Aisha Muhammad lives in Burga, Nigeria, where she is one of almost 300 graduates of the Stronger Women Stronger Nations program. Prepared with the new skills taught in the SWSN curriculum, these women are active participants in their households. Aisha and her peers contribute to their families’ finances in creative ways. However, many men limited how their wives could run their businesses, preventing them from generating the most income. With other women in Burga, Aisha advocated for their right to unrestricted entrepreneurship and self-sufficiency. The women came together to own a successful business and help their households and communities in a time of need. Their story is empowering.
I recently graduated from the SWSN program here in Burga, and now I work with other graduates of the program. We learned about being more involved in our families and how to approach our husbands to discuss important decisions. A large part of our schooling was learning how to make money for ourselves and families. We explored income-generating activities and have practiced our skills for a while.
The women I work with tried to make money for their families, but their husbands hindered their ability to run their businesses. Some husbands restricted their wives from engaging in any form of income-generating activities while others only allowed their wives to do so within their homes. These men believed they must be the leaders of the households and the ones supporting the family financially. This created a big barrier, preventing us from expressing our rights to income generation and contributing fully to our quota to family and community development. We knew we had to advocate for ourselves if we wanted things to change.
We formed a committee to discuss how to approach the men about giving us more freedom. We received training on our rights to income generation, and it helped us build our strategies and confidence to stand up for our goals. Our group also got some awareness from different celebrations like International Women’s Day, the 16 Days of Activism, and World Menstrual Hygiene Day. With group leaders and some selected members of the various groups, we decided on a date to approach their stakeholders and present our challenges and solutions.
At the meeting, we requested space at the market to conduct our business. The men reasoned that allowing their wives to do businesses and other income-generating activities outside their homes would lead to them interacting with other men in the community. They claimed that it may lead to promiscuity from the women and more disrespect towards their husbands.
Luckily, the community stakeholders and husbands agreed to our requests after hearing about the benefits it would bring to our households and communities. Our space at the market was given to us to carry out our income generating activities without paying taxes. This will allow us to make more money for our families.
Our businesses opened on June 11th of this year with women selling grains, soup ingredients and vegetables. Some women offered their tailoring services at the market. My husband, Mallam, allowed me to buy and sell grains in the new marketspace. We have been married for 18 years, and I am grateful to have his support.
One of the women I work with said,
“Earning an income beyond our homes has proved to be a big boost to our income-generating abilities. For me, I now meet more people and can learn other strategies for attracting customers, making my products more appealing to them.”
Our businesses were going so well that we decided to invest in a sugarcane farm! It is a profitable business in our community and most times, people make up to 100% of the profit or more. We all contribute to the maintenance of the farm. It is because of our new marketspace and successful activities that we could open and support the farm.
We chose to buy the farm all together because it would help solidify our right to generate income because our husbands cannot claim control of the farm as it is owned by all of us. It ensures we have freedom with the money we make, and it makes us more empowered to practice smart business habits.
To show appreciation for our community and husbands’ support, we have held three meetings with them. We talk about continuing our income-generating activities, and we also discuss gender-based violence. It is important to include them in our learning to promote more positive change in our community.
We worked hard to get to where we are today, and we want other women to benefit from our victories. Our village savings and loan association is available for members to start up new businesses or grow and diversify existing businesses within their first cycle. Like the sugarcane farm, we are lucky to have the funds to donate to the association and to guide women towards financial success.
I am proud of myself and the women I work with for advocating for ourselves and accomplishing our goals.
If we had not felt the confidence from our training, we would not be where we are today. Our financial success has reduced the pains of the economic hardship in Nigeria. Indeed, we are liberated.
