From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
If you show me a woman who is diligent in her business, Kaduna State people will show you Mrs. Tola Bamidele, who has won the hearts of many through her groundnut business.
Kaduna residents and visitors alike who are familiar with the gate of Saint Gerard’s Catholic Hospital, Kakuri, Kaduna, may not know that the woman selling groundnuts by the gate daily is a widow.
And if they know that she is a widow, they may not know that she started groundnuts business in the last 20 years, having lost her husband 24 years ago.
Only a few people would believe that the widow, Mrs. Bamidele, has used the business that one could easily trivialize as petty and not lucrative to train her children up to higher institutions. It did not end there. She also used the proceeds from her trade to train her late brother’s four children.
The proud owner of this groundnuts business always looks happy. She is also agile, even with a year less than 60.
It was a Saturday afternoon and the reporter happened to be among other customers trying to buy groundnuts from Mrs. Bamidele. Just as the journalist sought to know if the groundnuts were good enough, the woman quickly replied: “This is my 20 years of selling groundnuts here. So, if I am selling bad groundnuts, I won’t be here by now. I train my children selling these groundnuts.”
These revelations caught the attention and curiosity of the reporter, unknown to the groundnuts seller, and the buyer quickly adjusted his journalistic instincts. He fired more questions, waited patiently for her story to be told.
“Oh, you mean you train your children from this groundnut business”? The reporter asked casually, and in few minutes he requested an interview with the woman, which she obliged.
However, while the interview was on, customers continued to interrupt unknowingly, asking for N50 to N100 worth of groundnuts, which were measured in small cups and tins.
One of the customers, in a security guard’s uniform of a hospital, chipped in: “I know this woman you are interviewing right from when she was very young, even without developing breasts. She got married early enough, and after three children her husband died, many years ago.”
Also, one of her customers who gave his name simply Emma said: “The woman is very jovial and I want to believe that it is one of the things that is bringing buyers to her.”
Apparently not giving up on the business, Mrs. Bamidele has shifted her selling position a bit away from the hospital gate following a recent reconstruction of the gate, perhaps, due to rising cases of insecurity in the state.
Asked how she would be able to cope with other seasons of the year when there would be no fresh groundnuts for sale: “I sell boiled groundnuts during rainy season, while I sell fried groundnuts all year round, as you can see on the table”, he said, pointing at a table in front of her.
The woman stated that she leaves her house as early as 8am to resume at the hospital gate and closes by 7pm every day. She, however, hoped that one day her business would expand to include selling of oranges and pineapples.
She explained: “I was born on March 9, 1962, in Kwara, my home state. I have been at this hospital gate for the past 20 years selling groundnuts. It is from this selling of groundnuts that I train my children to school; from nursery to higher institutions.
“My first daughter went to Nuhu Bamali Polytechnic, Zaria, and my second daughter went to Federal Polytechnic in Zamfara State. The last one will soon finish her secondary school education.
“Apart from my own children, I am also training my late brother’s four children. So, on the whole, I am training seven children. God is, indeed, helping me to look after them.
“My husband died 24 years ago, and my own parents are late too. They all died in Kakuri, Kaduna. I am presently living along DIC Road in Kakuri, Kaduna, from where I come to Saint Gerard’s Catholic Hospital gate to sell my groundnuts.
“Though I am okay with selling groundnuts, but if I can get additional money to expand the business to selling oranges and pineapples, I will be very happy. So, I am calling on well-meaning Nigerians to help me expand my business.
“The groundnuts business was booming in those good old days when our money had value, but nowadays there is hardship in the land.
“I make good profit, which I don’t want to disclose here. Once I display my groundnuts, people will buy it off before evening. So,I hardly go home with unsold groundnuts. I always display fresh ones on the table”.