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Today, I Am A Happy Woman

Virginia Etobe
Like most clients of LAPO, Mrs. Virgina Etobe is a trader. She sells foodstuffs at the popular Achumeze foodstuff market, located in Ibusa, a town in Delta State, Midwestern Nigeria.

This market is reputed for its cheap goods and most importantly, for its almost daily session. Consumers therefore usually flock to this market almost on daily basis to make purchases, at least for better bargain especially now that prices of foodstuffs are skyrocketing.

Age 46, Mrs Etobe is a woman of nice disposition. She is dark-complexioned, good
humoured and full of life. With her hair tied and a wrapper round her waist, it was clear that she was ready for the day's business, as usual.

She has been in business all her life, having been deprived by circumstance of the opportunity to go to school. Worse still, she was not equipped with any life-sustaining skill like sewing, weaving, hairdressing and baking that could have provided her an alternative source of income at adulthood. Quite early in life, her mother, Mrs. Agnes Okeke introduced her to the business of farming which was her own occupation at Ezi, a town close to Issele-Uku in Delta State.

Mrs. Etobe hails from Nnebi in Orlu Local Government Area of Imo State, Eastern Nigeria. She is the first child and the only daughter of Mr. Emmanuel Okeke and Mrs. Agnes Okeke who are both poor and illiterate farmers. Besides her mother, her father had another wife who had just one issue by him. In all, they are 5 in the family four boys and a girl.

An illiterate trader, she said she would have loved to go to school. She recalled with nostalgia the factors that nailed this cherished dream. Apart from the reason of poverty,
she says, ignorance on the part of her parents also contributed to "my lack of formal education." Her father, Mr. Okeke never saw anything good or beneficial about girl-child education. His argument then was that "if you train a female child, you are doing so for the ultimate benefit of another family. It is the father who will lose at the end of the day." He therefore concentrated only on his male children, although not all of them actually benefited from secondary education, which is again fallout of the poor financial condition of her parents.

She continued to assist her parents in the farm for so many years until 1984 when she met and later married Mr. Justin Etobe. She said she decided to settle down that early in life so as not to become irresponsible. Today the marriage is blessed with six children - three boys and three girls. They are all being given good education. Not comfortable with just sitting down idling away at home as a full time housewife and propelled by an inner prompting to embark on a virile income-generating enterprise to support her fast increasing family size. She decided to go into business.
So many kinds of businesses crossed her mind but she settled for the one which takeoff capital was easy to come by foodstuff business. She sat her husband down over this issue and expectedly got his approval to go ahead.

With the financial support of her husband, joined by her own personal savings, she was able to raise the sum of N3,000 with which she started trade in petty foodstuff at Issele -Uku. "The money was grossly inadequate," she said "but I had no option but to manage it." She said she was paying N24 monthly then, for the shop.

On why she did not approach any formal financial institution for loan, she said it was a very difficult thing for her to do. "I did not have access to such credit facilities because I had no collateral." She said she was also scared of the stringent conditions usually involved in such loans.

For well over 12 years, she was unable to give her business any significant boost due to lack of capital. The result was that she was making little profits that could not cushion the
effect of the biting economic condition of the family. This constraint left her in a deep sea of worry and mental depression "out of which," she concluded, "escape was impossible." With this unfortunate turn of events, her dream of ever owning and managing a viable business enterprise capable of providing additional income to sustain her family started to collapse. She never hoped to find any rescue.

It was while still scouting for financial reprieve to turn her business around that Mama Bunor, a leader of LAPO group in her locality told her about the microfinance organization. This was around 1999. "She convinced me about its genuineness and got me registered in her union. She told me how much LAPO has done for women who were hitherto living in poverty and economic subservience." Mrs. Etobe later participated in a series of pre-loan training session, which qualified her the same year for her first loan of N8, 000. Subsequently, she received N10, 000, N13, 000, N20, 000, N35, 000 and so on at different stages of loan. She has also benefited from Christmas Business Loans (XBL).

As a result of help received from LAPO, Etobe is now doing what would have otherwise been impossible. She does not bother her husband much about feeding allowance anymore. Her husband and herself are even living apart from each other and he does not send money often to solve family needs. He lives and trades in Issele-uku while she lives with all the children at Ibusa where she trades. If not that she is doing business, the situation would have been critical. "It is not easy to feed a large family, but with profit from my business, I am able to do this with or without the support of my husband."

She is proud that they are able to send their children to school. Her first daughter, Miss Hope Etobe recently got a diploma in Computer Science and is currently preparing for university education. "If not that I trade, I shouldn't have been able to support them in school". Asked how she is being able to repay the seasonal loans, she says, "I joined susu (daily contribution). I use mine for repayment purpose when it is due. I do not default in repayment."

For Etobe, the mode of loan repayment is one of the best attractions of LAPO. "It is stress-free." According to her, "my business has grown to the extent where I can now conveniently care for myself and my children. This makes me happy and my husband is pleased at the progress that I have made."

Being able to contribute to family finances, she says, has given her greater voice in the home as her husband now accords her respect. She wants to give all her children the best education she can afford in order to equip them for the challenges ahead.

Mrs. Etobe has benefited from Gender, Environment and Leadership Training (GELT) and the Democracy and Governance (D & G) Programme that she says have positively impacted on her life.

On her plans for the future, she says, "I am planning to build my own house with the co-operation of my husband. We have already acquired a piece of land for the building project."

She commended LAPO for the good job, which "it is doing to change the poor living condition of women," and asked that its services be extended to all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria.

Etobe is optimistic about the future. She said she would never quit LAPO because it has made her economically self-reliant and able to cater for her needs and that of her family. "Today, I am a happy woman. I boast with LAPO. LAPO has done well for my family and my business."

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