed it was what I wanted to do and that it was my passion, they asked me to go ahead. I resisted their discouragement, and they allowed me eventually. My friends thought I was joking or that I was driving for fun, they didn’t know I was serious about it.
“Most of my friends that initially tried to talk me out of it are now coming to say I should teach them how to drive,” she said.
Talking about the challenges, she said they are ordinary daily odds of life such as having a flat tyre, except if she wants to urinate while in the traffic on the highway.
“There are many challenges just like when there is traffic on the road, and I want to pee. There are a lot of people that would be looking at me as to who is this young girl jumping out of a truck. Another challenge is having a flat tyre or when my truck breaks down. But, I don’t see them as challenges, I see them as part of my daily work,” Ademola added.
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