She Couldn’t Become A Sailor Because Everyone Wanted To Sleep With Her. Now She’s A Forklift Operator In Abuja

Amize Ifeoma’s story embodies the Nigerian spirit of resilience and determination. Her journey is a testament to perseverance and an unwavering will to succeed despite daunting obstacles.
Ifeoma’s foray into male-dominated fields began at the Global Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Delta State, and she hasn’t looked back since. Her accomplishments validate the age-old adage: what a man can do, a woman can also do.
In this interview with THE WHISTLER, the Delta State Indigene shares her experiences navigating male-dominated industries – from sailing to furniture making, shoe making, and forklift operation – and the challenges she faces breaking down barriers.

How my dream of becoming a sailor started
I derived great pleasure in the military, so when I heard of the maritime I felt it was a dream come true so I sought admission in the Global Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Delta State.
I graduated in 2018. We did our Passing Out Parade(POP) in 2019. When I was in school, before our project defence, we went for four months intern. I got the opportunity to work on board the vessel in Port Harcourt. It is a survey vessel. That was in 2018. When I got there, I heard they wanted to drop a few of the sailors on board, because the provision they heard was not enough for the whole cabin crew. They were contemplating on who to drop and one of the management came on board when I was down in the ship, close to the deck helping the crew to tie the marine rope to the beat of the ship. When he saw me, he called the officers and said they should ensure that the female cadet on board was part of the crew. He said he loved the energy and enthusiasm he saw in me. That was how I went on board with them. We sailed from Port Harcourt to Lagos State. We took some surveyors to get some water samples in the sea.
Memorable experience from my time on the sea
As we were going, I was talking with my captain and he told me that there was something called sea sickness and asked if I would be able to cope. I told him that I would be able to do it and that I was stronger than he thought. I overheard someone saying that he was not sure I could do it and that I should get Coke and Bitter Kola to help me with the seasickness when it came but I told them I could handle it. The first day, when we were sailing out of Port Harcourt, I started feeling dizzy and weak. I was a deck cadet and was working in the deck area with my captain. I went to the captain to tell him that I was feeling so weak and that I felt like throwing up. He started laughing and reminded me that he told me about this and I said I can do it. I couldn’t laugh because I was so weak. He explained that it was called sea sickness. Once you are on board, the sea smells, and the motion of the ship all will destabilise you. For two days, I couldn’t do anything. I was weak. Some of the crew members were also throwing up. Immediately we got to Lagos, my captain took us to the beach. He said I needed to touch the ground and breathe in fresh air. I felt better after that.

The first challenge I had was sea sickness. Secondly, when our foodstuff on board was finished, we heard that we would sell diesel to get fish from fishermen. We boiled and fried it. We managed the little foodstuff we had on board. At some point, we had to break some bed frames, to make firewood on board to cook. It was that bad. It was my third month on board. My captain said I should go back to school. Before then though, I was complaining about stomach pain. It was so severe that my captain had to give me crude oil to drink and apply to my stomach. I never knew it was appendicitis. So due to these challenges, I had to go back to school.
From my little experience on sea, skills or training essential for a sailor
The most important skill for a sailor is swimming skill. As a sailor, you must know how to swim. If you don’t, you have no business going on board because anything can happen at any time. Funny enough, I don’t know how to swim but I went on board after my course. This is Nigeria and anything goes.
Misconceptions I encountered about female sailors
People used to have this misconception that every female you see onboard definitely had sex with the captain and the chief engineer, in fact, the whole sailors on board. If you go out and say you are a sailor, they term you a loose girl. When I was on board, I was a virgin and was not intimate with anyone. I was focused and determined. I stayed in my lane.
How my dream of continuing as a sailor was shattered
This is a hard one. After I heard my POP, I travelled to Delta State, Warri for a mandatory course. After that, I was hoping to go on board again to work as a deck cadet because I have graduated this time. Immediately after the course, I travelled to Port Harcourt thinking I would be able to get a job on a seaport but I couldn’t. I met sailors who promised to talk to their captains to give me a job. I kept hearing stories for more than two years. I left Port Harcourt and went to Calabar. It was the same story. One of the reasons why I didn’t get the job immediately after my course was because I refused to get intimate with any of them. I came in contact with captains and sailors who were supposed to help me but most of them were requesting for sex. I passed every other interview. I had all those requirements but they refused to help. I just had to forget about anything sailing and decided to venture into something else.
My parents were disappointed in me because my dad borrowed money from his elder sister, N300,000 for my mandatory course. He was upset because I promised him that immediately after my mandatory course, I would go on board. I didn’t know it wouldn’t be that way.
I started life in Abuja as a furniture maker
I came to Abuja to start up a furniture business. I registered my business name AIG Top-notch collections. I got my complimentary cards and a space at Gwarimpa, Third Avenue. I never learnt carpentry work. I just had this talent for the arts. I was making furniture; coffee tables with tyres, centre tables, relaxation chairs and others.
Sometimes, some customers will tell me, “We don’t want this colour, make another colour” and when I am done, they will tell me that what they expected was not what I gave them. That is how they will abandon the work. It was frustrating. Sometimes, I will have to borrow the money to produce the furniture for them and they will end up rejecting it. I got tired and fed up.
I stopped the furniture business because I was losing my money. I started making footwear.
Venturing into the footwear business
There is this design I know. I am the only one who makes it that way in Nigeria. I use fluffy materials to make footwear. I travel to Lagos and buy materials and make them. I got my filling machine. I will tell you that like the furniture, I didn’t learn from anywhere. When I was in school, I usually travelled from Calabar to Aba to buy materials for footwear. I was buying bathroom slippers and buying some kind of designs to put on them. Some of them, I doubled to make nice footwear. I also customized shirts for my coursemates.
So after the furniture business failed, I had to go back to making footwear.
I relocated to Lagos to continue with the business but I had to stop at some point because people were complaining that my kind of footwear was for people staying in Victoria Island. They said the footwear was not for the poor but for those who have cars! They said it was screaming classy..it wasn’t ready to be expensive. The least I was selling was around N4,500 for one. I had to stop as no one was patronising me.
Then, I started making handbags with footballs. There is this rubber football that I cut into two and pad them with fluffy materials and add zip to it. I was also making a clutch bag with the ball. I had to save up some money and came back to Abuja.
Relocating to the Benin Republic
I planned to relocate to the Benin Republic. I travelled with my furniture tool because I was hoping that it would be better there. After all, CFA is higher than Naira. I was thinking I would start up the furniture business again but it didn’t work out that way. Their kind of furniture was all these ancient bed frames and the materials were expensive. I had to sell my tools and I started buying croak footwear. I design it and sell it in their markets. They were not buying it so I had to diversify and start making liquid soap. I was selling at Gbegor Market and I was selling them within the space of 30 minutes. I added a scented candle to the business. I checked online on how to do it. I will buy glass cups and candles for 400 CFA, get colour, and mix them. I was selling it for 3,500 CFA. That was N7,000 then. I had a printing machine that I used to print out my labels. I made money from the businesses when I was there. I had enough to take care of myself.
But I had to go back to Nigeria because of the stomach pain I have been complaining about. I went for a scan and they said I had appendicitis. I was trying to manage it but couldn’t. It became so serious that I had to come down to Lagos. My fiancée was in Lagos and he took me to the hospital. I had the surgery on May 1, 2023. It was successful and thank God I am fine now. Even at my sickbed, I was doing my business. I ordered an oil perfume from a vendor in Port Harcourt and was selling it to the nurses.
When I was okay, I went back to Benin Republic. Then, I got a two-bedroom apartment and my fiancée joined me there. I continued my liquid soap business, scented candles and oil perfume. I was also going to Alaba Market in Lagos to buy items like foot massagers, body massagers, bottle umbrellas and other stuff to sell.
Moving to Ghana
We decided to relocate to Ghana. It was impromptu. Our room got flooded one day. It was raining and I didn’t know what happened. Everywhere was filled with water. We had to move out our things. We lost some of our property. We collected the balance of our rent from the landlord. The plan was for me to come back to Nigeria and for my fiancée to move to Ghana but we changed the plan at the park and we both moved to Ghana. We went through a lot in Ghana. We had no idea that when you are in Ghana if you don’t have a Non-citizenship Ghana Card, it will be difficult to get a job. We had only our international passports. I bought new furniture tools. I wanted to start up my furniture business but the materials were too expensive. I couldn’t afford a board of wood. I just had to do something else. I started frying kpof kpof and selling, making liquid soaps and scented candles. I started also turning waste into wealth; designing wall decorations. I was creating beautiful things with waste. There is this cake stick that they use in selling sausage in Ghana. I started buying it in bulk. I also got plastic spoons and coloured them, sprinkled some sawdust and glued them with gum. I was able to make beautiful artwork. I took them to a shop where someone helped me to sell them. That was how we were surviving.
How My Forklift Operating Dream Started
After two months in Ghana, my fiancée told me that he wanted me to get a job. I told him that I had learnt so many things. What else do you want me to learn? I asked him. All the ones I have learnt how much have I made so far? I told him I was tired. He told me that he wanted me to learn how to drive a forklift truck. I was confused because I didn’t know what it was. I had to go to my TikTok and search for the job. The first video that popped up was that of a Nigerian lady who relocated to Canada to learn how to operate a forklift. She was driving and saying that it was only her day two of learning and she was already perfect. When I saw that, I knew I wanted to do that. I do love doing challenging jobs. I love to do things that society says are for the opposite gender. I don’t like doing things that my mate can do. I just have to stand out. I love to do the extraordinary.
One day I went to a friend’s place and she told me to get her hair done and I told her that I didn’t know how to do it. She started shouting asking why I can’t make hair; that a lady is supposed to know how to make hair. I asked her if she could make furniture, and footwear or if she could use the hammer to hit on nails and make beautiful furniture. She said no. I told her these are things I can do that you can’t do so don’t tell me that because I don’t know how to make hair, I am not a lady.
So we had to start checking on social media the nearest training centre in Ghana to learn how to operate the forklift. We saw one but it was so expensive. But I did it. It lasted for a month. It was supposed to be for two months but I did a crash course for a month. That was the first time I drove anything with four wheels. I only know how to ride a bicycle.
After the training, you need to do attachment training for three to six months. But when I went to a company to seek it, they requested I present my non-indigene Ghana Card and driver’s licence. I thought I would get the job expressly but it wasn’t so. I didn’t have any of those things they requested for. So I decided to come back to Nigeria again to save up money to get an international driver’s licence and to renew my passport. Since the money is not available right now, I decided to get a job as a forklift operator.
How is it going so far…
It is really interesting but the pay here is low. In Ghana, a forklift operator without experience gets 3000 Ghana cedi which is equivalent to N300,000 but here in Nigeria, they are paying N60-75,000. Some other companies pay N95,000. The place I am working pays N120,000. I believe it is the highest so far I have seen. But we work Mondays to Saturdays. On Saturday we work half the day. Though we are given N3,000, it doesn’t cover the transport. I spend over N4,000 on my transport daily.
How male and female operators are perceived or treated on the job…
There is this place in Ghana where I submitted my attachment training letter. They asked me to resume the next day and I asked one of them why. The person said that his boss was always complaining about how rough the male forklift operators were. He needed a female forklift operator; someone that could pay attention to details. I just feel that some companies will want to employ female operators because they know that they can be very careful when they are on the machine. Where I work currently, they prefer male operators because what they deal with is wood. So they want someone that has more experience, and energy to bring down the board off the forklift. Once you use the forklift to bring down the board, you need to load them inside the car or truck. As a female, you can’t do all those things. Like me, once it is time to move them, I can’t. So they have to call the loaders to come and remove them.
How male and female sailors are viewed or treated on the job…
Some vessels don’t accept females on board. They will tell you that you can only work in their offices. It is just a few vessels that you see females on board as a chief engineer, captains or deck cadets. Sometimes, they say a female gets married and leaves or gets pregnant and can’t come on board. Also, they talk about menstrual cramps and all these women’s issues. They try to avoid that.
Sailor or Forklift Operator; my preference…
I prefer the forklift operator. My advice to women is to forget anything to do with sailing. I believe that it is not for ladies. That’s my opinion because when you are pregnant, you can’t go on board. Some ladies who usually have menstrual cramps find it difficult to breathe well when on board. Besides that, it is risky being the only female on board; accept there are other females on board, and that’s when you will be comfortable.
According to what my captain told me, outside the country, if you are a female cadet or officer on board a vessel, no male has the right to enter your cabin when you are on board but in Nigeria here, they can enter anytime they like. I will just advise ladies; if you still want to go into sailing, just make sure you are a strong person.
For me though, being a forklift operator is the best thing that has ever happened to me. It is something I wished I had learned all these while. I even wish I hadn’t gone to the Maritime Academy. I wish I could use all the school fees to travel abroad to learn and work as a forklift operator. There is good money for it outside the country. It is also not difficult to get a job as a female operator abroad. Since the job is male-dominated, some companies are interested to see what a female can offer. You just show them your certificate and licence. Not many interviews. They will only ask if you can operate and they will try you out. As a female, if you want to venture into male-dominated fields, try forklifting and you will thank me forever.
My long-term goal
To become successful in my field and get training centres in Nigeria for forklift operations.
She Couldn’t Become A Sailor Because Everyone Wanted To Sleep With Her. Now She’s A Forklift Operator In Abuja is first published on The Whistler Newspaper