Becky Osarume Osagie returned from Italy to become a vulcanizer in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria because, for her, it is better to suffer to make money than to become a pro$t!tute.
In 2015, Becky sought greener pastures outside the shores of Nigeria. She was only 19 years old when she took the decision to move to Italy. However, her journey to her new country was neither easy nor smooth, as she spent three months and two weeks going by road, through Libya into Italy.
According to her, she spent two weeks in a prison, then three months inside a house before she crossed into the southern European country.
Becky had a sponsor who spent N400,000 to ‘send’ her to Italy. Their agreement was that she would repay him €35,000 (about N7.6 million) on her return; to ensure that she would keep her end of the agreement, the sponsor took her to a shrine to swear an oath. However, Becky decided to return to Nigeria when she realised that the only job she could do to repay such an outrageous sum is prostitution.
“When someone helped me convert the money to Naira, I realised that I could not repay it even in 50 years,” she said.
Becky says the most difficult part of vulcanizing is to pull/press the tyre. | Photo credit: BBC Pidgin
After she returned to Nigeria in 2017, she could not find a job to do and did not have the funds to start up a business. One day while she sat with her then-boyfriend watching a Nollywood film, she saw Mercy Johnson working as a vulcanizer, there she told herself that if Mercy could attempt it, she could actually learn the job and do it. Her boyfriend did not like the idea, hence, he threatened to end the relationship if she ventured into the business.
Becky learnt vulcanizing irrespective of her boyfriend’s threat, got a shop, and started repairing tyres. That decision ultimately cost her the relationship.
With the passage of time, Becky grew very proud of her handwork and is not ashamed to be called a female vulcanizer.
Now she can afford basic necessities like food, new clothes, house rent etc., as she makes between N3,000 to N5,000 daily.
Becky Osagie’s resilience and determination to succeed is commendable admirable, and should be encouraged.
Photo Credits: BBC Pidgin
