From Public Administration to welding: Maryanne Samirah Lucas, Nigeria’s female welder aims high
She sits in the midst of corrugated rod and slabs of iron sheets without a care in the world. In a vocation often regarded as an exclusive for the menfolk, she holds sway and has carved a niche for herself. Welcome to the world of Miss Maryanne Samirah Lucas, the CEO of Jagged Edge Limited, a company that specialises in welding and fabricating jobs, located at Mende, Maryland, Lagos.
Maryanne does not only Jagged Edge, she does all the welding jobs, handling welding and fabricating gadgets like Vice; Angle Grinders, Electrodes, Clamps to produce beautiful iron crafts for home and office use, with an expertise and poise that belies her gender.
Ironically, she didn’t set out to be a welder; she stumbled upon it and since has not looked back. This graduate of Public Administration from Plateau State Polytechnic started her career, as an interior decorator.
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She tells her story on how she got into welding and fabrication of iron rods: “I was into curtain and bed sheets making since 1993. However, in the year 2000 I got tired of doing interior designs. So, I opted for something more engaging that could be more lucrative as well. As I was pondering on what to do, I stumbled upon a magazine where I saw some beautifully designed Iron chairs and table more like a console with a mirror. I decided to add the picture of the iron chairs to my interior decor’s album,” she said
She saw the opportunity therein and took it up. She walked up to a welder in her neighbourhood then in Gbagada and asked if he could replicate the iron chairs. She paid and he did it for her.
“Another particular client saw the iron chairs design and requested that I make one for him. In the process of doing that, he made orders for more and like that I developed a keen interest and the romance began,” Maryanne said.
Yet another client gave her a contract to design burglar-proof that she had never done before. Then, she had to rely on a welder to get it done.
Without any formal education or training in welding, she went online to read about welding and fabricating related materials on how one could come about a creative design, all in a bid to familiarise herself with her newfound vocation
Also, whenever Maryanne visited her welders, she made sure she monitored the way they handled fabricating gadgets with keen interest. The Public Admnistration graduate started to learn and after a while began to practise all that she had learnt.
Gradually, what started as a mere interest is today a big business. She went on to incorporate Jagged Edge. The company has grown in leaps and bounds with a lot of clients, whom she wouldn’t want to name. Not only that, her hard work has earned Jagged Edge a franchise from a French company; she is the sole representative of that French company in Nigeria.
It hasn’t been all peaches and creams so far. She has encountered a lot of challenges in her quest at carving a niche for herself. She recalls with nostalgia some of the challenges she has encountered.
“Sometimes, when I beckon on construction site, prospective clients wonder and oftentimes doubt my capabilities, I have had to deal with snide remarks like ‘What can she do? Who needs a lady welder?’”
Due to unavailability of power supply she has had to make alternative arrangement to move her company ahead like a Trojan, aiming to the top in order to meet the deadline of her growing clients.
Also, Maryanne has not been able to get an apprentice yet despite placing advertisement severally on her Whatsapp group for anyone that has interest in building a career in welding and fabricating, especially girls.
That has not deterred her, as she always holds her shoulders high and responds with a resounding affirmation that she is aiming to the top by continuously improving her craft to ensure she does not only remain there but also raise the standards in the welding and fabricating profession.
Maryanne also gave insight into what inspired her confidence. According to her, Lady Sarah, the lady mechanic, triggered her confidence because initially, she was shy about the welding things, but after she saw Lady Sarah on TV and how she was fielding questions, concerning her profession with pride and confidence, she shrugged off all her fears and determined she would go far.
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She doesn’t see herself as a feminist and also does not believe in the popular saying, ‘what a man can do a woman can do’. Rather, Maryanne respects the place of the man in the scheme of things, as her work requires the physical strength of a man to lift certain tools and crafts because she isn’t a super woman.
On how she wards off the opposite sex, Maryanne’s slogan is, “Dress the way you want to be addressed”. And because of the way she comports herself, people see her as a professional. When a client wants something other than his proposed job, she puts things straight but politely by stating her boundaries and limitations, and they keep their desires to themselves.
She also passionately implored ladies especially to come out and be whatever they want to be, there is no limitation to what they can achieve.
Maryanne, the third child of nine children, from Boher in Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, is a proud single mother of four beautiful daughters.
Having to almost always be in the midst of corrugated rods one wonders how Maryanne unwinds. To this, she says she is not an outgoing person but when she is done with work, she relaxes at home, reading and listening to music because she loves music.
