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Why I dumped my PhD to drive taxi’ ...female cabbie says she’s now a celebrity
by Abddullahi Yahaya Bello & Amina Alhassan *
As the famous saying goes, what a man can do, a woman can do even better. Mercy Gabriel has taken to taxi-driving, which is 
a supposedly male-dominated job and that is a very rare situation in Nigeria. But interestingly enough, she is not your usual run-of-the-mill kind of woman – she is a PhD holder.
a supposedly male-dominated job and that is a very rare situation in Nigeria. But interestingly enough, she is not your usual run-of-the-mill kind of woman – she is a PhD holder. She told Weekly Trust that she is not a conventional person, as one would expect her to be lecturing in one of the nation’s Ivory Towers. Though she has published four books, she said she has always had plans to run a transport company. But all of a sudden, she lost her husband. She struggled to overcome widowhood and later picked up a job with the United Nations, which she had to quit under controversial circumstances. At this juncture, she decided to start actualising her dream by converting her only car to a cab. She said she hit the road in May this year, and since then has not looked back.
Excerpts:
How did you go from PhD-holder to cab driver?
Mercy Gabriel: I got married to Professor I. I. Gabriel, the former Dean of Faculty of Law, Unijos, in 1992. He died suddenly in 2004. Since then, I have not been able to collect his entitlements. Although I moved on after the death, but it was a painful experience that I do not like talking about. To be able to move on in life, I had to pick up a job with the United Nations (UN) from 2005, though I was on consultancy contract with them just to pay my bills. Later, I thought of a regular job, because consultancy work is usually just for one or two years. So I needed something that would sustain my children and me longer and also drag my dream along. And here I am as a taxi driver independent of anybody and not begging.
I am from Anambra State. I grew up and had my early education there. From there, I went to the University of Jos to do my first degree in Theatre Arts and went back for my master’s in Law and Diplomacy, on which I later did my PhD. I have written two books and two novels. I worked under the UN High Commission for Refugees as an assistant community service officer.
What actually happened to your husband’s entitlements and benefits?
Gabriel: There was much politics that was being played as they kept coming up with different stories for me. Then later, they said that the name of the next of kin for my late husband was that of his half-brother, which I contested and said I had contrary evidence.
I took the case to court and eventually the judgment came in October 2007 asking the University of Jos to pay the money in this order - 35% to me, 34.2% to two relatives who are both abroad. And since October 2007 till date, the University of Jos has refused to implement that court judgment.
At a time, they went back to court and said that they could not pay because they had not calculated the money because they needed time to do so. Since 2007, they have been calculating the money. This year, I had to take it upon myself to write to the National Universities Commission and Servicom; it was then they replied and sent some documents that they had been working on it. Then Servicom said that it is not only the University of Jos that should pay my husband’s benefits; that the National Commission for Refugees is supposed to pay him his severance package as well as the life insurance package since he died in active service.
So three weeks ago, the new commissioner asked me to write a letter requesting for the benefits and entitlements, which I did and they said they were going to process and send to the Head of Service and the Secretary to the Federal Government. So that is where I stopped with them three weeks ago. Since then, I have not heard anything.
And your PhD?
Gabriel: I have my PhD in law and diplomacy. It’s funny. I know how people view taxi-driving, because they are always amazed when they get to know that I have a PhD. Well, maybe because of the concept people have, but that taxi you see on the road is the seed of my faith. I never knew I was going to make it but these things were already in a concept I have developed. It is not at this level that I developed it. The level I had anticipated was to have my own fleet of cars and have a transport company and then have a daily tag and a retinue of drivers assigned to different places.
When did you start taxi-driving?
Gabriel: I started taxi-driving on 16th May this year, because my contract with the UN ended on 31st December, 2008. In the last six months, it has been very interesting, as all of a sudden, I’m beginning to see different things from different perspectives. Coming into this taxi-driving has shown me the practicality of the gender bias that we have always been taught and made to understand.
There are people that would just see me on the road and start hailing me, and surprisingly, they are usually men. Overnight, I became a celebrity from obscurity. I am talking about senators winding down their glasses on the highway and telling me they are my fans. I’m talking about people of high class stopping and asking me to give them my number. In fact, my sister calls me the Queen of the Road. It just showed me that the faithfulness of God in his word as he said he uses the foolish things of the world to confirm the wisdom of the wise.
It is ordinary taxi-driving that has brought all these joy, satisfaction and fulfilment in my life. It has really shown me the passion of my people and country. I have seen people who meet me on the streets and pray for me. They always call and encourage me. People saying, ‘I’m with you. God will keep and show you your desired destination’.
I cannot quantify those prayers. I receive gifts from people almost on a daily basis. Of the entire gifts, the one that really touched me was from one girl I picked from Wuse Market. I would place her age at 14 or 15. She entered my car and I said her fare would be N200 to Zone 6. When I dropped her, she gave me the N200, then started searching in her bag and I thought maybe her phone fell inside my car. So I started looking around and she said, ‘Wait, wait madam.’ I asked her why, looked at her and concluded that maybe she was the kind of person that is very conscious and does not want to start saying things when she is not sure. She kept searching for this thing for some time and I felt she was wasting my time, so I asked her, ‘My sister, what is it, because I really have to go.’ She kept saying, ‘Wait ma’ and eventually put her hand in her bag and brought out N20 and said ‘Take ma.’ I looked at her and goose pimples came all over my body and then I asked her what that was all about and she said, ‘No, take it, ma. Take it. God will bless you. God will make whatever that it is that brought you to the road possible and give you more.’
Instantly, tears came to my eyes and I kept asking myself what kind of thing this is; what life is all about. The girl kept praying for me like a pastor and I looked at her and did not know when I collected the N20 from her and managed to drive my car away. Till date, anytime I recall that incident, I cry and pray.
Why you did not apply to teach in a higher institution, being a PhD holder?
Gabriel: I do not like doing things because people feel that is the status quo. I am not a conventional person. I do things that come to me naturally. Having a PhD does not necessarily mean one should teach, as there are many other ways through which one can teach.
Driving a taxi is not very easy. So how do you cope with managing your family?
Gabriel: My day does not always start at 7am. Like today, my day started at 2am and it is usually like that. I close by 7pm and at times 6.30pm, but the latest I can stay outside is 7pm. I come back home, do my homework and every other thing, then I manage to listen to news and sleep. I wake up by 2am to start writing because that is the time everybody in the house is quiet.
What I am trying to say in essence is that my family life and the management of time have to come and in that I am still learning the discipline of time management. Let me say that my late husband had a very strong influence on me. Coming from the academic world, it has always been like that. I could not see myself sleeping whenever he woke up by two or 3am to write and do most of his researches.
At this point, we would like to know how much you make in a day...
Gabriel: If you hire my cab for the whole day, that is, 7am from 7pm, it is N10,000. If it is 7am-12noon, which is half-day, it is N5,000. An hour within the FCT like from Maitama to Wuse is N850 and then a drop like from Utako to Central Area is N200-N250 depending on where you are going there. So with that, I guess you should be able to capture how much I make in a day.
What advice do you have for women who may want to take to taxi-driving?
Gabriel: I guess everybody has their calling in life. Taxi-driving is a seed of my faith and something I took pride in doing instead of begging from place to place and satisfying the lust of those who would want to take advantage before rendering any help to you. They should also not be afraid that it is a male-dominated job, as even on the streets, it is the men that are encouraging me. When some taxi drivers see me, they hail me and say, ‘Confirmed member, carry go’ and things like that.
Most times, they insist on loading me before any other person and the money they collect for loading is usually not collected from me. But I insist on paying, so that it does not affect my job. There is no inhibition to what you want to do and achieve in life. Gender is no barrier to any calling or dream of yours. So my advice is that they should not stay at home and say there is no job. There must be something in your house which can turn your life around, it is left for you to locate and use it.
*Courtesy of Weekly Trust Nigeria
