N20k Weekly For 5 Years: How Lagos Female Driver Saw Her 5 Children Through University

● ‘Bury me with the car,’ daughter narrates heart-rending details of the struggled life of an inDrive super mum and how her steering wheel paid school fees, raised five graduates, and drove her children out of poverty

For five years, her car was not just a vehicle. It was a scholarship fund, a hostel, a classroom, and a lifeline. And behind the wheel was Louisa Eseke’s mother, a woman who refused to let poverty write the ending to her children’s story.

In a story that has moved thousands online, Louisa Eseke is telling the world how her “supermum” worked as an inDrive driver to train five children through school. Four of her own children, plus a cousin.

“I won’t say three words sum up who she is,” Louisa said. “But I would describe her as courageous, hardworking, and consistent.” Those three words carried a family from squatting with friends in Lagos to watching three graduates walk across a university stage.

The journey began with a hard choice. The family had relocated to Abuja, but her mother was not happy. Lagos, she believed, was where a woman could hustle. So she moved back with four children, no house, and no plan. They squatted with a friend for a year.

That was just before COVID lockdown. With nothing but determination, she took a loan and made a down payment on a car under hire purchase. The terms were tough. N20,000 every week. But she paid. Every single week.

People laughed. When she told them she wanted to become a commercial driver, there were many “doubting Thomases.” They said it would be too stressful. Too dangerous for a woman. She ignored them. For the last five years, she has been driving.

Louisa remembers the days her mother wanted to quit. “She would say she was tired and about to give up, overwhelmed by the pressure and burden, but she would still show up. She remained consistent as both a mother and a father.”

The car paid the school fees. It paid the rent after they finally moved out of the friend’s house. It bought books, uniforms, and food. Today, Louisa, her older sister, and her brother are graduates. Another sibling is still in university. A cousin finished secondary school.

But driving meant more than money. “She once told me that driving is the only talent she has. She loves to drive,” Louisa said. As a child, she watched her eight-months-pregnant mother drive the family all the way from Lagos to Edo State after a fight with their dad. For her, the steering wheel was freedom.

On inDrive, she found community. She made friends with passengers. She once counseled a man about his marriage and was invited to the wedding. She helped women in abusive relationships. She became Public Relations Officer of the Ladies on Wheels Association of Nigeria.

“I remember her saying that she would have entered depression if she were doing a standard 9-to-5,” Louisa recalled. The flexibility let her prioritize her children. When Louisa had job interviews, her mother drove her to every venue and waited outside until it was over.

There were lighter memories too. Her mother was once a dancer. “Whenever we went to parties, once the parents were called to dance, she would take over the entire place. That’s how we learned how to dance.” Age and a stiff body have slowed her now, but the joy remains.

Now, the children are grown and doing well. So they told her: stop driving to survive. Drive for joy. “The ‘retirement’ is just to let her know she doesn’t need to drive to survive anymore,” Louisa explained.

Her mother laughed at the idea. She told her sister she’d wake up early to help with the baby so she could still go out and “ride for a bit afterwards.” She even joked: “You should bury me with the car!”

When inDrive decided to make a special video to honor her story, Louisa cried. “My mom is an ordinary person doing so much, and sometimes she doubts herself as a mother. I want her to know she doesn’t have to wear a cape to be a hero.” In Lagos traffic, with five degrees in the backseat, one woman proved that love, consistency, and a car can change a family’s destiny.

NOP NIGERIA