Poor transportation: Hijab-wearing women face difficulties in Dutse
Absence of taxis and buses for metro service in Dutse, the capital of Jigawa state, is subjecting women, particularly those that are wearing veil, to a lot of difficulties, Chronicle has observed.
This group of women lived in a great discomfort in Dutse when it comes to movement around the metropolis as they either have to use commercial motorcyclists or wait endlessly for the few available tricycles that recently commenced operation in the state.
Most of the women wearing veil hate patronizing commercial motorcyclists owing to their religion and hazards associated with riding motorcycles due to the recklessness of the operators.
Malama Rabi Haruna, clad in her complete veil, was in Dutse along with her three children for the first time. She could not hide her anger over the poor transport system in the state capital.
Rabi, who waited for several hours without getting a tricycle to take her to her destination, lamented that she did not know how to organize herself and her children on a motorcycle coupled with the fact that she is heavily pregnant.
She told Chronicle that she was new to the town and that she would not want to give room for any unpalatable story, hence opted to wait for the tricycle no matter how long that will take.
“What sort of a place is this, no taxi no bus? One has to climb behind a man and you risk having body contact with the motorcyclist. This is what I hate most.
“Look at my condition now. I am heavily pregnant, there is no way I can climb a motorcycle without touching the rider’s body. As a married woman I am not supposed to touch the body of any other man unless necessary. That is how it is in my religion.
“Take a critical look of my situation, apart from being pregnant, see my kids and also the luggage. If you take three or four motorcyclists there is a tendency one may try to be smart. This could be a problem.”
Malama Rahama Bala, said despite being in her full Hijab signifying that she is a married woman, she might end up sitting behind another man that is not her husband.
Rahama explained that she hardly goes out because some of the commercial motorcyclists deliberately drive recklessly so as to create body contact between them and the passengers.
She also lamented over the difficulties they had been experiencing when transporting a sick person to hospital.
“A husband has no choice than to sit with his sick wife in between him and the motorcyclist. The wife is ill, she must end up leaning against the rider. This is quite unfortunate.
“Now, I only go out to visit sick person or pay condolence to those who lost their loved ones. I prefer to send my children. This is just to avoid the commercial motorcyclists,” she said.
The Chief Imam of Takur Friday Mosque, Sheikh Aminu Baba Waziri, had recently enjoined commercial motorcyclists to operate with the fear of God, while urging married women to desist from patronizing them unless when it is necessary.
Yakubu Audu, one of the several husbands that have been advocating for the provision of bus shuttles in the metropolis, said he was disturbed by the recklessness of the commercial motorcyclists.
“Apart from the roughness on the road, some of the commercial motorcyclists are naughty in nature and in most cases tend to be rude to women passengers,” he said.
Also, a father of four, Ustaz Balarabe, said he had completely stopped his wife from patronizing commercial motorcyclists, saying it was against the teachings of Islam for a woman to have body contact with another man.
“I had to struggle very hard to buy my personal motorcycle in order to take care of family needs as far as movement is concerned.”
Contacted, the Press Secretary Jigawa state government, Alhaj Bello Zaki, said shuttle buses were not provided in the state capital by the government because the fleet of tricycles earlier provided through the state empowerment programme had adequately taken care of transport system in the state capital.